Guns of the Helicopters

As shown earlier with my Firebat and Skyhawk customs, i hollowed out a few more vehicles to add a bit of realism. I did the side cannons of the GI Joe Dragonfly and the Primary/only cannon of the Cobra FANG helicopters. These were much more complicated because they're also hanging from the ceiling right now.

A-Wing Pilot (Luke or Tycho)

I had to take my Dress Uniform Tycho head off his normal body. So I put another blonde haired man on, using the Luke Commando head from the Basso Custom. I'm big on recycling the parts between various customs (means I have a low level of fodder). This will probably be replaced later on if I need this head as I figure out what head I have a lot of. I did this earlier to make an X-Wing pilot Tycho, putting a Han Solo head on the A-Wing pilot. So my A-Wing Pilots are Luke, Han and the PotF2 versions, plus whatever Sullustans you say are A-Wing pilots.

Moff Livonia Tavira

First appearing in the Rogue Squadron comics as a young, impish girl who slept her way into an older man's bed than killed him to take his position of power. She than became more rigid and ran pirate gangs as her defense fleet and primary source of income. I painted a Juno/Shan body a dark olive green like the uniforms of Tarkin and the Death Star crews. And that put on an Indiana Jones "Cate Blanchet".

Tycho Celchu, Dress Uniform

This is another simple head swap based on the Dress Uniform that the Starfighter command possessed but Wedge Antilles didn't know existed at the time of Rogue Squadron novel, but was yet drawn in the comic. Skepticism raised at that point because obviously the artists were ignorant of Stackpole's intention to use that line later on. Also dubious is the use of Sandy Brown/Brown haired Tycho Celchu as a bleached blonde. This is the fault of Hasbro, not Dark Horse. DH did draw him in a shade between brown and blonde, this is Hasbro's fault all the way. I'm just too lazy to fix it in this case.

Basso, Rebel Commando

Good ol' Sergent Basso. He's lost comrades. He has a mopey Deena Shan and he's absolutely overwhelmed by the enthusiasm, potential and ability of one part time commando named Luke Skywalker. This figure was done with a Basso in Stormtrooper disguise and put on a Comic Pack Commando Luke Skywalker body. In all cases, this would be the proper source. Basso orginated in the comics, as did this uniform, so it should be based off comics.

Kwinn, The Eskimo in the Jungle

I don't think this is what Bob Dylan had in mine when he wrote the lyrics for the song that was later covered by Goldfinger. This figure was made (crappily) with Super Sculpey Legs, Darth Vader boots, a Chap Mei Jungle explorer, and a Kwinn head with the fur trimmed away. I tried to match flesh tones, but soon after 4 years of sculpting, resculpting, painting, waiting for Kwinn cast/finding a kwinn head, I've thrown in the towel for now. I may come back later, but because I don't follow the comics, I got no clue what I'm doing here beyond the GI Joe comic homepage link from yojoe.com.

I should take a shot later on to show the perspective on how much taller he is than the normal ARAH joes, not the 25th.

Skyhawk

I've been big on making my GI Joe's more "realistic". One thing I've been doing is making the tips of gun barrels actually hollow so that a projectile could come out of it. I did that here with all 4 of the Skyhawk guns.

GI Joe MOBAT

The MOBAT was GI Joe's initial tank. The toy is grossly undersized based on the cartoon and the comic. Also, I don't envision GI Joe needing or using tanks. This is a rapidly deployed, covert face. There's nothing covert about a tank. That being said, I decided to highlight the various tools and surfaces.

Classic Cobra Paratrooper

This is my update to make a slightly better "classic" Cobra Paratrooper. It puts the head of the Air Trooper along with the helmet on the body. Simple head swap.

Destro

This is probably the cheapest custom there is out there. I don't like the sword look. I purchased the Target Ultimate Battle Pack for the vehicles and because it was on sale making it just as much as buying 1 vehicle out there right now (so 1 MOBAT, 1 HISS, 1 Flight Pod, 1 Jet Pack and 7 figs, good deal for 20 bucks). I removed the belt, filled it in with Sculpy and than put on an Indiana Jones gun belt. I like this look. It is the best of the v1 and v2 originals, that says nice high tech ultra modern design without being gaudy.

Cobra Commander, Interchangable Heads

As readers or people who've followed both blogs and my various posting around the internet know my feelings on the 25th Anivesrary and my purchasing habbits. So far DVD packs and it seems there's been 4 or more Cobra Commanders in that plus the one single card Cobra Commander to get the MASS device element. I decided to cut back. One Cobra Commander for the CLAW, the other for display. So I swapped some gloves around, put the Chrome hat and hood on what matched the best and there's my Cobra Commander.

Serpentor, Cobra Emperor

I wanted to make the 25th Aniversary DVD pack Serpentor look more like the cartoon representation he is based off of. This basically involved the deciscion to make this the default Serpentor and the earlier comic pack and original figure retired versions. I ended up taking the lower legs from the Single Carded version and putting them on this one. I painted the chest gold. I painted the Cobra Hood gold. I took the helmet from the comic pack Serpentor and painted it gold and the teeth and eyes white. I than swapped the skirts on the two 25th figures.

R2 Unit, Hybrid

This is an unnamed R2 unit. It is a hybrid from the Build A Droid parts and the OTC Y-Wing R2 head. All that was done was widening the hole to place the droid's head post in the main body with a drill. There's nothing else done.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, P.O.W.

In the Clone Wars Comic, Obi-Wan Kenobi is captured. He is bound in a mask in what could best be called the Count of Monte Cristo allusion. This figure was made from a Clone Wars Comic pack Body, alternate head, with a RotS Obi-Wan lower arms. The hands are not original. I dirtied up the character with black paint to make it look like he was in a dungeon as depicted in the comic.

Prince Admiral Krennel

Admiral Krennel is the Sector Patrol leader for Citruic, Corvis Minor, and I'm leaving it out. He has a bionic right hand that can crush a human skull or make the index finger a stilletto. I used a body based off Admiral Ozzel, a robotic right hand, and a GI Joe Roll Bar head.

I am not happy with the eyes and may revist this one later.

Imperial Leia Organa

This custom is based on the Star Wars Infinities Comics and some of the Rebellion comics where Luke, Leia, Deena, Basso and Able infiltrate a variety of Imperial installations. This was a relatively simple to make. Take one Juno Eclipse body and put on the VOTC Endor Leia head. The hat even fits!