I want to join in on customizing...

[Xerofall]

All the stuff I'm seeing here really makes me want to try my hand at it.

Oh man... my wife's gonna kill me though... :eek:

I've been seeing the Corps toys around town, I've been wanting to repaint, add on and retool a lot of the stuff to make new toys. I watched amaro make his custom SNAKE and that made me look into this a bit further. I've been wanting to do something creative like this for some time, however my skills and financial limitations have prevented me from doing so. However if I practice spray painting, take my time and don't get too rushed, I think I can do some good stuff.

I've been wanting to make custom hand made Viper or Falcon gliders for some time. My dad has a wood working shop that I could use to cut out small glider shapes in thin wood and I could use manila folders to cut out the camo patterns to spray on the wood.

Of course these gliders would not fly like the original, they'd be more for display and dios. I would resize them for the 25th or ARAH line, so they aren't so cumbersome and bulky. I was wanting to pattern them after the cartoon series, like this... screenshot from Shogi's site, (http://www.joetoonarchive.com/displayimage.php?album=24&pos=97) and this... another screenshot from Shogi's site, (http://www.joetoonarchive.com/displayimage.php?album=58&pos=29) so they would be a bit smaller than the actual toy, but that's better in my opinion. I would have to construct a way for the figures to hold onto the glider, perhaps rubber bands or elastic strips to hold them on and fashion some sort of wire handelbars. I was also thinking about making a storage rack to put them on, so you could have a few in storage.

I already have a paper template made from a copy of the original glider's blueprints for size comparison.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e213/Surlon/GI%20Joe/Picture002.jpg

I want to mass produce these to see if I can sell them, but I need to see if it's even feasible for me to build them in the first place. The hardest part will be finding an easy way to paint the Cobra symbol on the wings. I don't want to have to resort to decals.

What do you guys think?

[Driftbot]

:eek:
i think i'll take five!
seriously i was thinking about this recently.
"wouldnt it be great if they released the gliders again?"

keep us posted!

[xhairs]

very cool start in to the customizing part of the hobby

[gijoe071681]

i think that if you are seriously going to invest in this you may want to consider casting some of the plastic clips that came on the newer vehicles just before the end of the first line cutting a notch in the wood and affixing the clips like they were in said vehicles. and as far as the cobra logos i'm thinking either a series of templates or jsut bite the bullet and get repro decals they don't seem too expensive. also consider making them out of contact paper. or find a picture of them online and print them onto label paper. keep us up to date on how it goes

[amaro]

Just remember you can only make very few as you are using Hasbro's register trademarks and copyrighted materials. So please be careful.

Your best bet would to make the artwork in Illustrator or Photoshop and go down to your local sign shop. They might be able to print them for you on some type of foam like the original.

gijoe071681 was right. For some parts like harnesses and such it would be better to sculpt or fabricate them and them send them to a caster to make you casts.

Mindbender M.D. on the forums does casting on a professional level.

If you want to make it just for you, which is my recommendation, make the artwork in your favorite program. Print it on nice quality paper and use Spray Adhesive to mount it to either mat board or some other type of rigid material.

[Kambei]

Welcome to the custom community. :) More fresh blood!

Piece of advice. Start small and take your time honing your skills. Don't get over ambitious. While most customisers will be supportive, our worst critics are ourselves. Just don't get discouraged.

Have you considered Plastruct for the parts forthe glider? They do all sorts of rods and connectors.

As for the logos, I would say swallow your pride and go for printing them. Unless your art skills are top rate. I would use gloss labels or waterslide inkjet transfers. Another option is the dark t-shirt transfer material. If you are very careful when you have printed it, it peels off the backing paper leaving a thin plastic film.Be very, very careful, though, as it stretches very easily. Does look good when you put a coat of clear coat over it. Don't print it in reverse!

[Xerofall]

The glider I'm making is not a direct copy of the toy. The glider as a toy is HUGE! The repro custom glider I want to make is based off the design, but not a direct copy of it.

The camo pattern won't be the same, the colors or how the figure attaches to the glider. The photo I used was for size comparason.

So I don't see any infringment.

[Xerofall]

I'm thinking I won't be putting the Cobra logo on it... or if I do... it'll be a very simple design. I might leave blank black circles if some one else wants to put a Cobra symbol on it. It'll just be a simple glider with camo and vertical wings and some way to attach the figure. Probably elastic bands from a craft or fabric store.

I'm very excited to make a prototype! I think the size is perfect and will look terrific once completed.