Wow, didn't realize how long it had been since I posted to this thread/finished my last batch of customs. I've been slacking a bit, I guess. I finished up '86 a couple weeks ago and am almost through with '87. Up now, the class of '86:
Beachhead -- This guy, I used a knock-off figure I got from AliExpress and you can tell with the shoddy paint apps on the eyes. He's pretty much just the stock figure with some paint apps:
Dialtone -- Same head I used for Flint (and the to-be-seen-in-the'87-update Lt. Falcon) with some paint. Did some experimenting and used some electrical tapes for his straps instead of trying to find a Mega Construx piece that was 'close enough'. Backpack is from a Star Wars droid:
General Hawk -- Factory with some paint apps. This is an example of only making a single version of characters with multiple figures, using the one most iconic to me. I'm thinking of adding OG Hawk to the class of '82 as a character called Hawkeye:
Iceberg -- Lots of paint and some sculpting to turn the knit cap of the original figure into Iceberg's flaps:
Leatherneck -- Trimmed the straps off a harness to make his single-strap harness then painted him up:
Lifeline -- Sculpted on the pouches and empty holster on his torso, then several layers of red paint to get the paint even:
Lowlight -- Found a figure with a dark gray color. Sculpted on the shoulder kit and zippers. The head is from the Sigma 6 line but I liked it for Lowlight. I have a MC figure with a knit cap and goggles I may swap out the head on and use this one on another figure, but I like it for now:
Mainframe -- This was the torso I had originally picked out for Lowlight before I found the better, darker one. So this one became Mainframe. It was another of the AE KO figures, as evidenced by his poor eye paint. The helmet is a complete sculpt job directly onto the T-post of the head. The bandoleer is a piece of electrical tape with some sculpting added:
Sci-Fi -- Chest pad and battery packs on his legs were completely sculpted on. The helmet was also sculpted on. The original head was a KO bald head with sunglasses where the sunglasses had been painted poorly so they looked like goggles or a visor so I sculpted the helmet around that and used them as his visor. Still need to make his laser kit:
Wet-Suit -- One of my compromise figures. There was no way I was going to find a backpack to work as his rebreather kit, so I just used one of the CoD SEALs that was molded in the right color to work as WS and painted the SEAL rebreather to mimic the original color scheme. Swapped out the lower arms with some of the rare bare arms to be found in the Mega Construx lines then added some paint apps:
Cross Country -- Shoulder strap is electrical tape with some shells trimmed off a CoD leg strap. Need to find a kepi hat for him but for now he gets a ball cap. He is head to toe one of the KO figures and they don't seem to hold paint well, as you can see:
Lift Ticket -- CoD head with some sculpting/modding to make it look like LT's flight helmet with exposed face (saw some new Mega Construx figures posted last week that if I can find them, there's one that has a helmet that will quickly replace this one). Sculpted on the pouches and stuff on his torso, then painted:
Sgt. Slaughter -- (the flesh tone between the head and the arms/torso match better in real life. My camera lighting really made the painted flesh tone look paler than the plastic) Used a He-Man torso and arms and CoD legs and head. Sculpted on his gigantic chin. Sculpted his whistle onto a piece of thread. Can't find a proper hat in the MC line so for now, he gets to look like Bazooka v3's fishing buddy:
Sculpted on his gigantic chin.
Slipstream -- Head is helmeted WWII CoD figure, rest is modern CoD. Sculpted the goggles and other bits onto the helmet to make it look like a flight helmet instead of infantry helmet, sculpted on the chest kit, flight suit greeble on shoulders, and pouches on forearms. Rest is just paint apps:
'86 was the last year I liked nearly every figure that came out. '87 was where I started falling away from GI Joe. I still got quite a few of the '87 guys, a few of '88, fewer still of '89, and maybe 7 figures total in '90 but '87 was really my last hurrah. I'm nearly done with the '87 guys and find myself making characters I don't even know or really care about (especially BF2000). Once I'm done with '87, I'll be getting into characters I have almost no connection to or knowledge of, so it's going to be interesting seeing if it brings me a new perspective on any of them. The one exception is the class of '90. For some reason, I bought a few of those guys and really liked them. In fact, it was a custom I made of one of them (Rampart) that inspired me to start this project.