Custom G.I. Joe ARAH Shaka Zulu |
| Posted on 04-09-2011 at 10:46 PM by TTT |  |
HISSTank.com member Tim 121RVC made this custom G.I. Joe ARAH Shaka Zulu with scratch-built accessories.
Click the Discuss button to see this extensive build, parts list, more pics & all the details.
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| Credit: Tim 121RVC of the Hiss Tank Forums! | Views: 2,287 |  |
The only thing I changed on the very last moment before priming were the upper arms. In the WIP pic those are Big Boa's arms, but I swapped them for Croc Master's upper arms which didn't make Shaka Zulu shoulders look so "square".
Here's what I did on all the parts:
Head: Junkyard (Lanard Corps!, modified with Greenstuff)
I needed a head with African characteristics. At first I searched for a head with hair as I wanted to ad the head band with Greenstuff later. I didn't find anything satisfying, so I took my Corps! fodder box. Junkyard's head didn't have any hair, yet the head band was there. I figured I could make hair with GS as well. When I finished the hair, the head band looked too small so I put on a layer of GS on there as well. Gave it some hairy texture with a needle and it was ready for painting. When the head was fully painted, I dotted the eyes just with some black, but that was hardly visible so I added white in the corners of the eyes. Normally I don't like that on figures, but now it had to be done.
Torso: Flak-Viper '92 (modified with Max's head (bobcat from Spearhead '88) and Greenstuff)
Now this was the biggest challenge. The Flak-Viper torso was really suitable for making it look like something (animal skin) was draped around a naked torso. At that stage I knew it was going to be a tiger-, leopard- or cheetah-patterned skin, though I wanted an animal's head too. A noble, spare Max sacraficed his head for that purpose. I attached it to the torso with some GS, but I had to put the arms and head into the torso as well since I didn't want to see any seams in the end on the animal skin. I also covered the rest of the diagonal sculpted stuff on Flak-Viper's torso with GS and again used a needle to make everything look like hairy texture. Creating a smooth link between Max's neck and the GS was the hardest part.
Upper arms: Croc Master '87 (+ tape + rope)
Browsing the internet for Shaka Zulu pics or Zulu pics in general learned me they used to wear this kind of long haired decorations around the upper arms and lower legs, just underneath the knees. Disassembled rope did the job, but I left out the decoration on the right side, otherwise the animal's head wouldn't stand out that much.
Lower arms: Big Boa '87
Just a lower arm swap with Croc Master’s upper arms.
Waist: Zangief '93 (+ piece of cloth)
Just two pieces of cloth painted white and glued to the Zangief waist on the front and on the back.
Upper legs: Big Boa '87
Lower legs: Sagat '93 (modified, + tape + rope)
I found out not many Joes are bare footed. I ended up with feet from Sagat, Dhalsim and Quick Kick. No matter which ones I chose, they all needed quite some sanding. A toss left me with Sagat's feet and I sanded off the bandages.
Spear: Toothpick, rope + Warhammer Wood Elf spearhead
The shaft wasn't a problem at all, but the spearpoint was tough to recreate. I wanted to make it similar to the ones Zulus used to use, but that didn't work out good enough. Luckily I remembered the spears from Warhammer, the Wood Elves had the perfectly shaped spears. Cut off the top and attached it to the toothpick.
Shield: Toothpick, rope, piece of plastic, Greenstuff + gun handle of accessory pack '87 (Leatherneck gun)
I’d never thought Zulus would use cow skin for their shields. I thought I was going to paint it in a tiger/leopard pattern as well, but I found out they didn’t do that. At first I was afraid it wouldn’t look that good on my savanna-camouflaged Shaka, but in the end I didn’t regret following the Zulu tradition at all.
Remarkable fact: browsing through all the Shaka Zulu info I discovered he used to spear/impale his enemies....
Tim 121RVC