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Personal Communication:
From: Lance "Clutch" Steinberg
To: Conrad "Duke" Hauser

We got two more for the cause, Duke. Not exactly Navy SEALS, but this isn't a time when we can really be choosy, right? They're a husband and wife team who call themselves Darko and Mosquito. They came from up north, around the eastern side of what used to be Washington state. Apparently they were running a station for the so-called "Army for One" until the city they were operating out of was overrun by Cobra and they were forced to retreat. Unable to make contact with A-for-O, they started wandering south. That's when we met up with them. They were unfortunate enough to be raiding supplies from a Cobra outpost that just happened to be on our hit-list. They were inside when we attacked, which was a lucky break for us, since they had already disabled the outpost's security defenses. After the dust settled, they asked for asylum. They were both pretty handy against Cobra, and hell, you know me, I can't say no to a hard-luck case. They've been with us ever since.
I don't think either of them would have cut it as a GI Joe, but they're both pretty handy to have around the Fortress America. Darko was a writer in his pre-war life, and has taken it upon himself to chronicle our 'adventures.' I tell him it's a waste of time, but hell, who ever listened to me? He's a maniac in the machine shop, too...some of the devices he comes up with are absolute atrocities. He built himself this weapon that's half machete, half flame thrower. I keep waiting for it to blow up in his face, but it seems to be working so far. You don't want to see what it does to a Cobra trooper...trust me. Mosquito...well, hell if I know how she fell in with Darko. The guy's doing a lot better than I think he should be. She used to be a teacher, so, as you can imagine, she's not exactly front-line material. We're still lucky to have her, though. We come across a lot of refugees out here, and a whole ton of them are orphaned children. You know me, Duke, I'm not exactly the babysitting type. But Mosquito has a knack for working with them. She takes care of them until we can get them to safe haven. These kids have lost everything, but she manages to help them forget about all of it, even for just a little while. It's a little bit odd seeing kids playing a game of tag around a paramilitary convoy, but whatever works. Oh, but just in case you think she's just non-combat staff...a few weeks back, we got ambushed just outside of Omaha. An incredibly unlucky Cobra soldier made a run at the makeshift classroom we set up for her and the kids. Remember that fire-sword thing I told you Darko invented? Well, what that thing does seems downright humane compared to what she did to the trooper that threatened those kids.
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I've been wanting to make a self-custom for awhile now. I missed out on the Joecustoms vs. Zombies project (...despite suggesting it to begin with...I suck at group projects), so I thought I'd make a self-custom in my own joe-verse. Then I decided to make one of my wife as well, because, well, why not?

I based mine partially on my Fallout 3 character, and just had to include my favorite weapon from that game. The flame effect is made 100% out of hotglue with translucent paint, and is removable. Maybe one day I'll get around to writing a tutorial.



Close-up of the sword, with and without flames:



The fuel pack, and the flames removed:


For the custom of my wife, I went with the same 'wastelander' look I used for my custom. Her codename comes from the name she used at a summer camp she worked at for a great many years (all of the counselors had weird, wacky, outdoors-themed nicknames)


And just for fun, a Days of Future Past homage:


Parts:

Darko:
Head: 25th Ace
Torso/waist: 25th Snake Eyes v3
Arms: battle-damaged Snake Eyes
Legs: battle-damaged Snake Eyes
Bullets: Saw Viper
Fuel pack strap: Star Wars Rahm Kota
Fuel pack: 25th Torch
Sword: lightsaber, VvV Snake eyes blade, Ripper hose
Flames: hotglue

Mosquito:
Arms: Han Solo
Everything else: 25th Lady Jaye (modified)

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What a great self custom. The head looks a bit like the former WWE wrestler Eddie Guerrero. Mosquito is right up there too- very cool looking figure.

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I can dig it. Nice bio to boot. The sword looks awesome.

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Every now and then you see something made that really takes things to the next level. Here there are several, including the very creative way you worked a true self-custom into your existing verse.

But the sword and the hot glue flames are one of the better ideas and execution I have seen in a long time. They are also soon to be copied (attempted?) by yours truly, and 90% of the customizers who see the effect. Outstanding.

I also have to comment on the head mods. I didn't immediately know which head was used as the base for either figure. I can see Ace in there now that I know what was used, but I still don't see Lady Jaye in Mosquito's head.

Great work (as usual)

Dennis

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Very nice I think a good bio always brings the customs to life. Its cool concept Husband and wife kicking but together. I thought about doing that but my wife 4'10" kind of hard to make it true to life. Overall I give them an A++.

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Well, in terms of scale of figs, there are plenty of SW female figs that would fit into the 4'10" height range, when placed with 25th Joes.

If you mean it's hard to realistically envision someone that size kicking butt, you need to think outside the box. Either she's a silent assassin type, using her size in her favor, and carrying a wide array of exotic weapons...OR she's intensely strong for her size, such that she carries BIG BIG guns. This could be dual hand cannons, or it could be really over the top (think Marauder gatling over the top). lol.

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Fascinating back story. Civilians forced to being soldiers. Very compelling.

The figures look great too. Mosquito's head is superb. I thought that was some Star Wars head or something.

Darko's flame sword is jaw droppingly awesome. I played around with this technique while doing a Halloween project. It did not turn out nearly as well as your flame effect. I'm waiting for a perfect project when this trick will come into use.

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Awesome! This makes me want to make a new self custom.

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Nice work, brother. I enjoyed the story-line, especially the manner in which you have presented it in context as a transmission from Clutch to Duke. That sort of thing rather automatically puts me in play mode.

The flaming sword is both interesting and original. Good job.

The figures are solid, but "Mosquito" sucks. LOL. It's a joke... Get it? Mosquito, sucks...? Not at all. Good work all around-- although, she could use some sort of proboscis to go with the code name-- perhaps even just some sort of spear?

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Thanks for the comments everyone!



I have to admit, I'm really really happy with how the sword came out. Here's what I based it on, if anyone is curious. I'd like to say it took some remarkable amount of skill on my part, but was actually pretty easy.

The short version....

1) Coat the piece you want the flames to go on (in this case, the sword blade) with aluminum foil. Get a good, tight fit.

2) Get out hotglue gun, start using it to make the frame for your flame effect. Don't worry about details so much as just getting a good basic shape down (you want it to wrap onto your part...in this case, I made sort of a net effect). The glue works best for this at low temperature, so don't let the glue gun get too hot.

3) Once you have the frame, start the detail work. For flames, just put a dot of hotglue down (again, low-temperature is best), then pull outward. Hold the glue-gun there for awhile (stretching out the dot into a Hersey's Kiss like shape) to let it solidify, then break the glue-string. You're going to get a lot of stringing doing this, just wait until it cools all the way to trim them. If you mess up, just use the tip of the glue-gun to remelt the glue and start over. It's very forgiving.

4) Once you're done with the details, let the glue cool all the way (usually just takes a few minutes) and then remove the flame-effect. The foil you wrapped onto your original piece will probably come with it. Just peel the foil off of the flame effect...it should come off easily. Test it out. You should be able to slip the flame effect onto your original piece now and have it wrap on.

5) Use transparent paints (I use Tamiya, but I guess Model Masters makes good ones, too) to paint the flames. I started with a base coat of yellow and then did a light brushing of orange. After it dries, you're done!

Of course, if you want the flames to be permanently attached to the figure/weapon, then you can skip the whole foil part and just put the glue directly onto the original piece.

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