[rob]

As it has gone lately, this drop is mostly tweaks. I do have one new kitbash, though.

First is Thunder. A small tweak. I am broke, currently, so I raided my kitbashes for some Night-Ops cloth legs. I needed to use them for my newest figure. I also had some black Contract-Ops legs in my parts bin. I decided to switch out Thunders legs (plus it allowed me to give Thunder some green boots finally). In addition, I switched out his brown small arm pockets with some smooth armor panels and decorated them with some rank stickers. His helmet looks brown in the pics, but it is olive green in-hand.

THUNDER (V1): 1984





Next is Admiral Ledger. This one is a bit different as I am putting him back to the way he was originally. Several months ago, I stole some of his parts for another kitbash. I ended up using much more gray than before. I ended up regretting my 2nd version of Admiral Ledger.

ADMIRAL LEDGER (Star Brigade)





Next is Zartan. Super tiny tweak here. All I did was add a Dreadnok/Zartan waterslide decal. I really just needed a new photoshoot for this guy. In the old photoshoot, he looked very static and out of proportion.

ZARTAN (V8): 2004





Next is Gristle. I made this custom a few years ago. At that time I gave him a collared vest. Pulling him back out tonight, that vest just looked SO bulky and not very well painted. So I threw it away. I cracked a Night-Ops torso and combined it with some red arms. I tried to keep the illusion of him still wearing his leathers, while also slimming him down. I hot-glued the two knives that were previously on his vest onto his torso. I also glued a ponytail onto his hair to give him at least the appearance of long hair (even if it is a Mullet).

GRISTLE (V1): 1993





Last is my new kitbash, Cobra Eel. I have avoided doing the Eel up til now because I thought I would have to use so many original G.I.Joe parts, it would be cheating. Also, he is such a beloved character, I would not do him justice. Well, I bit the bullet and made him anyway. Sure, he does actually have a fair amount of 25th Anniversary Joe parts, but I tried to use as many Marauders parts as I could (these are the legs taken from Thunder). The backpack is vintage. I had to turn it upside down to keep it from towering over his head. I do not have any flippers just yet, but they are forthcoming.

COBRA EELS (V1): 1985

[CapBritain]

Nice Eel.

[CrazyLegs44]

Love the Eel. The tweaks you made to your existing builds really work too. That new sculpt Zartan is a stroke of genius.

[CavScout]

Great Eel! And the SGT chevrons on Thunder is a nice touch

[Griff]

Dude i want that gristle bro. hes perfect!

[Matt82]

Another fantastic group of customs! Every figure in this round is great. I'm by no means a Star Brigade guy, but that Ledger custom is super creative, and just works. Also, real good job on that version of Zartan.

[paokole]

You knocked it out of the park with this latest round. Really dig your idea/ concept of Zartan, very creative and it just looks super cool! Cobra Eel is another great execution, great work man.

[Steel Brigade]

It was I who bought the last few Shock-Ops bodies from MGR when I was doing my Sky Commanders range... lol I needed them! ;-) I know they were slow sellers, but I think they still have a chance of coming back, as they still have a lot of other "yellow" stuff to sell.
I didn't think an Eel could work with Marauders, I would probably use a slick Boss Fight black body for that to give the build a wet-suit vibe, but just the right parts usage from Hasbro and your brilliantly painted body with a great MGR combo &you have a winner of a Marauder Eel! Cheers!

[rob]

You guys are very nice. Thanks for the kind words.
I know the Eel does not look very slick or, let us say, water-tight, but I figured I could get away with it since the 50th Anniversary Eel looked pretty pants-y. Either way, I can switch out the legs when MJ gets the Aquatic parts in-store. I am in no hurry.

SO!

Back when the Kenner Empire Strikes Back figures came out, I was a young tyke, of course. I always thought it was pretty cool that the Bespin Guards came in both black and white versions (and even when I was a kid, I thought the white Bespin Guard looked like Gabe Kaplan).
Whenever I do Cobra troops, the Bespin Guard is always in the back of my mind. I have done a few black troops like my Cobra Officer, Cobra Vulcan Trooper, and Cobra Heli-Viper.
My original Heli-Viper is just fine, but he was done with bin parts and I think he just looks too divorced from the original (which was kinda the point in the beginning, but I have since become dissatisfied with that idea). At the same time, I also had a Snow Serpent head that, I felt, never really worked for my actual Snow Serpent kitbash. So, I repurposed that head and built this newer, more faithful, Heli-Viper.

COBRA HELI-VIPER (V1): 1992

[Steel Brigade]

The '92 Heli-Viper upgrade is fire! The head & paint choices are awesome! Making him blue rather than all shades of purple adds more contrast and more... COBRA!