Dogs of War, Soldiers of Fortune, Guns for Hire, etc., or whatever title you feel appropriate to give them, they are what this update is all about.

I am a huge fan of all things mercenary, whether the real life exploits of them in ancient and modern history or fictional tales spun in movies, novels, comics, and other media. The type of people that become mercenaries range from the courageous adventure seeker to the bloodthirsty psychopath. Their motives for fighting are many and varied and in the game of war, the stakes are high; the reward is sometimes money but most often, death.

Anyway, this update consists of 5 customs. I made these guys over the course of the past year but just recently took pics and wanted to post them. I always found doing customs of mercenaries to be the most fun and their possiblilites are endless. They can fit anywhere in any story or situation and always makes things interesting. Doing some original characters is a nice change of pace from the monotony of doing remakes of already established characters.
I figured it would be better to post a few in one post rather than do a bunch of individual posts. I hope you guys like them.

First up is Otara.


Otara- Mercenary

Parts used:
Head- The Corps!
Torso- Sure Fire 02/ PTE vest
Arms- Zandar 86
Waist- Sure Fire 02
Upper Legs- Beachead 86
Lower Legs- Chuckles 87
MP5- Agent Annika

File Name- CLASSIFIED
Place Of Birth- Otara, New Zealand (UK)
Former member of the New Zealand Special Air Service (NZSAS). An ethnic Maori, who takes his name from the notorious slums he was born and raised in. A brilliant tactician and fearless in the face of battle. Pragmatic and cunning.

This another custom where I cut and fused a removeable vest to a torso, much like my Lt. AK Waters custom.




Next is Vas.


Vas- Mercenary

Parts used:
Head- Leatherneck 93
Torso- Metal Head 90
Arms- Star Viper 89
Waist- Harball 86
Upper Legs- Shockwave 88
Lower Legs- Salvo 90
AKS74U- Marauder Inc.
Knife- Duke 92

File Name- Krainova, Vasily P.
Place Of Birth- Perm, Russia
Former member of the elite Russian unit, OMON. As a combat soldier serving in Chechnya, his unit was ambushed and captured by Chechen militants. Although brutally tortured daily for weeks while in captivity, Vas manages to disarm and kill his captors but not before his fellow soldiers were executed. Presumed dead, he slips back into Russia and allegedly murders his commanding officer. Began his mercenary career fighting in conflicts in The Balkans and Central Africa. A moody and dangerous man.




Next is Duroc.


Duroc- Mercenary

Parts used:
Head- Sagat 93
Torso- Major Bludd 00
Arms- Big Boa 87
Waist- Sea Slug 87
Upper Legs- Sneak Peek 87
Lower Legs- Dusty 85
NVR Rifle- Marauder Inc.
Knife- Cross Country 93

Ex-sergeant in the French Foreign Legion Paras and drill instructor. A former bare-knuckle brawler in the backalleys of Paris. A loud, arrogant and brutish man with a penchant for violence.

Who doesn't like bald-headed, tattooed mercenaries? The tat on his left arm is a skull with a dagger and on the right is a black eagle.





Next up is Wheeler.



Wheeler- Mercenary

Parts used:
Head- Flint 91
Torso- Flint 85
Arms- Leatherneck 93
Waist- Leatherneck 93
Legs- Wild Card 89
M4- PTE
M1911A1 pistol- Marauder Inc.
Binoculars- PTE
Backpack- Hawk 86

File Name- Wheeler, Donald W.
Place Of Birth- Longmeadow, Massachusetts
Ex-Navy SEAL, one of the youngest in the Navy. An ardent naturalist who prefers to be outdoors with nature. Very easy going with a lust for adventure.

This is my first time doing blue jeans on a custom. Just something different from the norm.



Last is Ortega.



Ortega- Mercenary

Parts used:
Head- Dynamite 95
Torso and Arms- Leatherneck 93
Waist- Footloose 86
Legs- Chuckles 87
M16 w/ grenade launcher- Marauder Inc.

A native of Sierra Gordo, Ortega was once a member of the country's elite National Guard until the government was overthrown by a military junta supported by COBRA. Escaping to the bush, he joins the counter-revolutionary forces led by El Jefe, supported by the US through the help of GI JOE. Becoming disillusioned over El Jefe's betrayal of the revolution and the prolonged subjugation of his people, he decides to leave Sierra Gordo. He roamed the globe as a soldier of fortune, fighting in many conflicts, and a few times ended up fighting once again alongside GI JOE. Ortega hopes one day to return Sierra Gordo once his country is free.

Ortega is the oldest custom out of the bunch. I actually made him 4 years ago, using him only when playing with my joes. I decided to take pictures of him only recently just to include him in this post. Better late than never, right?



Although I didn't specifically make these guys to be an mercenary team of sorts, I decided to do a group shot of everyone together, just for aesthetic reasons.

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Otara is a slick looking custom top to bottom. The vest trick looks so cool I might have to try that one day. Please tell me that isn't really Zandar's entire arm. You did use something with sleeves for the top of the arm right?

I like everything about Vas except the lower legs. I think you might have sanded a little too much off of Salvo's legs. He has this big head and then these tiny stick looking lower legs. I think he could have used some jump boots and puffed out pants to kind of hide the V shap to his body. Love that ammo vest for him though.

Duroc is great. My first reaction was "About time" followed by, "Where's his eye brows?" I've been wanting to see someone give that head two eyes for a very long time. I knew it would look great and thanks to you it does. Who needs eyebrows when you are that mean looking. Fantastic job on the tattoos too. I thought he would be my favorite until...

Wheeler, wow. I thought for sure that was a Chuck Norris custom. Still, that is so damn fine work again. The jeans look good especially paired with the camo jacket. The head is, well, one of your best. So much more character now. A Flint torso without manboobs. Perfect.

Ortega isn't bad, but certainly not up to the caliber as the rest of them. I was pleased to see he was the first and that your skills weren't slipping. He definitely fits in with this group. They don't need to be a unit but I'm sure some of them have crossed paths before. It isn't entriely too far fetched that they could all be working in the same area when a picture like that was taken.

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Godfather you have blesed our eyes with custom goodness! man those all look great in the day of 25th customs you still managed to make arah look modern. you Sir ROCK!

Btw cann you pleas tell me how do you fuse those vest to the torsos like that?

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very nice all around, Wheeler especially caught my attention.

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very cool man, nice articulation.


i think my fav is the first guy.

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Wheeler rocks!
So is the rest of the crew of course.

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Starring Chuck Norris as Wheeler... Hell yeah!

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Where to start?


My address is...


I click the link, expecting to see another awesome LIVEVIL custom.

Instead I see FIVE totally awesome LIVEVIL customs.

I know it sounds cliche, but I would so get these if they were at retail.

Hasbro, this is what a five pack should look like.

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Man, talk about taking some lackluster parts and giving them the loving care and attention they needed to shine...that's clearly what went into these guys.

And the bios are very solid. You could've rolled these out just after the old Joe line met its demise and hungry fans would've gobbled them up.

Excellent work.

Bios are great customs are better and their not 25ths.
Awesome. Every one is worth stealing.

Hey guys. I'm glad you like my mercs.


Nope, it's Zandar's entire arm. I shaved down the armor on the shoulders to create bare short sleeves. Although now, I wish I had done the ol' arm swap trick. It really would've saved me a whole lot of trouble. I seem to have this habit of doing things the hard way...

I actually had the same reservations about Vas' lower legs. By then he was alreay painted and I figured that if I fooled with him any more, I might end up changing him into something even more different than what I had originally intended to do.


He has eyebrows, they are very light. They are hard to see unless you hold the custom in person because they apparently don't show up well on camera. I originally gave him dark eyebrows but no matter what shape I did them in, they seemed to make him look less intimidating. I've seen people who have very light eyebrows where from a distance, it appears they have none but they are indeed there...

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Wow...these are just beautiful. I'm a big fan of the mercenary custom, as well (although most of my attempts are still unfinished), and yours are really well done. The best aspect of these customs is their realism: you could put the same clothing and gear on a real person and they'd look the part of a mercenary.

Otara and Vas are my favorites (I really like the work on Otara's chest), but they all look great. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the Dynamite head on Ortega. It's perfect for the character, and it looks a lot better here than it has on any other custom I've seen it used for, but it still looks a little too big for my tastes. But unless you're looking for that, it probably wouldn't jump out at you.

Excellent work on these guys. I hope we see some more in the near future.

Livevil
I need time to make legitimate comments on these customs. It looks like an awesome team. I am on vacation, but as soon as I get home and have time to look at them, I will give you legitimate feedback.

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Dont know the proper word to express how amazingly awesome these customs are.

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excellent work on sculpting the eye for the sagat head. it comes across with a slight asymmetry that really gives off a 'crazy' vibe for that figure!

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