Head: ARAH Budo
Chest/back: ARAH Bazooka V1
Arms: ARAH M. Bison
Waist: ARAH Tunnel Rat
Legs: ARAH Monkeywrench
Briefcase: ROC???

Character:

This is another character that started out with the codename. "Pound player" is criminal/law enforcement lingo for a drug trafficker able to move larger quantities of product than a corner street dealer. Sounds like a great name for a Head Hunters character, doesn't it? The concept of a criminal syndicate separate from Cobra is a pretty reasonable one, but I've never really warmed up to the concept over the last 25+ years.

My first thought was to make the character a Dreadnok, but the narcotics-centric feel is more of a Head Hunters vibe. But it's not like biker gangs are strangers to drug activity. So perhaps Pound Player started as a Head Hunter who fell in with the Dreadnoks along the way. Or vice-versa. Either way, it's a character with mixed affiliation.

Design/Colors:

The Head Hunters have a techno-pimp feel that's too over-the-top for what I wanted. Instead, a more casual look with a sports jersey and blue jeans felt right- easier to blend in with the general public. But again, more like a Dreadnok. The Bazooka chest/back and the M. Bison (originally used for Hardball) arms are both sports jersey pieces, so they were a good anchor.

The Bazooka chest is one of the most recognizable GI Joe chests ever. Switching it from red/blue/white to brown/orange/yellow, plus adding the longer sleeves, gives it a bit of use for a different character. Then taking the orange and adding it to the bandanas tied below the knees gives some color continuity.

The Budo head is perfectly sculpted. The chonmage (what Wikipedia says is the correct name for the top knot hair style) works perfectly for Budo, a samurai. But if you take that same head and paint it as a different character sporting a current-day man bun, you've got an instant douchebag. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and a five o'clock shadow were the best ways to disguise the head. The yellow for the hair is very pale, with metallic gold mixed in.

The denim of the blue jeans needed to look contemporary. To do this, the color/texture was made by spray painting a black base and then spray painting blue on top of that- while the black was still wet. And to round things out, a wash of dark slate blue. The repair patches on the Monkeywrench legs are very character specific, so I left them unpainted. Under the textured paint they disappear.

Likewise, the boots are a dirty tan. This was created by putting a brown wash over the base color, which was a pale tan. I'd never used the Monkeywrench legs on a custom before, and I was surprised by the amount of detail on the boots. Although the gloss black of the original figure worked for Monkeywrench's color set, it hid all of the great design and sculpting.

Sculpting & Modifying:

The leg screw insets and elbow rivets are epoxied smooth. The hips sockets were dremeled out a bit wider.

Thanks for looking.