Thanks! I had known I wanted to do something with v2 Zartan for a long time, but it took me a while to figure out exactly how I wanted to do it. I like how he turned out.

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I really like the stalker head repaint! he looks north woods native (eskimo?). the single pony tail spirit is a huge upgrade!!

really great work all around!

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Zarana
Dreadnok Lieutenant

To go along with the biker version of Zartan I posted recently, here’s a biker version of Zarana. I took an early Zarana head and removed the bun of hair on top of her head, and sculpted a new hairstyle basically inspired by version 5A’s hair, though I used a different colour than that figure has. I also added some eyeshadow similar to that figure. The rest of the custom is pretty straightforward, I used kind of a dusty rose colour for the accents rather than the usual pink that Zarana has.

Head – Zarana v1A
Torso, waist – Lady Jaye
Arms – M. Bison (Street Fighter)
Legs – Zarana

Pistol – Marauder Inc.
Rotary weapon – Zarana

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Tanglefoot
Marine Ground Recon

Tanglefoot started as a backpack. I was just playing around with parts and mounted a knife sheath from a Dart figure onto the side of a Viper backpack, and modified a Marauder knife to fit it. I then decided it needed an outdoorsy-jungle-type Joe to use the pack, so Tanglefoot was born. I took the name from the IDW Special Missions series, but that's the extent of the inspiration, the concept and character design are original. I painted his hair a dark brown, but to give him more differentiation from Bazooka, he has some stubble as well.

File Name: Brill, Michael E.
Birthplace: Seattle, WA
Service Branch: Marines
Grade: E-5 (Sgt)
Primary MOS: Reconnaissance Marine, Parachute Qualified
Secondary MOS: Field Radio Operator

“I don't think I've ever seen the guy go inside for any reason other than a direct order. He lives outdoors. They say he has a pup tent in his back yard so that when he's hone on leave, he doesn't have to sleep indoors. I don't believe it though. There's no way it's a pup tent. He probably builds a new lean-to every night after spending the day foraging for materials.”

Head – Bazooka
Arms, torso – Pathfinder
Waist, legs – Hardball

Hat, knife, rifle – Marauder Inc.
Backpack – Viper (modified with knife sheath from Dart)

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Iron Guerilla
Iron Grenadier Special Forces

In Marvel Special Missions #23, the Joes go into the jungles of Sierra Gordo on a covert mission. They run up against some of Destro's Iron Grenadiers in the field who had clearly been there awhile. Previously ForceFull1 did some customs of those Iron Grenadiers (and came up with the name Iron Guerilla), and I thought it was such a good idea I had to do my own. I did the same three so they could have been a three-pack, but to make sure they weren’t just copies, I did four things differently: used different head, a different waist piece, added some modifications to the torso (web gear and collar to match the comics), and instead of doing three full figures I did three heads and one body. This was done at least in part because I don't have much in the way of spare Iron Grenadier parts. I also made sure to give them a variety of weapons, as seen in the comic.

Head – A: Outback (modified), B: Muskrat (modified), C: custom-cast
Arms – Crankcase
Torso – Iron Grenadier (modified)
Waist – Action Marine
Legs – Iron Grenadier

Assault rifle, submachine gun – Marauder Inc.
Recoiless rifle – Marauder Inc. (modified)
Knife – Alley Viper II v8
Backpack – Leatherneck

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Some more pics for the Iron Guerillas.

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Tollbooth
Combat Engineer

I'm working on my first custom playset which will require a combat engineer to be a part of it, so rather than create a new character I made a custom Tollbooth in a field outfit. I removed his helmet and replaced it with a boonie hat after shaping his head with Milliput. I painted a US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) logo on his chest. I realize that a real soldier would not have that logo on his uniform (instead using a more muted brass one), but I like the spot of colour it adds and the Joe universe isn't designed for true realism.

Head – Tollbooth (modified with hat from Marauder Inc.)
Arms – Tunnel Rat
Torso – Mutt
Waist – Zartan
Legs – Monkeywrench (modified)

Tool belt – Lanard The Corps!
Shovel – Marauder Inc.
Pistol – Black Out

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Iron Cobra
Cobra Commando Leader

This figure started out as an idea to do some kind of Viper officer using Tomax/Xamot legs, and eventually evolved into what you see here. I decided to make him an individual character instead of a trooper. With the Crimson Guard torso and HISS Driver head, he clearly started in the Cobra ranks as a Siegie (in their first comic appearance Siegies were drawn to resemble HISS Drivers), and I figure he now occupies a role similar to that of Snake-Eyes on the Joe team. His name is inspired by Cobra de Aco, which means Steel Cobra in Portuguese. In combat I imagine him with very precise, controlled movements.

Head – HISS Driver
Arms – Baroness v2
Torso – Crimson Guard v6
Waist, legs – Tomax/Xamot

Submachine gun – Marauder Inc.
Sword - Kamakura

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Overlord
Coil Field Commander

This custom is a sculpt by Krexx Radek based on the appearance of Overlord in the Devil's Due Joe continuity, where he was a high-ranking member of Serpentor's Coil organization. I took some liberties with the colour choice to make him a little more visually interesting. The sculpt does a very good job at representing the bulk and power of this version of the character, it's really a massive, solid ARAH figure, and is extremely well-balanced, standing on its own very robustly.

All parts – sculpted by Krexx Radek (shoulder armour sculpted by me)

Knives – Venomous Maximus

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Gnawgahyde
Dreadnok Poacher

This is an upgrade of the original Gnawgahyde figure. I swapped out his bottom half and gave the whole thing a paint job. He now has stubble, a more realistic cheetah-fur vest, khaki pants instead of deep blue, an anarchy tattoo instead of the “No Joe” one he had originally, and a few other things. One of the greatest things about Gnawgahyde was, of course, his plethora of accessories so I made sure that he kept his gear, just swapping out the machete for a better one. I modified the rifle a bit and gave his boar a complete paitn job. His firearm has a real-world equivalent, by the way, it appears to be based on an Iver Johnson AMAC-1500, a bolt-action .50 BMG sniper/anti-material rifle.

Head, arms, torso – Gnawgahyde
Waist, legs - Buzzer

Hat, rifle, bow, backpack, boar – Gnawgahyde
Machete – Marauder Inc.

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These are all excellent. Love seeing new and new take Dreadnoks.

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Lots of awesome work here, as always.

Negator - A great addition to the IG's, the parts work really well to fit right in.

Relampago - Very interesting concept for a custom.

Big Iron - so simple, but it works. The barricade body looks so much better in blue silver rather than blue and gold.

Metal-Head (v1) - I've always prefered v2 over v1, for some reason the v1 figure just never did it for me. These paint upgrades do help what I always thought was a rather bland figure compared to others from the same era.

Metal-Head (v2) - Love it. v2 had a much more detailed sculpt than v1, and this repaint is fantastic.

Darklon - nice job toning down the colors. I love the concept of Darklon, but his figure left lot to be desired. The mold is so detailed, but the colors are what really killed it. I've never been too pleased with any of my own darklon customs, so I will be giving him another go eventually. My last one is having issues with the dye bleeding through and ruining the paint.

Bombstrike - simple parts choices, but they work. Nice clean paint work too. Another character that needs to be on my customizing list. Also dig the Sea Devils variant, she fits right in with your custom team.

Beaver - Very interesting take on this guy, I like the colors used and the parts used keep him rather unique.

Northwind - Excellent use of parts, I really dig this one.

Wendigo - another really well put together custom, might be my favorite of these 3 Canadians. The camo on his pants is outstanding.

Zartan - Absolutely love this one. A biker zartan custom has been on my to do list for a long time.

Buzzer - The original dreadnok figures have grown on me lot over the years. That said, this buzzer has some sensible upgrades.

Dart - nice job emulating the colors of the v2 figure. Always liked the general design of Dart, but like you said, the ARAH format always trumps the new sculpt stuff, so he has to be remade as a custom.

Zarana - now this is awesome! I've always preferred the first Zarana headsculpt over the revised one, and those mods along with your paint job show how good it can look. Very nice custom, I love to seeing fresh takes on these characters. I've been saving up a few extra Zaranas for future customs, including an alternate take on her of some sort.

Tanglefoot - I dig it. the paintwork really helps sell this guy as a new character, along with your filecard description.

Iron Guerilla - another custom that I absolutely love. You really nailed the look of these guys with your modifications and the parts you chose. I have to make some of these for myself. I've never had the opportunity to read that special missions issue, so I'd never seen them before. It makes sense that there would be IG's in the field that would have a less formal appearance.

Tollbooth - I've always been a fan of the original figure, and this new take on him works just as well. Great idea adding the stubble and hat.

Gnawgahyde - Another figure that I've always liked. Excellent job with the updated paint, and the buzzer legs help balance out his proportions (the original legs are rather skinny compared to his upper body)

Man, there were even more I didn't see when I posted. Would love to see a group shot of your Dreadnoks together if you get the chance.

And that Special Missions is one of the few Joe comics I remember getting when they came out. I think maybe it was the first time I saw COBRA/IG troops with their helmets off and I was blow away with the head swapping possibilities. Zandar was my stand in head, but that shaved outback looks GREAT.

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some more greatness!

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Sure thing, I'll try to remember to do that - I have a few more Dreadnoks to do and then I'll try to do a group shot.

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