Ok, so I started a new thread -- figured you wouldn't want to have to sift through a bunch of new crap in the old thread. If you're just joining us, I did the first 9 of my "Original 13" customs here.
Ok, so I had 4 remaining members to complete: Clutch, Short-Fuse, Grand Slam, & Steeler. Clutch & Short-Fuse were no-brainers - I was going to make them as much like the originals as possible. Steeler & GS were a bit of a challenge, though, because I never really liked the original figs (and I didn't have either one, so that might have affected my outlook). Steeler's little bino-goggles, while cool-looking when I was 10, were pretty lame & impractical. GS was supposed to be an Artillery guy, but used a giant laser-- little bit of trivia: Lasers don't shoot in an arc like artillery, so the HAL was stupid from the beginning. Also, GS was just Flash with an ugly head - then he changed from shooting Laser rounds to flying a jetpack and got new pads. Again- pretty lame. But I went with what I thought looked good and there you have it.
So first off - my favorite grease-monkey, Clutch. Used a Shipwreck head with a sculpted greasy spitcurl (thanks to Mysterious Stranger for the idea to add more to it.) The holster is fully functional, and I realized that I don't have the patience to sand down forearms to make them look bare, so this is likely my last attempt. Oh, and the little stripe down his chest is actually lined up right - but the torso is twisted, so it looks weird in the pic (at least the holster strap covers the potential man-boobs!)
Short-Fuse -- nothing really to say about him, except he won't be toting a mortar around on my Joe team - I don't know to many SF/Delta types that lug around a heavy-ass mortar - so he's my combat engineer (he blows sh!t up.):
Ok, Steeler- - I never had the MOBAT as a kid because it was too expensive. When I tackled this fig, I wanted to get the feel of his personality from the comics, but the look is all new. I used a BBI head that I think looked right, sculpted some tanker boots, and for some reason thought a vest would suit him - it works for me. I need to find a suitable helmet - I've got a tanker helmet laying around somewhere, but I can't find it.
Then there's Grand Slam. Because he had Grunt's ugly ass head and wasn't featured too much in the comics, I never cared about him. And I doubt I would have even made him if I wasn't dead-set on finishing the whole O-13. But once I found some parts that I liked, I started digging this custom. Instead of silver quilted pads, I gave him a kind of body armor chest plate (fully removable, just like my Flash's pads). I used an Eel v1 backpack for the jetpack (which I've always used for a jetpack since getting the Eel as a kid) and still used the "he's basically just a repainted Flash" motif for the body parts. I'm pretty happy with him -- he's not an Artillery dude, but an experimental weapons guy like Flash, only GS tends to work with more unstable stuff as opposed to Flash's electronics focus, hence the rocket strapped to his ass.....
So here, in all their glory, is my vision of the Original 13 Joes -- you may bask in their greatness
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But wait! I'm not finished! -- After making my 25A Airborne, I had to go make a Wild Bill. I wasn't sure how he should look, but then I remembered that my favorite version of Wild Bill is the one that came in the Locust (except for his goofy head and huge hat). Bill's an old Air Cav guy - and he thinks he's a cowboy, so the old 1870s Cav Scout look just fits the character perfectly, IMO. This was my first custom using non-25A legs on a 25A body -- the fit wasn't perfect, but it works well enough for him to sit in a chopper. And one thing of note for you guys - swapping legs that don't have ankle articulation might cause problems -- WB here can't really stand on his own unless he's leaning over in a bit of a hunch. But again, he'll be sitting behind a joystick most of the time. Yeah, he's got a bit of a pea-head, but the 'stache was already painted on
-- oh, and the green on his shoulders is supposed to be blue- I screwed up and thought the color of the Aviation branch was green and since he's wearing shoulder boards I wanted to include it. - It's been changed to blue now, though.
The WIP:
Ok, time to take a break - I'm headed to the East Coast next week (sadly, not for the Con) and then taking a 3-day camping trip with the family. I had a lot of fun with these -- hope you enjoy them as well.
Cheers!
