Hey everybody!
I've really enjoyed looking over the work here and at the start of the Summer I decided I should try some customizing. I customized quite a bit with my Joes when I was young but basically haven't done it in almost twenty years. I thought I'd jump in the deep end with this and do some sculpting, add articulation, paint, the whole nine yards! There have been some stumbles here and there, but overall I'm having fun!
Right now, with this first character, I'm thinking of it as a sci-fi, in-the-future character. I still somewhat see it as connected to GIJoe, as I started this project imagining a "B.A.T. fighter." So, I wanted big glove-like hands that would be special devices for battling robots.
I made a 25th style neck post, so he has switchable heads, masked and unmasked. I used a set of newsculpt Duke boots with ankle articulation, so he has tilt ankles. The whole sculpted area for the boots was cut away from the lower leg and reattached as a cut join, so the boots swivel side to side (you can kinda tell in the pic). I find a boot swivel actually allows for more stability in poses than a tilt-ankle. I haven't completed the wrists yet, but they will be on a swivel as well. The rest is standard Joe articulation.
As far as accessories, he has two sets of hands, a sci-fi pistol (still working on adding detail to that), an unknown sci-fi device and a removable scarf. Overall, this figure was inspired by Grunt V3 and Dodger (and Battleforce 2000, in general), The Forgotten One from Jack Kirby's Eternals, Black Getter from Getter Robo... I guess there are other elements in there as well!
This other figure hasn't been quite as complicated. I started with the headsculpt, originally intending to do an updated Ripper with a more exaggerated beard and specs. I decided after I sculpted it that it should just be an original character. I will have him be in the same sci-fi, futuristic universe as the above character. I originally wanted him to be a future Dreadnok or generally bad-guy muscle type, but now I think he should go against type and be a good guy with the above character, kind of along the lines of Taurus from the Renegades (can you tell I like the more outlandish corners of Joe?). The only articulation mod for this guy is that he as a ball joint for the head and neck, so his head can pop off too. As of now, I don't have an alternate head for him...
I still want to work on some details for the first character and will probably make a new smaller scarf to allow for more head movement. I have a jetpack for him, too, but I'm not as sure what I want to do with it. He probably needs a few more tech accessories (some sort of "tricorder" thing). I also always loved the Joes that had animals, so I'll have to create some weird space creature for him before all is said and done... I'd like to paint them both soon, but after all the sculpting and mods, I'm pretty scared to. I have a lot more experience painting than sculpting, so I'll get over my worries soon (I think).
Well, thanks for looking!