This is something I've wanted to do since the Resolute 7-packs were announced. Recently I took the time to finally put them together. I wanted to combine the concepts of the Original 13 (shared tooling, similar uniform designs) with the newer Resolute style. Part of the challenge I set for myself was to only use body parts from the Resolute 7-packs and aside from a few pieces I was able to do that. I did have some trouble with a few of the figures and it took a couple head swaps to get a couple of them just right but aside from a few minor tweaks I'm really happy with this set.
First up, Snake-eyes. I had done this figure back when the ROC Target Rescue set came out and he's really the inspiration for the set.
Scarlett is a fix that I wanted to do since the 7-pack came out. The hair is a nice sculpt but the wide face just didn't look good. A hair transplant and a couple coats of paint later and she's more in line with how I wanted her. Also dropped the crossbow and gave her a P90. As cool as the crossbow is its just not a weapon for a modern soldier and special forces operative.
Hawk is one of the figures that deviates from the "only Resolute body" requirement of this set. I just felt that the jacket look from the ROC figure better fit with my idea for this team. He's the leader and more of a behind the scenes operative than a front line soldier. I'm pretty happy with how he turned out.
Stalker is another of the 7-pack figures that I just wanted to tweak out of the box. I didn't like the bright green on the shoulders and felt that he needed some camo to break up the all the green. I also dropped the collar since the neck and shoulders were already painted skin tone. I need to boil and straighten his left wrist but aside from that I'm happy with him.
Short-fuze and Zap were one of the "twin" figures from the '82 series that I wanted to tie together. They both use the same body, webgear and paint scheme. I want to go back and paint Short-fuzes goggles silver because the red just stands out too much. They aren't my favorite of the set but I'm pretty satisfied with them.
Flash and Grand Slam are the other two "twin" figures from '82 that I wanted to try to match up. Flash was a pretty easy figure to put together but Grand Slam gave me fits until I remembered the JUMP version. Slapping the new jet pack and Accelerator Suit helmet on him pulled the figure together.
Breaker is inspired by the cartoon color scheme with the gray uniform and I'm pretty happy with that choice. His gray uniform ties him in with Flash and Grand Slam as "support" troops. The hardest part of this figure was trying to find the Battle Droid backpack. The 7-pack Duke head was probably the easiest choice I had to make out of all the figures in this set. It just needed a hair color change and he was ready to go.
Clutch and Steeler are the other figures that deviated from the "Resolute body only" edict but I feel their looks justified those choices. I really like the jackets for these guys as they are drivers and not out in the mud. I see them riding in the front seats of the R.H.I.N.O. taking the team into battle and covering them until its time to leave.
Grunt was bit of an after thought in putting these together. He came together easily and rounds out the team but doesn't really stand out to me. Since I see him as the tough battle-hardened career soldier it makes sense that he just blends in with the rest. I've never really thought much of the character before but this figure brought him to my attention.
Finally there's my favorite G.I. Joe character, Rock 'n' Roll. I've already done an animated Resolute style RnR but I wanted to do a new one for this set. He's more based on the v.2 figure than the '82 design but I tried to keep the iconic element of the figure (the bullet bandoliers) in there to tie them together. From the weapons (customized Marauder mini-gun w/ backpack frame) to the tattoo on his arm he's just how I wanted him to turn out.
I wanted to do a group shot of them all together but my photo backdrop is covered in Iron Man figures and parts. I'll try to get one soon since I think they'll look really good all grouped around a R.H.I.N.O. like on the cover of Marvel issue #1.
:mayor:
