SUPER CLEAN

well done!

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I posted a custom Cobra polar base and a bunch of snow troopers in their own thread.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=46753

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Budo
Samurai Soldier

We were going to get a second version of Budo in 1995 until the entire GI Joe line was cancelled that year. The figure mold did get used to make a movie edition of Shang Tsung from Mortal Kombat. So by taking one of those figures, and the available pre-production photo of the 1995 Ninja Force figures, we can make an approximation of that Budo. I decided against just making a straight reproduction of it, since I thought the paint apps and some of the colour scheme could be better, so we can say this custom is inspired by the 1995 figure rather than based on it. I used chrome ink on the sword blade to make it super-shiny. The figure sculpt is both good and bad. The head sculpt is pretty fantastic, but the figure suffers from the oversized torso that Ninja Force and other later Joe figures had. Plus his legs are too skinny, but the arms are just fine. The pattern on his pants is not something I came up with – those little designs are sculpted into his legs. The most challenging part of this custom is, of course, the fact that the torso is permanently glued together, with no screw in the back. I could have tried splitting it apart and then gluing it back together when done, but I decided to just paint the figure without disassembling it.

All parts – Shang Tsung (Mortal Kombat Movie Edition)

Helmet – Shang Tsung (Mortal Kombat Movie Edition)
Sword – Snake Eyes v19

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Slither
Cobra Polar Commander

I've done a bunch of Cobra arctic trooper customs recently, and figured I might as well do up a unique character to serve as their leader, commanding all of Cobra's cold-weather operations. He's mostly made of a couple of arctic Joes, with a custom-cast head I got online. Some white paint to freshen things up, plus some grey, black and Cobra blue for colour, and he was done. The ice axe accessory is to give him a bit of a psycho killer vibe. The filecard would read something like “This guy is a stone-faced killer. He's cool and calculating in all the worst possible ways. He moves with a cold slither.”

Head – Custom-cast
Arms, legs – Iceberg
Torso – Frostbite
Waist – Storm Shadow

Pistol – Sgt. Stalker v11
Ice axe - unknown

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Zartan
Master of Shadows

This custom is a commission I did for a Zartan fan. One possibility he suggested was a Zartan done up all in black, and that sounded like an interesting idea to me, so I ran with it. In no small part due to he fact that it would allow me to use large amounts of Model Master flat black paint, which I have a great love for. Other than the eyes, the flat black is the only paint used here, and it's used nearly everywhere on the figure. The only part swap was to use Star Viper arms, which gave me a black base to work with there so I wouldn't have to worry about shoulders and elbows. I call this Zartan in his Master of Shadows mode. I left the clear plastic in his chest plate because I think it produces a neat effect.

Head, torso, waist, legs – Zartan
Arms – Star Viper

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I like that zartan a lot!

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I posted a new vehicle and its driver in their own thread. I'm very pleased with how they turned out and a shout-out to Blood Brigade for the inspiration.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=46768

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I love seeing o ring customs

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Posted a new vehicle, its pilot and another related figure in its own thread.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=46775

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Sparks
Signal Corps

There's nothing particularly special about this custom, many ARAH customizers have done a version of Sparks at some point. And like many other Sparks customs before this one, I used the Scrap-Iron torso, but I removed the grenades. The head is Clutch with the beard removed and the chin shaved down quite a bit. To make this custom stand out a bit from the others, he has a custom communications backpack, built by adding parts from Dial-Tone's and Tele-Viper's packs to a base of Lifeline's.

Head, arms – Clutch v2
Torso – Scrap-Iron v3 (modified)
Waist – Sgt. Stalker v5
Legs – Crankcase

Helmet – Crankcase (accessory pack version, modified)
Backpack – Lifeline modified with parts from Dial-Tone and Tele-Viper backpacks
Pistol – unknown
Rifle – Snow Job v2

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Eel
Cobra Frogman

This is a simple paint upgrade of the original Cobra Eel. I've done quite a number of custom Cobra divers, and while working on another one I realized I had never done an upgrade of the original Eel. One big reason for this is that the Eel is one of my favourite figures of all time, and it's already pretty much perfect as it is. So I hesitated even doing this custom. There are just a number of painted details that the original didn't have. I won't say it's an improvement on the original, just a different take on it.

All parts – Eel

All accessories – Eel (breathing hose is accessory pack version)

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Hydra
Cobra Frogman Leader

I didn't really set out to do it on purpose, but I've done quite a number of Cobra diver customs in the past couple of years. So many that they clearly need a leader in their undersea operations. That's what led to the design of Hydra, Cobra's deadliest aquatic operative. He rose through the ranks of the organization, first as an Eel, then a Hydro-Viper before distinguishing himself and demanding a role with some authority. He's not the sort of guy you want to run into in the deep, dark water. The work on this one was mostly just finding the right parts and painting them, though I did have to drill some additional holes in the feet to fit the modern-style swim fins.

Head – Croc Master
Arms, torso, waist – Hydro-Viper
Legs – Wet-Suit v3

Backpack – Techno-Viper (modified)
Underwater rifle – Heavy Water
Swim fins - unknown

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that group pic is so awesome!

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Very nice, I really like the Eel and Hydra

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Posted the HORNET helicopter and its pilot, Slick, in their own thread.

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=46821

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