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10-10-2020, 10:03 PM | #71 |
Iron Grenadier
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Kansas
Posts: 981
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Okay, so I totally thrashed Retro Roadblock in my other thread (https://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-j...ml#post5343992). I tried to you positive words, but thrashed it rotten. There are true positives with the release though, besides the coolness of seeing these on shelves (if you haven’t yet, any disappointment won’t hit you until much later—even after reading my other post).
We get two great guns that are always welcome as extra stash. The two they packed don’t come with cheap aftermarket figures. A green Ma Duece would have been great, but I won’t complain about that. Getting multiples of this figure is a great way to stock up on these weapons (especially to load out your vehicles). The torso and arms are great to have again, honestly. For my classic Roadblocks, I had to use the slightly alternate torso that had additional sculpted shoulder straps that needed to be sanded down. I didn’t want to pay for the prices of the figures without the shoulder straps—mostly because there wasn’t much else I’d be getting with the figure. The hands might not have the ball hinge, but figures like the later Retaliation Roadblocks (2 versions) as well as 50th Leatherneck figures could be easily be found and used to update that if desired, while also providing the alternate legs with greater articulation. 20201010_181736~4 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr The big positive for me though was the new head sculpt. I didn’t need the BFS/FSS Tiger Force sculpt since I bought three or four from castors two years back. But I had always wanted my T13 figure to have a more youthful and less outdated look. When the Classified Roadblock was first unveiled, I felt that it was almost perfect for what I always wanted. The head was sanded down to get rid of the slight mold line around the crown. It was then painted Testors Leather for the skin. I tightened up the top and bottom eyelids as well to minimize the wide eyed look that happens at certain angles (due to the glossiness of the eye paints). The painting was superfast due to the mold color not being to far off from the paint color. And didn’t have to worry about eye/iris painting, which can be a real pain. PhotoGrid_1602373538713 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr Other than the head, the figure is the exact same as presented years ago. It’s actually very similar to the RetroRB, except for the lower arms, hands, lower legs, and feet. I’d like to add some digit camo to the legs—I’d like to do that with most of the T13, something for next year maybe. It’s been a while since I photographed many of these guys, or even the whole set. I messed with Stalker a bit when I was doing some testing for a new style of photos (background, lighting, colors) a few months back, but haven’t settled on a new presentation direction yet. Too much enjoyment of revisiting the classics at this time. But with this new head, I brought the band back together for a quickie. Hard to get 13 figures in a shot without a back shelf and get all in focus (at least all heads are visible). But I wanted to do it this way this time, in tribute to all the great group photos from JoeBattleLines.com and GeneralsJoes.com from back in the day. I still love to look at those pics, and use them for research for current upgrades and photos. 2020-10-10_07-57-01 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr
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HissHissFangFan(g) Flickr | Facebook GI JOE: T13 O13//1982 1983-? | COBRA: O13//1982 1983 1984 1985-? Last edited by HissHissFangFan; 12-10-2020 at 02:49 AM.. |
10-11-2020, 12:49 PM | #72 |
Cobra Viper
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 330
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Awesome stuff! Much prefer creative + constructive HHFF to negative + sarcastic HHFF -- although I understand the therapeutic value of the occasional vent session.
Glad to know Testors Leather is a good match, as I think I might stick a cast of the club version on this guy (after repainting the tank).
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02-12-2022, 08:49 AM | #73 |
Iron Grenadier
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Kansas
Posts: 981
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I haven't messed with this set in quite some time, eh?
I had been waiting to devise the right backdrop to take individual photos that could be used as card art for the series but never got to something I liked.* In the meantime I really got into updating a ton of classic Joe's and some cobras, then got into tweaking the early Walmart Retros, then got into playing with the updated modern Walmart Retro build.* All the while, we moved further and further away from the ROC-POC-RET Era from which these T13 figures were inspired and built.* What was once modern had become obsolete* to some point... Maybe enough time has passed to where revisiting these once-modern guys now becomes a retrospective* to a era of design and style--at least in terms of the figures--for me, the character studies,* group dynamics, and other head canon I developed really hasn't changed. Anyway, what got me back into this set was the Stalker web gear.* His previous web gear was a modified and extended 25th Stalker one.* I ended up giving that web gear to a POC Snake Eyes to get a more classic style "1984" SE, and never built another one for T13 Stalker (it's a real pain in the a$$ to make and be durable).* Then Walmart Retro Stalker came out with new webgear in a similar style AND extended to fit my figure.* After some time I had enough Retro Stalkers to spare a web gear for T13 Stalker. Along with updating the web gear, I also felt it was time to abandon the all black look, and introduce some green back into the design. Scarlett would also get a secondary shade (TBD), and the silver/Grey on Snake Eyes would get more pronounced.* All would still have black as primary to unify them visually to reflect the solidarity of the three characters, and all three would still use their ROC builds based on my retrospectively grown* appreciation of that era's designs and figures. 20220130_131650 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr I was (am) having trouble with getting the right visual percentage of pieces to paint green, and what bits of sculpt actually were separate from each other in the uniforms design, so studied lots of ROC images on the web and ended up watching the movie a few more times (!).* Also did many paint takes, a few shown below. 2022-02-12_06-23-42 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr An interesting thing I found out was that the lower arms on the duke/ripcord reactive armor figures are switched, and mis-stamped.* The armor bits should be on the outer arm not inner, and city strike Duke has the arms correct. Watching ROC and viewing all the images again made me want slap the logo on my progress photo (still more to do with all three figs)... PhotoGrid_Plus_1643573977428 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr This in turn is really pushing me to look at abandoning this head sculpt for Stalker, and maybe reconcile/merge my T13 Stalker with ROC Ripcord.* Working on some ideas this weekend.* More soon--with better photo:text ratio I promise... |
02-16-2022, 09:51 PM | #74 |
Platoon Sergeant
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: NC
Posts: 1,087
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As always, your customs are OUTSTANDING
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02-16-2022, 10:11 PM | #75 |
Just a fan
Join Date: Feb 2021
Location: NY
Posts: 8,508
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Another amazing thread by Hiss. Is that an Idris Elba head on Stalker?
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02-17-2022, 09:33 AM | #76 |
Joe Team
Join Date: Feb 2021
Location: NC
Posts: 111
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Love it. This thread never disappoints
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02-17-2022, 04:52 PM | #77 |
long time lurker
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: PDX
Posts: 851
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Quote:
I was (am) having trouble with getting the right visual percentage of pieces to paint green, and what bits of sculpt actually were separate from each other in the uniforms design, so studied lots of ROC images on the web and ended up watching the movie a few more times (!).* Also did many paint takes, a few shown below.
2022-02-12_06-23-42 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr It sounds like you're already well on your way with Stalker but I thought I'd share a couple of ideas that came to mind while looking at the pictures above. Given the parts you're using I like the versions where you've got a consistent color contrast between the armor on the chest / shoulders / arms / thighs and the underlying compression layer + collar. I think I slightly prefer the green armor over black cloth look, but it's maybe a little bit too Stormtroopery, while going black over green is a cool nod to the classic look, almost like it's the same old outfit with new high-tech armor on top. If you can get the color dialed in, having the collar painted or tinted with a dark red could also be a cool nod to the classic 013 ARAH look, and give him a little bit of pop while still maintaining the ROC vibe. Again, awesome work as always! * I'd think it's safe. to say that Rise of Cobra's armor and outfits count as... underappreciated to say the least ;)
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02-18-2022, 01:00 AM | #78 |
Iron Grenadier
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Kansas
Posts: 981
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I appreciate it--thank you!
Quote:
Thanks. A little worried about the timing of the update with all the new directions current Joes and other 3.75 lines are going right now. I felt I waited too long to get back to this and its ship sailed. But I am approaching this all a little differently than when first started. I realize now how much all these figures are products of 2009-2012 (10 years ago???) for better or worse. So we'll explore and celebrate the better, and do our best to polish it up. Quote:
This is super cool HHFF. I love projects like this that riff off of something overlooked or underappreciated in the joesphere.*
It sounds like you're already well on your way with Stalker but I thought I'd share a couple of ideas that came to mind while looking at the pictures above. Given the parts you're using I like the versions where you've got a consistent color contrast between the armor on the chest / shoulders / arms / thighs and the underlying compression layer + collar. I think I slightly prefer the green armor over black cloth look, but it's maybe a little bit too Stormtroopery, while going black over green is a cool nod to the classic look, almost like it's the same old outfit with new high-tech armor on top. If you can get the color dialed in, having the collar painted or tinted with a dark red could also be a cool nod to the classic 013 ARAH look, and give him a little bit of pop while still maintaining the ROC vibe. Again, awesome work as always! * I'd think it's safe. to say that Rise of Cobra's armor and outfits count as... underappreciated to say the least ;) For Stalker here, you will all see a slow ongoing development, with multiple small iterations and takes. Part of that is to get thoughts and feedback just like Jymree has provided me. I'd be happy to also implement and photograph some of the suggestions given. Sometimes it will be to point out why I'll go in a different direction, but sometimes I'm surprised how well the suggestion looks (OG13: Vintage helmets on WM Retro Grunt, green Snake Eyes). Jymree, for your specific points: Before the repaint tests shown, the idea was to have black armor (w/ drybrush effect) on dark green cloth bits. That is version1 on the left, and I felt there was too much green. I still want black dominant with 15%-20% green based on squint-eye tests. Plus, the legs aren't as armoured up as the upper body/arms, so he ended up looking black shirt + green pants--looks fine with the rest of the T13, but the dominant black visually groups him with my SE and Scarlett. For more black, I had to swap the colors on upper and lower body. Second and fourth iterations tested more green to be more 1982 Stalker inspired, but didn't look right without some sort of camo. The fifth (right) is closest to where I'm at now. I'm using a slightly brighter green with darker paint wash. I'll get updated photos of that iteration soon. BTW: the black with green trim is inspired by the 1994 Battle Corps Stalker paint scheme. I got that figure on card a few months ago at a local toy shop. I'd never seen the figure in hand, and totally missed it back in the nineties. More on that as we develop... I kinda like your idea regarding the red collar. The red sunglass was meant to give that tiny splash of color you're hinting at. The red sunglasses was also driven by a possible minimalist silhouette graphic for SE+Scarlett+Stalker. But to be clear, are you referring to the actual collar or the scarf for red? I could paint and photo both just to see. Also, I might dial the red down to something similar to Renegades Tunnel Rat but slighty slightly brighter. In the end I see the use for some contrast, but still want things toned down (finding that balance is part of the whole project as well). |
02-18-2022, 01:15 AM | #79 |
Iron Grenadier
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Kansas
Posts: 981
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Jymree has given me some ideas I want to try out. For those I think I'll test them with that had previous shown (or a similar head without the beard).
But this week, I'd been obsessed with trying see I can make the ROC Ripcord/Wayans head work as my T13 Stalker, to channel more ROC "goodness" (still questionable at this point). Repainting the face helps. So many options to weigh on the head accessories though, and I'm a bit stuck. I don't want to reveal to much yet, so a preview for some initial thoughts and suggestions, while I play around with the colllar and scarf for a few days... 2022-02-17_09-20-40 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr |
04-23-2022, 02:40 PM | #80 |
Iron Grenadier
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Kansas
Posts: 981
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