[jlw515]

Great work on Airborne. I would have never noticed the height difference unless you pointed it out. I am currently working on updating my custom Airborne, and as a suggestion, if you don't mind mixing MTF parts, the MTF WWII "Hiro" head sculpt looks very similar to the ARAH Airborne head sculpt. The 25th helmet does not fit the head though, so that may be a deal breaker if interested.

I always liked Airborne, particularly the blue vest, but never felt like his character fleshed out the way intended. His file card lists him as a "Helicopter Assault Trooper," but his info describes him more like a HALO jumper or something. Of course the comics and cartoon regulated him to more of Wild Bill's sidekick in the Dragonfly.

There is a happy medium though in the real world. Airborne could be a member of the 101 Screaming Eagles (Airborne) but still have the primary MOS of being an Apache gunner. That's how I view him at least.

Also digging that Cover Girl custom! Nice use of the Invisible Woman head sculpt!

Jason

[ARBCO Avenue]

He DOES look better when he is that much taller. I always thought Airborne was one of the best-made 25th figures, but you found a way to improve him. You are always willing to go the extra mile to improve your figures in even subtle things that matter to you. I recently purchased an FSS figure that was hiding a 25th torso under the vest. He was so SHORT next to his modern counterparts and I still can’t shake the disappointment, even though I was going to change him up anyway.

[HissHissFangFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 89PILOT

You put the hours in alright!!! I like all the ones you've done. Very cool.

Thanks. Just working through some cleaning of different figures/characters until the age of 6" takes over...

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlw515

Great work on Airborne. I would have never noticed the height difference unless you pointed it out. I am currently working on updating my custom Airborne, and as a suggestion, if you don't mind mixing MTF parts, the MTF WWII "Hiro" head sculpt looks very similar to the ARAH Airborne head sculpt. The 25th helmet does not fit the head though, so that may be a deal breaker if interested.

I always liked Airborne, particularly the blue vest, but never felt like his character fleshed out the way intended. His file card lists him as a "Helicopter Assault Trooper," but his info describes him more like a HALO jumper or something. Of course the comics and cartoon regulated him to more of Wild Bill's sidekick in the Dragonfly.

There is a happy medium though in the real world. Airborne could be a member of the 101 Screaming Eagles (Airborne) but still have the primary MOS of being an Apache gunner. That's how I view him at least.

Also digging that Cover Girl custom! Nice use of the Invisible Woman head sculpt!

Jason

I may need a new head, since I use this sculpt for Grunt. An yes it needs to fit 25th helmet--because the helmet has become classic to me, and forces me to stay with a head that doesn't make Wild Bill's head any more shrunk than it already is....

More on Cover Girl down the road, and Ace. I started messing with these two in the last few weeks. I'm on a new head for Cover Girl, two removed from the IW head.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ARBCO Avenue

He DOES look better when he is that much taller. I always thought Airborne was one of the best-made 25th figures, but you found a way to improve him. You are always willing to go the extra mile to improve your figures in even subtle things that matter to you. I recently purchased an FSS figure that was hiding a 25th torso under the vest. He was so SHORT next to his modern counterparts and I still can’t shake the disappointment, even though I was going to change him up anyway.

I here you AA. Airborne uses the 25th Snake Eyes torso, one of the shortest torsos there are but uses the GungHo legs, which are on the taller side of both 25th and 30th. But not all 25th torso's are short. Duke's is not too short but his neck is. Flash gave me problems with the other OG13's heights. And Wild Bill--that figure and its tall torso mostly led all this Airborne redo. Will get to him shortly...

[HissHissFangFan]

2020-06-27_12-05-56 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

As noted in my Airborne writeup, the goal for my Wild Bill and Airborne was to get them more compatible height and proportion wise. I went with matching the height of the tall 25th Wild Bill coming to the realization that I’ve become quite fond of many aspects of the 25th versions of these two over the last ten years (!)—almost as much my original 83 vintage versions.

The 25th figure had many things/details going for it. I loved the introduction of the flight suit and the chaps, especially with the two-tone green (too much one-tone green on the vintage figure). The original figure didn’t really have much body suit detailing or color beyond the vest. The boots were well done, unique and fitting to the character. And I really like the vest—nicely sculpted and detailed, although it is a little short on that tall lower torso, and isn’t a perfect fit on the upper torso and arms. The workable gun holsters were a nice touch, and the head sculpt was great.


2020-06-26_01-32-24 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

But the figure had big drawbacks, which basically nullified all the good resulting in an at best average figure. The holsters were ridiculously oversized (wide). The vest didn’t allow the arms to pose naturally at his sides, and the arms were a little short, making any photo of him look awkward (google, iimages)—and the tiny hands inside the wide lower sleeves made him look even more awkward. Then there’s the head size. That damn tiny head, on that short short neck that kept the head always pointed upward (like pre 1984 vintage figures). For what it’s worth, I had recently noticed that the 83 original figure’s head was OVERSIZED. Coincidence?

I worked on tweaking both Airborne and Will Bill at the same time basically, for parts and height checking, each build influencing parts used on the other. The Wild Bill head from the ROC figure somewhat helped the head size issue. It’s still a little small, but not as offensive (as long as kept Airborne’s head on the smaller side). Use of the DG Cobra Commander’s lower arms kept the similar jacket look while being a little longer, and had minimal folds and wrinkles to match the original upper arms. The DG CC hands were a big bonus in that they were the right size, and that both hands had ball joints that pivoted up and down—perfect for some two-handed sling shootin’.


2020-06-15_01-41-21 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

The picture above was a work in progress (and part of larger test shots of final group pics below). I use a spare loose 3-pack Air Command Wild Bill for the test work, which would then become the final figure if all went well (At this point I wanted to keep an unmodified original 25th Wild Bill for comparative pics as well as for nostalgic reasons --ten years!!). For the holsters, the plastic face of the piece attached to the body was totally cut off, and the thighs and remaining holster pieces to cut and sanded to allow the guns to fit. Both the torso and the vest were shaved down to allow the vest to close in more, and let the arms rest closer to the body. In the pic above, the holsters were temporarily attached with rubber bands—it would be a few days before worked out a decent method to glue them on permanently and securely. Plus I didn’t have AK Real Colors green paints I would need to finish him up, so I went on to finish Airborne first.

After Airborne was finished and I got the WB build right and holsters glue down, the figure had to be completely repainted (which was a little hard to start b/c the black and grey scheme was kinda cool). For the browns, I used Testors Leather and Testors Schokoladenbraun for medium and dark browns, respectively. For the darker green chaps and gloves, I used AK Real Colors RC105 Spanish Green, which has a nice brownish hue to it. For the lighter green I went AK Real Colors RC028 Mitsubishi Interior Green mixed with AK Real Colors RC225 Dark Tan. The idea was to get a color that would be somewhere between the vintage and the 25th, without really having to closely match either (but ok if it did match one or the other).


2020-06-27_12-04-39 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

The last bits were to repaint the guns silver (matching the toy one I had as a kid), and modifying the trigger hole for his trigger fingers. And very last touch was to give him a 25th Gung-Ho backpack painted brown. This is because as a kid I geared up my Wild Bill with the same vintage brown backpack from the accessories pack, so that he’d have a similar large backpack like Airbone for scouting and investing on ground during their two-man helicopter patrols and missions. Having finished Wild Bill,I finally had a 25th style pair of these figures that I wasn’t too disappointed in—and could actually take photos that wouldn’t make me cringe (for now).

2020-06-26_01-29-59 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

Repainting these finals from other fodder and reissues (instead of messing with my last original 25th versions) allowed me to take the photo below for a mega before and after and then and now slash weirdest wedding party picture ever. In hindsight, a good photo can make the unmodified 25th figures look better than they do in hand. And it’s nice kept these originals of my originals as originals, instead of overpaying for additional copies at today’s market values.


2020-06-26_01-28-42 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

Working on these guys really gave me a chance to go back and study and actually enjoy these older figures and parts—these days they don’t get much love and/or respect with the more modern (and admittedly better sculpted 30th/50th and MTR figures/parts. Working on these two also got me going on their 1983 shelf mates Cover Girl and Ace. But before those (still in progress), I will move forward while going back to 1986 characters (but moving forward to 30th/50th parts) to the concurrent project with 1983 (that started with Doc), that started when I tried to put G Hawk and B Head back on the Joe display shelf after their own photos and writeups…


2020-06-26_09-01-35 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr


2020-06-26_01-29-35 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

[nighthawk]

Wild Bill looks awesome!

[Hit & Run]

Love how Wild Bill came out, the tweaks you made all fit the original build perfectly and the paint job is great. Really enjoy the breakdowns and how you explain the process / motivation behind the builds and how you show all of the versions together. I know 25th anniversary doesn’t always get a lot of love these days but I still enjoy seeing them with newer updates / customs.

[HissHissFangFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hit & Run

Love how Wild Bill came out, the tweaks you made all fit the original build perfectly and the paint job is great. Really enjoy the breakdowns and how you explain the process / motivation behind the builds and how you show all of the versions together. I know 25th anniversary doesn’t always get a lot of love these days but I still enjoy seeing them with newer updates / customs.

Thanks for the comments. And I think I should retract my comment about the early 25th figures. Maybe they don't get much custom use these days (understandably so)--but sellers are asking for a nice amount of dough for 25th figures these days, and some of these loose are getting scarce. I was hoping to get some carded extras when I was working on them, but didn't like the current prices.

[HissHissFangFan]

CLASS OF 1986, PART I:


2020-05-08_12-42-10 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

The picture above, from my previous Beachhead post, was inspired by rough memories of Sunbow Season 2, episode 1 opening scenes. Before taking the final shot, I rewatched those scenes hoping to homage a nice screen capture, but failed to find a screen shot I liked (although I have an idea for later of an exaggerated workside shot of them standing around Shipwreck).


2020-06-13_08-33-02 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

In those first scenes, there’s a nice intro to most of the new 1986 characters, and working on Hawk and Beachhead got me in the mood to tweak more of them and start really using the 30th/50th fodder that I had been accumulating. My Wet-Suit and Leatherneck aren’t quite there yet, but I got four done in the last few months (while working on Airborne and Wild Bill). As usual, relative figure heights for are a primary driver of part use, especially for pairs like Low-Light & Sci-Fi and Dial-Tone & Mainframe. So...


20200613_195624~2 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

DIAL-TONE:

Decided to use my last extra Flint/Firefly/Steeler 50th torso and arms on this character, along with legs from a bunch of HitNRun extras I’ve been accumulating (for legs, lower arms, and hands). This replaces my previous shelf custom Dial-Tone made from a 25th Airborne—that previous custom was remade into a taller Airborne from previous posts. The webgear is from a 50th Firefly, with an upper pouch and two upper grenades cut off. The knees are from a Low-Light, trying to see if different kneepieces work with these legs (the key for me is allowing the leg pieces to fully straighten out). The cuffs are from extra fodder Tomax&Xamot, and a big visual item from the visual that I felt was important. Backpack is a modified and painted vintage, and head is from a ROC Hawk with painted mustache.


20200701_223022~2 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

MAIN-FRAME:
I wanted a taller figure from the 25th original, and needed to put to use one the 50th Hawk bodies I’ve been accumulating (for the belt and goggles). Minstrelboy had also used this body before a few years earlier, but with the Hawk vest—luckily the 25th Dataframe webgear fit on this body without any mods, and nicely hid this body’s very ugly torso joint. The lower legs were switched with the 50th HitNRun ones because they ended up being taller. The Hawk upper legs were retained for the same reason. The extra pads on the arms and legs were painted silver to acknowledge them, but fade out when squinting for an overall look closer to the vintage. Obvious in the photo, but not too much in hand is the bad skin color diff between head and the rest—the idea was to repaint, and maybe even get a new head and vintage helmet cast from AVAC—but I forgot to complete that. Belt is from extra Sci-Fi…


20200613_212941~3 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

SCI-FI:

The 30th/POC version is an amazing looking figure, but is just too tall. Plus his knees were restricting the legs from a full straight posing position (on purpose to make him look shorter around other figures?). I switched out the Snow-Serpent based torso and lower legs/knees with an extra 25th Barbeque. The torso needed extreme knifework to slim down to fit the vest. The front thigh pads of the BBQ figure were cut down and made nice locations to glue on the bits from the 30th LL figure.

The figure was painted Vallejo green for a decent match in photo and in hand. On the to-do list for him is to cut into the torso to upper knee area to minimize that older 25th diaper look for visual purposes (joint actually has decent range as is). I wouldn’t have dared done any of this work if I hadn’t had a spare 30th to work with. I lucked on a decently priced loose one a few years ago.


20200613_215934~2 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

LOW-LIGHT:
This one had the least amount of tweaks, but he needed to get taller. 25th Beachhead/Firefly legs would have put him over the top (and probably look pretty good), but went with the 50th HitNRun legs instead. This required the figure to be totally repainted—Tamiya Dark Grey was a very good match though. The left thigh retains the 50th figures rifle scope holder.

The torso’s shoulders were cut down to let the vest sit lower, allowing the head to be raised enough (using a little sculpt clay in the head socket) without failing off. I decided to keep the original LL arms though they are pretty bulky. I think the vest needs these arms and torso which fit together for a wide chest—a narrower combo would likely restrict movement more. Plus, his buddy Low-Life also has a wide chest (original 50th or BBQ/Snow job torso), which made either less awkward looking than when posed alone.


2020-07-01_11-03-48 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

These are all my first pass at these figures. In the months to come, I’ll probably find things to tweak even more along with things I’ve noted above (a luxury I had with my figures from 2017-2018). But a lot of this work represents some ideas I’ve had for a while but was too wrapped up in my other favs (O13, Cobras, T13) and lacking some ideas for really get going on them.

I’ve said before that I’m more of an early 1982-1984 guy, and as a kid I sort of resented most of the 85 and 86 “replacement” figures. But working on these guys these last few months really made me appreciate the 1986 class, especially with their designs. And it’s nice to have a bunch of them in a consistent 30th/50th style build, with relatively consistent heights (so you all can count on my upcoming Leatherneck being a completely different build than the 50th).


PhotoGrid_1591603285784 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

[46 Zone]

Wow!!! Awesome sauce!!!

Hey Hasbro!!! Look at this Duke!!! Please put that figure in your Wal-Mart Retro line!!! Put them all in your Retro line!!!

[sbartek1974]

I freaking love it!!!