[ozzie92]

I love your rendition of Clutch...it totally captures the smug, pre-#metoo movement attitude that Clutch was most certainly guilty of, lol. ;)

[HissHissFangFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozzie92

I love your rendition of Clutch...it totally captures the smug, pre-#metoo movement attitude that Clutch was most certainly guilty of, lol. ;)

Thanks Ozzie. This makes me feel better because in the end I am not switching the heads. The 2004 comic head is too big for the small or medium size helmet I want to use, and the Lift-Ticket head is a little too small not to keep helmeted.

[HissHissFangFan]

12) SHORT FUZE

Honestly, I don’t have much to say regarding the vintage figure of Short Fuze. In hindsight, based on his filecard he seemed surprisingly underused for his personality as described. I guess Larry Hama didn’t really connect with the character, which had to be disappointing for kids who owned this figure.

Hasbro really seemed to be challenging the O13 completist with their 25th Short Fuze. To get the 2nd to last of the O13, collectors would have to buy the massive Target exclusive Ultimate Battlepack, complete with 6 repainted figures and 3 vehicles ranging from small to large size. Luckily, the figures were nice repaints (3 being O13) the Hiss and Pod were also nice repaints, and the MOBAT a nice big bonus. Also, this package seemed to go straight to clearance prices almost as soon as they began showing up, as I vaguely remember. I ended up biting at the 1st clearance markdown, but there were still some around my area that went to the 3rd markdown.

Despite not being as accurate as it could have been—with wrong webgear and no visor—I really thought that Short Fuze was a really sharp looking figure. Likely it had to do with the nice choice of colors—real sharp looking green and brown tones, well painted. But as usual, I wanted to try to get closer the original figure (especially after Zap was released with the more accurate webgear), and to spin in some comic influence.


GiJoe_O13-ShortFuze-Classic25th_2017-1028b by J Perez, on Flickr

Build:
•Body, Helmet, Visor (painted): 25th Comic 2Pack Hawk
•Head: 2004 Comic Pack Short Fuze, hollowed out, painted, hair shaved down slightly
•Weapon: M1 Mortar (25th Ultimate Battlepack Short Fuze, barrel hollowed out)
•Rifle: M16 (almost any 2004 Comic 2Pack, modded strap from black twisty)
•Webgear, Belt: Dollar General Duke
•Backpack: 50th TRU 2Pack Lady Jaye

Paint:
•Main: Citadel D. Green
•Webgear, boots: Testors Panzer Schokoladenbruan
•Buckles, mortars: Citadel Leadbelcher

Notes:
I love the idea of including glasses for SF, especially since the 2004 release. Hasbro’s reuse of the 25thDoc head for this figure wasn’t a bad choice, and I went with it for a few years. But I always liked the 2004 Comic Pack version of the head, and had a spare. It barely fits the small 25th helmet, but the hair needed to be whittled down a bit. Looking through my Classic O13 set, it looks like the only ones left with the small 25th helmet also have visors—the visors seem to hide how small the helmet really is.

Also in looking at the group together and wanting a taller Hawk and a shorter Short-Fuze, I switched their bodies and repainted their secondary and accent colors accordingly. Later, I ended up switching out the boots back to the Zap boots (for OCD reasons), but cut them at the foot socket to make the figure a bit shorter.

The webgear, belt, and backpack were originally from the 25th Zap, repainted, for this original version. I listed the parts above for figures which have the same parts but in black. Not pictured above, I later drilled a new hole in the webgear for the backpack peg, allowing for the strap across the chest to sit lower, more closely matching the vintage position.


GiJoe_O13-7ShortFuze_2018-0415b by J Perez, on Flickr

The o-ring classic version got ret-conned with glasses, sculpted onto the original headsculpt. The o-ring desert version is a repaint of the vintage, retaining the original headsculpt for reference and archive. The o-ring comic version is a kitbash of 2004 comic SF with waistpiece and legs from other 2004 O13 to match that the others of that set. The 25th comic version is a Dollar General Duke repainted, with a hollowed out 2004 comic SF head repainted. Finally, the desert 25th is another repainted Dollar General Duke, with the original 25th Battle Pack SF head (for now).

I just recently repainted the glasses of both my comic versions from the black shades to a light blue collar to match comics and give a nod to his light blue visor from the cartoon. And in homage to the Short Fuze pinup from Marvel Age #15 (thanks Rob for posting this: http://www.joeaday.com/the-gi-joe-file-part-1/ ):

GiJoe_O13-ShortFuze-BonusPic1_2018-0612g by J Perez, on Flickr

[nighthawk]

Nice. I really love your OG13. It's truly amazing. You basically did everything I wanted to do. I wanted to use those comic pack heads on a lot of my modern OG13 but the skin tones never matched and I didn't feel like painting.

[HissHissFangFan]

(13) ZAP

Similar to Short Fuze, as a kid I didn’t have much interest in Zap. I guess their specialties and/or weapons just didn’t excite me, and they had minimal screen time in both cartoon and comic to feel essential. Back then I was set only getting only a few figures from the good side, and ended up with six: 4 OG’s, Wild Bill and Airborne—from then on I was a Cobra guy.

As I’ve said before, it was really the 2004 comic O13 figures that really pulled me back into getting the good guys again, and the 2004 Zap was one of those early figures that I extremely pleased with. I think it was the moustache—to this day, never has a moustache been such a welcome refreshing sight.

By the time the previous last 3 of the 25th O13 figures were announced, I don’t think I ever doubted that Zap would get released--granted it took a 25th last hurrah seven-figure set to get there. I didn’t really want the other 6 figures of the set, but bit the bullet again (similar to the Target Ultimate Battle Pack) to finally have a complete O13 set in all the glory of the 25th sculpting and super-articulation.

Zap truly benefitted from being released later down the line and likely benefitted from being a intended cardback figure (rather than a kitbash or repaint retailer exclusive or comic two-pack). He got a better head size, larger helmet, new but accurate webgear, new improved belt, new accurate thighs, new bigger bare hands without the glove wrinkles, new but accurate backpack, and most of all an excellent new rocket launcher. Along with Snake Eyes and Stalker, I really could have stayed with the Hasbro released unaltered. But I am stubborn, and insisted on doing some small things to make him my own…


GiJoe_O13-Zap-Classic25th_2017-1028b by J Perez, on Flickr

Build:
•All: 25th Assault on Cobra Island Set Zap
•Rifle: M16 (almost any 2004 Comic 2Pack, modded strap from black twisty)
•Belt: 25th Snake Eyes harness, straps cut off

Paint:
•Webgear, belt: Originally Testors Dark Tan, later Testors Field Drag
•Buckles, collar: Vajello Old Gold
•Pouches, accents: Green Zinc Chromate

Notes:
His original belt was replaced with the typical Snake Eyes type webgear belt, harness cut off. The bigger belt helps to hide the ugly transition of wide hips to thin waist, but required a repaint of the webgear for matching color (above is the older lighter repaint, below will be the updated darker re-repaint). I also painted the buckles and the collar as a slight nod to Zap from the cartoon (cheers to Sunbow giving him a little more screen time in the second mini). The rocket launcher got a few black paint details. Finally, a hole was drilled at the back of the webgear, to allow for repositioning of the front horizontal strap lower to closer match the original.

A note about the helmet: the helmet that comes from this figure is a nice average size, compared to the tiny helmets of the early 25th O13 figures and the large one from Breaker. Over the years, I ‘ve been to get my hands on a few more of this size helmet for upsizing on many other O13 figures (from either additional Zap figures or from Shockblast, from the Resolute Comic 2 Pack or the ROC Walmart 2 Pack).


GiJoe_O13-7Zap_2018-0416b by J Perez, on Flickr

My vintage o-ring got some tweaks—gave him a the thin moustache he always needed, and repainted the elbows and helmet with Vallejo Panzer Series Middlestone.

The desert o-ring is a vintage Zap repainted with Testors Sand and Dark Tan. The desert 25th is a Dollar General Duke, originally repainted to match the desert o-ring, but then toned darker with Testors Armor Sand for the uniform and later, not pictured, Testors Field Drab for webgear and belt. The head, from the 2004 Comic Pack Zap, had the hair shaved down a bit to fit the 25th Shockblast/Zap helmet and the chin shortened (maybe a little too short).

The comic 25th figure uses the same recipe as the 25th desert figure, with the top of head flattened, and a goatee to match comic issue #1 and the G.I. Joe Classified comic miniseries. I don’t put a packback on this figure, which allowed for repositioning the horizontal—this look led me to fixing my classic 25th webgear accordingly. I was afraid of drilling that hole in the webgear pack, but it worked out fine when not drilled out too big.

The comic o-ring version is basically that which was released in 2004, except the torso was replaced with a comic Short Fuze one to match the vintage. Also, I think I did some x-acto knife work and superglue build up at the neck peg so the head would sit lower (such different neck lengths between the 2004 comic Hawk and the 2004 comic Zap, though released around the same time).


No major updates on these guys since the photos above were taken. And I didn’t find much any iconic images to homage--not in comics, toy artwork, cartoons—and the original cardback pose doesn’t translate well to actual figure posing. Regardless, Zap gets a bonus, to finish off this first run…

GiJoe_O13-Zap-BonusPic1_2018-0610b by J Perez, on Flickr

[jlw515]

Ok, was gone for a week to Grad School class, and just knew I would miss out on some updates!

1st Short-Fuse, awesome job! I had both versions of SF as a kid (closed handle mortar, open handle mortar). Always loved SF, and agree, extremely under utilized in the comics. Your main SF custom is like the definitive version of this character! Going with the 2004 comic version head was a great choice as I think the Doc head is undersized. Also, it's tiny things like using the black backpack that make this custom really pop!

Jason

[jlw515]

Next Zap! Great work on all of these! I love the painted details to the SMAW. I think my favorite of these is actually the vintage O-ring custom. That mustache makes a world of difference.

Jason

[HissHissFangFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlw515

Ok, was gone for a week to Grad School class, and just knew I would miss out on some updates!

1st Short-Fuse, awesome job! I had both versions of SF as a kid (closed handle mortar, open handle mortar). Always loved SF, and agree, extremely under utilized in the comics. Your main SF custom is like the definitive version of this character! Going with the 2004 comic version head was a great choice as I think the Doc head is undersized. Also, it's tiny things like using the black backpack that make this custom really pop!

Jason

Thanks again Jason! For SF's head, I'd also like to try the Lifeline head. I had an extra, but ended up using it for a Pathfinder, to fill up an empty space on the shelf. As for the black backpack, I always try to get more of the original secondary color in there to balance out all that O13 green. I had done the same for Zap (repainted brown), but also tried to relocate the back peg so the pack would sit up higher. The peg broke a little bit before taking the 3-turn and 7 sets, so I went pack to the original backpack but forgot to repaint. It got repainted before the bonus pic, but isn't readily seen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlw515

Next Zap! Great work on all of these! I love the painted details to the SMAW. I think my favorite of these is actually the vintage O-ring custom. That mustache makes a world of difference.

Jason

For the SMAW, I am always forgetting that I need to paint a yellow ring at that removable end piece.

And without Zap's moustache, I myself am incomplete.

[nighthawk]

Another great update.

[HissHissFangFan]

Follow up to Clutch, mentioned earlier. Tried to swap heads of my 25th Classic and 25th Comic figures (as shown on the left), but decided to stay with heads as previously shown before (as shown on the right), but trying to go forward with a smaller helmet and no googles:

GiJoe_O13-Clutch-BonusPic2_2018-0620b by J Perez, on Flickr

The comic version is meant to be displayed without helmet, and the 2004 head looks better without helmet (also doesn't fit a desired smaller helmet well, requiring the larger Breaker size helmet even after whittling down the hair some). Plus, I can squeeze a Zap size helmet on the Lift Ticket head (and cover up the too well groomed hair). The change of helmet is kind of jarring for me personally, since I'm so used to the big helmet and goggles look of my previous kit. But after a week or so I'm getting used to it--especially because now Clutch, Zap, Grunt, and RnR all have matching helmet sizes.

The desert 25th then gets the goggles to cover up the big Breaker helmet. By the look on his face, he seems neither pleased nor bothered by this change...