Here's a few I've had done but not photographed. First, let me explain that I'm re-purposing a few of my older pieces for a new project. For some of my original characters, I'm just converting them to something else. For other figs, I may be taking a part or two I really like, then simply re-doing the first one.

One example of this is Roadblock. My EXCAL version had morphed to a point where it didn't use a single Roadblock piece in it. Because of that, it became real easy for me to take the figure I was already upgrading, and make it an original character. But I love having Roadblock in my main verse, so I had to replace him.

First here is the new character for a different project. His name is Dexter "Baby Boy" Rollins. He is a tech/mech as well as serving as hired muscle for various missions. This one is a sci-fi verse. The full bio will come at a later time. This is only a preview.


Setting out to make a new Roadblock, I took a prompt from Chief's awesome Joe team - I think it's time to get the band back together. So for a quick story preview, Roadblock will be leaving Knighthawk's team (tune in for next season's opening episode, lol), and the former Joes that exist in EXCAL will be forming a new sub-unit of their own. I also followed Chief's lead by combining Roadblock and Cage parts for this one...though I think I basically used what would have been the leftovers from Chief's Now no longer serving with a Paladin, I gave him more of a dressed down look. The end result is kind of plain, so I may still add some gear. I prefer it to be removable, but that's a challenge with this huge torso. thoughts?



Next up is a long overdue upgrade. One of the first figures I put together was a surfer version of Rock ‘N Roll. Looking at it today, it’s a decent looking figure still, though I think I’d have to re-classify it as a dive version, more realistically. I am working on gearing that version up accordingly. Even then, with its lanky proportions, it’s clearly a 25th Anny custom, that looks a touch out of place with some of the figures I’ve made since. Here is the old one:



At some point after that, I started a WIP of a new surfer version (I don’t know why I so want to perfect that look for him – but I have now done about half of my custom Joes as being in a more civilian styled agent get-up). This new one I liked at first, but he ended up a runt, and with oddly proportioned arms, and a weird head. At first I liked the sculpt work I did to Clone Wars Anakin head, but the head later bugged me. Here is the scrapped WIP:


While I recycled most of that figure, I did learn from the concept. I guess I can’t say for sure how much better or worse this version is, but it makes me happier, so far. Since taking these photos, I have added a draw string to the swim trunks, to further that effect. I also think he needs one or more tats. Does anyone have any good ideas for that? Simple rock and roll artist logos? Other cliché tats? Anyway, here he is before the drawstring was added:



I will also add some swappable grip-styled hands at some point to make him more versatile than just surfing/zombie/groping style hands.




Next up, one I’ve been working on forever, with a story, for your reading pleasure.

TO: The Sentinel

FROM: "Doc" Savage - Office of the Executive Director

RE: Paladin Knight Program


Major Thorne - I wanted to personally congratulate you for your selection as the new Director of the Paladin Knight Program, whether the title be deemed interim or not. We shall share in our forthcoming journey together as we attempt to fill the shoes of Mr. Queen, each in our own right, me as Executive Director of EXCAL, and yourself as the PKP Director, a position which I do not doubt exceeds my own in importance in these times of war. As you know, Mr. Queen accomplished much in these dual roles, and while he has stepped down, I know in my heart that he will continue to serve EXCAL's cause to the best of his abilities in his new role as well. I am sending him correspondence to that effect presently, and would invite you to do the same.


Such pleasantries, however, are not the sole purpose for this memorandum. I would like to speak with you in the near future about a nomination I have in mind for the Program. I must admit it will not be the first such nomination I have made for this candidate, as Mr. Queen and I simply did not see eye-to-eye on the matter in the past. Of course, his role as Executive Director played a much larger part than did his role with the PKP in blocking said nomination, and I am not without some hope that my current stint in that Executive capacity might at least gain your ear, with all due deference and respect, of course, to the decision making authority you must exercise in your own right.


I am sending you the file for my nominee to join the program. He previously accompanied me (in the pre-EXCAL days) on several worldly adventures, and I can personally attest to his character and virtue. Of course, he did change a bit after his..."accident", but I now find his knowledge and expertise on matters ancient and arcane to be quite useful (especially those related to ancient Egyptian culture). He has also become quite formidable as a fighter in his own right (somehow even moreso than his already impressive special forces trained skill set), a combination which renders him an ideal candidate, in my humbled opinion.


I do not want to B.S. you Richard: Oliver was quite adamant about refusing Mr. Spector's nomination because he simply did not want to indulge the Program in any more mystical "mumbo-jumbo", and I admit that some of that is attached if my nominee is accepted. After everything bad that happened when Merlin was allowed access to the Paladins, I suppose Mr. Queen is not to blame for that point of view. But I am confident we are dealing with something entirely different at the moment.


---
TO: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SAVAGE

FROM: PKP DIRECTOR THORNE

RE: PKP NOMINATIONS


Thank you, Doc, for the kind words. I have reviewed Mr. Queen's file for your nomination, and I must express some concerns. It seems Ollie was not so much worried about "mystical mumbo-jumbo" as he was worried about the sanity of the man he called "Moon Knight." He remarks in his notes that while his "vigilantism thus far has been for the benefit of the good, unsanctioned retribution goes against the laws of man, and is itself a sign of bad." He goes on to say that his observers have reported back that "this Moon Knight seems to enjoy his job a bit too much." And he finishes with the notion that Marc Spector himself is mentally unbalanced and therefore a threat to the Program.


Having said all of that, your own take is a valuable one, and I am inclined to defer to you. With my interim tag in mind, I do not believe it is my place to contradict the Executive Director, not when you have such firsthand knowledge. I am comfortable in getting Mr. Spector started on the Program, so long as he is willing to go through the extensive psychological testing by Dr. Sam Loomis, which is required of all of our Knights.



I picked Chief’s brain at length on this figure. The hardest part for me was finding the right unmasked head, and to be honest, I’m still not sold. I went with this one based upon Chief’s explanation that Spector is now certifiably wacko. I thought the eyes and the odd grimace/smile could be emphasized for effect. Thoughts?

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Moon Knight is perfect and great, except for his feet which are enormous and don't fit with the realistic vibe of the rest of the figure. The unmasked head looks "driven" and "intense" which can come across as crazy, certainly. Over all, probably the best Moon Knight I've seen posted! How did you do the hood?

Rock 'N Roll is a very cool concept (that was your FIRST figure? Good grief, you started out good at this), but there is something about the way his calves intersect the pants that suggests that he fills out those trunks all the way. I think the weight supporting straps add to the "thunder thighs" illusion, since loose fitting trunks couldn't have straps around them that way.

Yeah, that Moon Knight is amazing. The hood really sells it.

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Some great work here, as usual.

The first guy- I get too much of a Roadblock feel from him. Theres not enough to differentiate him IMO, despite the tools.

Roadblock- superb. At first I was thinking I like seeing fully equipped soldiers with webgear and all the gubbins.

But the pared-down look could easily be a civilian version and for that its perfect.

RnR- I agree that the thighs are disproportionate and throw off the whole figure.

As for ink (my specialist subject) - you cant get much more cliched than a tribal band round his bicep, especially if it has a yin-yang in the middle.

Moon- Knight- dont know the character at all, but I love that head. As for representing insanity, I dont think you can ever truly do that in this medium with any degree of subtlety. I do get a very determined, almost obsessive feel tho which seems to certainly be in keeping with the bio

I like them the RnR works great for me.

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Moonknight is really badass.

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First off, thanks for the comments guys. Obviously Moon Knight is the main custom from the thread, as indicated by the time I spent on him and on his story. I'll touch a bit on each though:

The new character - yeah he's extremely similar in look to my Roadblock, and in some respects will be a Roadblock homage in my new project. The new thing will be distinct from my normal verse though, so I don't mind the inherent similarities. If I was adding him to a Joe-centric verse it would be too redundant for sure.

Roadblock - The intent here was definitely to keep it simple. The civilian look I think fits the character, and definitely fits in with how I've handled some of the other Joe "survivors" in my EXCAL verse. I'm happy with him, but that's in part because I didn't have to do much.

Rock 'N Roll - that old pic wasn't literally my first custom, but it was one of probably the first ten I did in this scale. It still has potential, it just doesn't look as good next to my newer stuff. The current version - I get what people are saying about the legs. I actually like those legs for mimmicking big baggy swim-shorts though. If I have a personal problem with the legs, it's not the width or bulk, it's the length. I wanted - and may still try to - have the shorts end higher up, above the knee joint. But the swivel joint on this particular set of legs made that a tough task. So I simply chopped them off to add the bare lower legs, at a spot safely below the joint itself.

Now, I've seen people were those really really long swim suit/short things. But it's not ideal here. So I need to find the right parts to make a whole bare lower leg - knee included fit better with the uppers. I don't think it would cause the same problem that way that it does now.

For Moony, I get the critique on the feet - they aren't my favorite either, not to mention they bend funny also. But if I change them, it will be for another set of white feet that make more sense. I don't want to have to paint the foot joints white, if that makes sense.

Thanks for the other comments as well. I'm glad the unmasked head works. I don't mind if it's an intense look, more so than "LASER BLAST" If you noticed, I did the same here as I did with my Green Arrow, by adding the swappable up and down versions of the hood, to help sell the unmasked look overall.

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I really like your Baby Boy custom -- i think he stands on his own as a unique character!

however, if Hasbro hadn't given us a Luke Cage, your Roadblock in this thread would totally stand in for him!

Like everyone here, I also dig your Moon Knight -- especially the body armor

I hate to say it, but i dig the surfer wet suit RR better than the lifter shorts RR. but i just hate it when beefcake tries to muscle my scene, dig?

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also, your use of that torso with the arms here looks better than what i did with my snake custom -- i think it's because the head on RR sits lower, and sells it better?

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I like the new guy as a whole. Not sure where you're going with this new "verse" but this figure is a nice way to start introducing it.

Roadblock looks good. With all the great new gear coming from Hasbro it can be easy to overload a figure with stuff. This minimal approach works really well and fits what you're planning with the character.

Moon Knight is about how I'd expect him in your 'verse. I like the crescent moon on his chest. I really hope you used a ROC Arctic Shipwreck torso so you wouldn't have to paint a black RIA torso white because that would be enough to make any person insane. Though that would probably fit with the character, you going crazy making a crazy guy.

Rock 'n' Roll ... oh how you taunt me with your incredible concept just barely missing the mark. Let's start with the good. I really like what you did with the head sculpting. It looks really good and I can't see the base head underneath without looking really really hard. The arms, while not my personal preference, work well for the bodybuilder Rock 'n' Roll is known to be. And I like what you're going for with the shorts, at least as a stylistic choice. However...

The straps are probably the one thing that don't work for me on the legs. What I would recommend and like to see is moving the holster up to his waist (perhaps to the small of his back?) and sculpting/smoothing over the straps. It will eliminate the visual proportion issues and still allow you to keep the look you want. Also I don't think surfers would have anything strapped to their legs. It reduces mobility and would throw off their balance if it came loose while riding a wave. Better to have it around the waist or strapped to the chest where it won't move as much.

And speaking of the chest, I know you're going for a wetsuit look here and applaud that. For any other character this torso would work perfectly (and I considered using it myself) but its just too thin to go with the bulky arms. The proportions look odd and he looks a bit like a roided up freak than the natural body builder he is. I'd suggest using the black ROC Snake-eyes muscle suit torso. You can sculpt in a zipper on the back and it will still give you that wet-suit look and the build that RnR deserves.

I know it might look like I nit-picked him to pieces but its only because I see so much great potential in this figure and I know you can live up to my high expectations.

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Dexter is nice I like him especially the head.
Roadblock, funny thing I did the same with the roadblock head and cage since the skin tones matched, thought it looked good,
Moon knight is great, I like his staff as well..the part I don't like is the unmasked head. I see it as a more realistic looking face rather than a cartoony one, and as for feet do you have some clone trooper feet or cp hard masters.
RNR I have to say the only part I like is his head really, I don' t think the upper body goes well with the lower

It's funny you say that, as I was staring at this one while looking at your Pliskin custom (almost said looking at your snake, wtf?) and I thought to myself first - damn joemichaels for stealing my sweet recipe... but after that, then I thought - what's different? I think yeah, the height on the neck makes a difference, but overall, Snake's head is just bigger. the big hair-spray hair is a big part of that, and also limits where you can place it on the neck, but I think Snake's head is just enough bigger to skew it.



I appreciate the confidence in my abilities, but have to wonder...Mom? Is that you?



Ok, so - ditch the straps. Maybe shorten the length of the shorts. Those are the two main things I'm contemplating. I get what you're saying about the torso, but I love the sculpt of this so much for this kind of shirt, that I probably will keep it. It's not like I plan any more surfer figs, so here's my one chance to use it the way see it. lol. But maybe the other mods will help even out his proportions across the board?

Tim, I'll check out the Hard Master's feet. Clone Trooper feet are in abundance here, but they are too small for my tastes.

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Ok - first off Moon Knight turned out just as awesome as I expected him to be - I think you picked a perfect head for your version of Marc Spector. I'm gonna look around for some suitable replacement feet if I can find any - I agree that the Hand Ninja/Ronin feet are kinda wonky - the trick is finding white ones that work better. The factory MoonKnight/SHIELD guy feet are smaller, but they suck, so I wouldn't even bother with them. Almost forgot to mention the accessories - the staff-thingy is frickin' brilliant. Love the hood - and I know we already talked about the need for a shorter, more manageable cape in your 'verse - so you're forgiven there

Also - I'm with MS on R&R's torso - that was the one thing that threw me when I saw him. Too small for a body-builder type. I would suggest an MU torso (Guardian/Hawkeye/Namor) painted/dyed black with maybe a sculpted zipper if you want to keep the BodyGlove look. The head looks great with the glasses on (or with them on his forehead), but with them off, he still looks too much like Luke's goofy lookalike from Joker Squad to me. I like what you've done with the pants, but they look odd on the skinny torso. If you swap out the torso for a meatier one , the pants will flow perfectly with the rest of the figure.

I think Dexter looks great and I love the gear he comes with - no critiques there. Roadblock does indeed look like the Bizarro-version of mine, only better. You've got me really re-thinking mine now. I didn't care for that head before, but after seeing you fix it up, it's just too good to pass up. I think my RB's gonna get some mods now after seeing yours.


Great stuff as always Dennis

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Good stuff all around. I really like your RnR surfer concept, I had a wip of him at one time. I got to agree with the others, go bigger on the torso.

Dexter and Roadblock are looking sweet, I dig them both. The only thing I see with Roadblock is that it's hard to tell he's wearing a tank top. Maybe fill in the torso in some spots to simulate clothing

Moon Knight looks awesome. I really like what you did here. Great parts selection and I can really appreciate the accessories.

Cool stuff as always. I really like Baby Boy and don't necessarily get an RB vibe from him. The toque, tools and vest all set him apart. Looking forward to your new story with this guy.

The RB is perfect. Instantly recognizable, but with your own touch. I'd resist the urge to add to much stuff to him. The original figure just had a skinny harness/web gear thing.

For surfer RnR, I have to echo the comments about the arms being too big for the chest. I have a bunch of those Jakks arms and I'm always trying to sneak them into projects because I love the articulation and there are few Joe arms that have the same ripped look. Unfortunately they're are also few Joe torsos that mix with them proportionally. What if you used a Jakks torso too, and maybe painted the wetsuit on?

Moon Knight is certainly the star here, and I love the way the Ronin parts fit with that ROC armor. If you want to avoid painting feet, what about Hard Master, Punisher or a Storm Trooper? I like what you did with that head too. I have the same one on Armadillo, the Joe driver. It looks way more menacing here.