Hasbro: GI Joe: Adventure Team Secret of the Savage Swamp (2003?) Male Hispanic figure and shirt plus cargo pants, radio, canteen and belt
Cotswold Collectibles: WWII German rucksack and US holster
Barrack Sergeant: L1A1 w/wood painted furniture
21st Century Toys: .45 pistol and boots
BBI: Knife
Clear doll craft buttons dyed brown (7)
Custom castings of rifle pouches (M&C + a custom clasp)
Custom casting of a rigger's style pouch (I scratch built that one)

The carcasses told a grim story. Each was twisted and shredded until unrecognizable and none appear to have been killed for food. What could do such a thing; a saltwater crocodile or some diabolical experiment? Whether beast or man, the Tropics Adventurer will find this mysterious mangler...if it doesn't find him first.

This was a modern Adventure Team figure that I thought could use a few tweaks. I did not care for the shorts from the set so they got swapped for loose Hasbro cargo pants. I also did not like the stark white buttons so I changed these for doll buttons I dyed in brown RIT dye. I added buttons to the cargo pockets on the pants as well to give a more uniform look. The pack is from Cotswold Collectibles and while it represents a WWII German rucksack, many other nations made similar packs and it has a nice surplus look about it. I have several of these assigned to my modern Adventurers. I painted the Handie-Talkie yellow in the AT tradition. I like the yellow AT gear, but I personally think that it gets overused in AT customs. I respect everyone's tastes when customizing but for my Adventure Team a little yellow goes a long way. The rifle is a beautiful model of the British SLR. It was made to look like it had wood stocks and included a spotting scope and together these features made it less like a military rifle; perfect for an adventurer tracking down a monster. The belt had pouches added to give him some spare ammo but not too much to look like a militant. Finally, the 21st Century Toys boots were the tan 'desert' variety they offered. I did not like these for desert boots because they looked too bulky. They did paint up to make nice looking leather boots though. When it comes to making modern AT figures, I do not try to use vintage items but rather look for modern pieces and give them a vintage style spin. Likewise, I try to only use vintage, retro and repro parts with the vintage style figures. Two Adventure Team collections are certainly more fun than just one.