[shakka85]

And the winner is... (dramatic pause): Covergirl!

That is one of the best Covergirl customs I've seen, and there have been a lot! The head sculpt it a great choice, and the paints are perfect from top to bottom! You've outdone yourself, once again!

-Todd
Shakka85

[Hit & Run]

I agree, she looks great! A good custom of Cover a girl has been eluding me for a long while now but people are getting better & better customs of her out there that I know it’s only a matter of time before I finally get working in my own. Build and head choices work really well for her. All of the group pics look fantastic too! Well done.

[stljoe]

Covergirl looks great!

[DavAnthony]

Excellent work on that Cover Girl. Very nice!

[DerStahlhelm]

I used the same head for my Cover Girl. It really is the best off the rack choice. Excellent work as always!!

[Mog]

Your customs are always very nicely done. I'm sure there's a ton of subtle trimming and thinning that most of us wouldn't even notice, unless you point it out.

Given the parameters you gave yourself, you absolutely nailed that rendition of Ace.

And your work on Covergirl is spot on. My only nit is that it feels like the upper arms are a little too "thin," especially for a jacket-covered arm. Again, everything else is beautifully done; it just feels like the upper arms should just be a smidge thicker.

[HissHissFangFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mog

Your customs are always very nicely done. I'm sure there's a ton of subtle trimming and thinning that most of us wouldn't even notice, unless you point it out.

Given the parameters you gave yourself, you absolutely nailed that rendition of Ace.

And your work on Covergirl is spot on. My only nit is that it feels like the upper arms are a little too "thin," especially for a jacket-covered arm. Again, everything else is beautifully done; it just feels like the upper arms should just be a smidge thicker.

Thanks Mog. I think this is a very good comment about the arms. Hasbro modern Joe female figures all tend towards the thinner side, and these arms used actually are actually on the wider side of the spectrum based on figures and fodder I have in hand. And in trying to use male arms (I think the more rare ROC Hawk got the closest consideration), the shoulder ball joint tends to be pretty large and too distracting. In the end, I think these arms used are the best available for the overall figure's look--especially with the shorter and tighter torso piece I'm using. Still, you make a good point, and it is appreciated.

Thanks to everyone else for the nice comments. Special shout out to DaveAnthony, who I consider one of my main influences on almost all aspects of what I do here. I'm glad you're active again here and at JoeCustoms.com, and I'm excited about your current and near future work. The same should be said for Ceraurus. There is so much I take from these two.

Derstahlhelm: Sorry about not giving you a nod previously on your use of the head. I don't know how I forgot about your awesome Class of 83 from last November (http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-jo...stahlhelm.html), which likely was an influence in my current 83 obsession. That thread is a good study, with interesting builds and paints.

Finally, below are some extra shots taken last night, trying to expand on ideas I had with my original CG post. When I first did the shot of the 4 lady Joes, I though I should grab all the ladies from 82-87. My brain wiped, as I completely forgot about Baroness! But a liked the five figure arrangement, so turned that mistake into the title of the photo.

I had wanted the lady Joes in more action poses, but knew I didn't have time, especially to deal with the fussiness of balancing on all the small feet. Then I gave in and tried to introduce Baroness, but she didn't really fit in the composition of the idea, and here colors (or lack there of) didn't work with the lighting as it did for the other five.


2020-08-03_09-46-01 by HissHiss
2020-08-03_09-45-21 by HissHissFangFang, on FlickrFangFang, on Flickr

2020-08-03_10-13-04 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

[shakka85]

Hey! How did the Baroness pull off that appearing and disappearing trick? She's so sneaky! Of course Zarana is cursing her, saying, "Isn't that just typical..." (in her best impression of Dr. McCoy from 'Star Trek: Beyond'). ;)

-Todd
Shakka85

[HissHissFangFan]

SNOW JOB (25th Classic Style)

2020-08-17_12-01-07 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr
PARTS:
• Head, Goggles, Upper Arms, Torso, Skirt: 2008 25th Snow Job
• Lower Arms: 2016 50th Duke
• Hands: 2010 POC Snake Eyes (or figure with same mold)
• Upper & Lower Legs: 2010 POC Duke
• Hood, Feet: 2009 ROC Arctic Assault Snake Eyes

PAINTS:
• Vallejo Off White over Testors White
• Webgear: Testors Dark Tan

This one’s been done for a few weeks, even before Cover Girl, but I held up on him due to the hood. I didn’t know if was brilliance or absolute absurdity so I waited, worked on other things, then revisited to see if I was still comfortable presenting this look. I was also hoping to find a picture of someone else using the same idea, but nothing could be found. I’m not completely sold on this hood, but currently I like it better than the original 25th’s hood. A modified middle ground between the two would probably look best—something to look at down the road (by me, or maybe others). Below are some side by sides, including my version with the original hood before the hood switch at the 11th hour of work on this figure.


2020-08-18_12-25-00 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

Going into the figure there were a number of things I knew I wanted to tweak, while trying to use the original figure as much as possible. First were the lower arms and hands. The original’s lower arms seemed molded for a different figure with different bulkiness and texture than the uppers. Maybe it was done on purpose, and later releases actually changed the color of these lower arms. For mine, I wanted a better match. Second was to tweak the goggles to fit closer and better to the face. I also opted to color in the lenses for a closer feel to the original. I hated the original hands, mostly because they couldn’t grip his gear very well. The POC Snake Eyes hands had nice bulk and both hands have up-down hinges, good for the ski poles. Also, ski poles are from the POC Snow Job, which eliminate the large loopies at the handles. The 50th’s ski’s are better, but I opt for the smaller 25th ones for these tighter pictures, and my tight display shelf.


2020-08-16_11-59-18 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

The original 25th's legs were fine, but I ended up switching them for the POC Jungle Duke legs for a little bit more height needed to stay in step with the rest of my tweaked 1983 class. The use of these legs was taken from Oreobuilder’s latest build (the first place I looked when tackling this figure). OB used to right lower leg and knees to eliminate use of the left knee pad, but I chose to keep it as the smaller right knee left too much joint exposed (where paint rub is more likely in the future). And idea is to sculpt more mass into the capless knee pieces using my extra 50th Dusty fodder, but these knees are extremely floppy and I don’t want to deal with that issue at this time.

I ended up painting the chest pockets different than the original and the 25th, deviating from my usual mantra of being true to the original (more specifically, the Garrido card art). Visually I had to break my mantra here to break up all that solid white. I had already painted more the sculpted chest gear around pockets, and in early test shots the pockets begged to be colored in. I was also looking at the repainted releases of 2009 which added a lot more colors and paint apps—particularly the hands and boots. In the end I compromised with myself (!) by only painting in the chest pockets.


2020-08-16_11-59-02 by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

I think I’m done with my 1983 class for this year, except for some minor tweaks found when I assemble them all for an updated class picture. I’m leaving Tripwire as is for now, since I like the original 25th‘s build (my 25th OG bias weighs heavy here), and size. Same with Torpedo, except that I painted his grey’s to dark silver, painted his black a consistent gloss black (for a “wet” look), and changed his hands to 50th Hit’N’Run ball hinged ones.

I’ve jumped to some 1984 guys I’ve been meaning to update for a few years now. Those guys have me occupied for the short time I have to mess with my Joe collection this last year. But before the year’s out, I’d really like to get back to Snow Job and Torpedo here for some more articulated and dynamic photos. Hopefully work slows down some in the next month or two. And maybe timing will work out with a flood and/or blizzard for background…

[zpartikuz]

Wow that’s is fantastic!