[Yeet]

Looks great!

[ARBCO Avenue]

Wow! You saved Gung Ho. Way to hold out for better paint. The improvement to his face with your touch up is just right. Kuddos

[shakka85]

Nice work improving GH! The base color of the uniform looks spot-on, and the additional camo spots on the pants are a good call! Thanks for sharing this with us.

-Todd
Shakka85

[jlw515]

HHFF, Gung-Ho looks great! Gung-Ho was my first "favorite" character (never really had a "favorite" among the O13, not even Snake Eyes).

A few questions for you:

1. With your x-acto knife technique, are you basically just making the black dot (iris) smaller?

2. Did you add putty/Sculpey/Green Stuff to the eyebrows? I think the eyebrows on your custom really set it apart. I can't look at the stock figure anymore without those manicured/waxed-looking eyebrows sticking out like a sore thumb. Definitely gonna thicken up ole Gung-Ho's eyebrows on my custom.

3. Ditto question on the mustache? Putty or just a paint touch up?

4. Did you paint the chest tattoo? It may just be the difference of picture sources, but your custom looks a tad bit darker and duller.

Jason

[HissHissFangFan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlw515

HHFF, Gung-Ho looks great! Gung-Ho was my first "favorite" character (never really had a "favorite" among the O13, not even Snake Eyes).

A few questions for you:

1. With your x-acto knife technique, are you basically just making the black dot (iris) smaller?

2. Did you add putty/Sculpey/Green Stuff to the eyebrows? I think the eyebrows on your custom really set it apart. I can't look at the stock figure anymore without those manicured/waxed-looking eyebrows sticking out like a sore thumb. Definitely gonna thicken up ole Gung-Ho's eyebrows on my custom.

3. Ditto question on the mustache? Putty or just a paint touch up?

4. Did you paint the chest tattoo? It may just be the difference of picture sources, but your custom looks a tad bit darker and duller.

Jason

Some A's to your Q's Jason:
1. I'm scrapping both the pupil and the iris. Its basically extending the painting concepts of Jin Saotome's eyepainting technique to the bottom eyelid but sort of in reverse by removing paint, for a squinty tough guy look.

I tend to think the final product is more in line with what the sculptor's hope to get from the paint apps, but is too difficult to execute for mass production and for this scale. But truthfully I do this for Star Wars Black Series 6" and for Vintage Collection as well.

2. No sculpt work on this figure, just paints. Your comments are exactly what I was thinking (yet again!), regarding eyebrows. For Mr. Ho here, I actually went with brushwork instead of my usual toothpick application because
(1) application by toothpick technique is always a pain
(2) the size of his stache seemed to welcome bushier brows
(3) in my mind I thought he had bushier eyebrows in Herb Trimpe's Order of Battle pinup, but just verified that to be inconclusive--brim covers the eyes, and lastly
(4) toothpick is really really a pain--it's like trying to paint but instead of a brush, you're using a fricking toothpick.

3. No sculptwork on the stache, just touchup paints. On all of these 50th GH's I've seen, they really miss on painting the bottom tip edges and it really shows and it really bothers me. But the sculpt on the stache is really nice. Actually the entire head is fantastic, and I wasn't expecting to see that expressed so well in the hyperprocessed explosion photos.

4. I forgot to mention that all the bare flesh areas were hit with Testor's Dullcote Laquer, since the skin was look way too shiny for my taste. I think the coating helped dull and darken the chest tat as an added bonus as you point out. But nothing else was done to it. I wish we could use my spare original 50th GungHo for better comparison, but if you look close, you'll see that I acetoned off 75% of that for an abandoned custom of someone I forgot who.

I can't stress how much I appreciate Hasbro getting this figure out before the end. He's a favorite of mine as well (hence part of by T13 set). You guys remember when this figure was concept case only, with a solid chance of never ever being released (much like the 50th Destro)? Bad times those were...

[jlw515]

HHFF,

Thanks for the As to my Qs! I have a custom Gung-Ho (50th GH upper body on a MTF dark green waist/legs) that I thought was "finished." Now, I am going to have to go back and touch up the face! LOL!

Jason

[HissHissFangFan]

“I need another Duke. A repaint please—use the same build as previous, just slightly different colors”
Said no one, in last 10 years. And yet, here I am.

Still working off some ideas from my 40th Anniversary Repacks of the 24th Anniversary 25th Battle Set Boxes [http://www.hisstank.com/forum/g-i-jo...t-hasbro.html]], I thought it would be neat to actually keep all the figures of those sets in the 25th display packages, and make new figures for the main display. Discounting Scarlett (still waiting, Hasbro), I had extras of Gung-Ho and Snake Eyes, an extra 50th Flint purchased off ebay a few months back (relatively cheap, no webgear), and that goofy 50th Duke from the Tombstone 2-pack—with a great head screaming for a better body build.

25th Sunbow (modded), 1st 50th, original vintage, 2nd 50th, 25th Battle Pack:

GiJoe_25th_84-00_Duke_2019-0819ab by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

For my previous updated Duke (see earlier posts of this thread), I went with “tan” and green color without any reference to previous Hasbro figures, or to comics or cartoons. Back then all I knew was that I wanted to use darker and deeper tones of those basic colors. For my extra repaint, to wanted to try the lighter tones closer to the original 1983 figure. Unfortunately, this would require using my Vallejo paints, which are not very durable IMO, and would require the full prep, primer, paint, and seal process. The paints held up for a while, but in zooming closely into this photos I notice wear on the shirt. The shirt color was a blend, and will be hard to paint match to retouch, so I’ll be going to the hobby store this weekend and see if AK Real Colors has similar tones.


GiJoe_25th_84-00_Duke_2019-0822ac by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

While doing this second repaint, I also went back to my original custom and changed a few colors to really differentiate the two customs. The biggest change to my original custom was change the belt and bandolier from dark green to light brown—having only recently noticed that the Sunbow cartoon version had this same color scheme. This change also forced me to lighten the shirt from previous Testors Tan to Citadel Zamesi Desert (the same color I use for my O13 Comic figures) to get better color separation between shirt and gear. My updated first version is now more aligned to the Sunbow version, but not really meant to be a “cartoon” version per se.


GiJoe_25th_84-00_Duke_2019-0819bc by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

Finally, the second Duke figure’s painting required disassembly of the figure’s knees from the lower legs (by heat and pop). When reattaching the knees, I didn’t know which knee pieces were supposed to go with which lower leg pieces. I had my Cobra Trooper handy and used it as a guide first. Then when I looked at my first Duke, I found that this Flint figure (as well as similar Firefly figure) have the knee pieces switched from the Cobra Trooper/Snake Eyes figure! What’s weird is that if it was assembly error, they were consistent with both Firefly and Flint figures.


GiJoe_25th_84-00_Duke_2019-0822bb by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

I always had a problem getting Firefly and Flint to stand and stand straight (without magnets). Also, I the knees looked awkward where they met the upper leg pieces—but granted this always happens when Hasbro frankenjoe parts together. When knees are switched, the legs straighten out better and the figure stands unassisted more successfully (but still a bit problematic as in the original Cobra Trooper//Snake Eyes figures).


GiJoe_25th_84-00_Duke_2019-0819bb by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

The switched knee sculpts also “look” like they were sculpted and cut from the correct upper leg piece. In the photos of this post, the newer lighter colored repaint has the knees switched, while the darker original figure has the knees unswitched (temporarily) as released by Hasbro. The photos might show difference, but it’s much more apparent in real life. You can try it yourself, and share if you agree!


GiJoe_25th_84-00_Duke_2019-0822ai by HissHissFangFang, on Flickr

The hard part for me now is to decide which figure will go on the display shelf and which will stay in the 25th Battle Pack display box. Surprising to me, I like both versions equally (I thought for sure the darker tones were what I always wanted and envisioned). Also need to make another Roadblock, and finally figure out a permanent solution to his short webgear. But that comes later when I can also find some extra 50th Gung-Ho//Outback lower legs…

[CADPAT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HissHissFangFan

The switched knee sculpts also “look” like they were sculpted and cut from the correct upper leg piece. In the photos of this post, the newer lighter colored repaint has the knees switched, while the darker original figure has the knees unswitched (temporarily) as released by Hasbro. The photos might show difference, but it’s much more apparent in real life. You can try it yourself, and share if you agree!

I noticed this myself some years ago. I've generally left the knees "mismatched," though, as I find putting them on the "correct" legs tends to prevents the legs from straightening to their fullest extent.

[edgecrusher]

His face and head shape remind me a bit of Gabriel Macht. Hmm, he could probably play Duke in a G.I.Joe movie aiming for the vintage ARAH characters.

[HissHissFangFan]

Update: today I repainted the 2nd Duke, switching out the Vallejo tans and greens with AK Real Colors (RC306 Interior Green, and a blend of RC097 Sand Dull and RC084 Sand). Still learing how to best use these Ak Real Color paints. Can't use water to dilute for consistency--water causes the paint to clump immediately. So need to use their brand paint thinner. The problem there is if you dilute too much (but as many recommend for thin consistency), fresh coat applications tend to strip out the ones applied before.

But man, the colors are as fresh, and the paint is super sturdy. I definitely DO NOT recommend Vallejo for Joe figure unless use for smaller detail areas. No updated pictures at this time since there really isn't much difference.

Quote:

Originally Posted by edgecrusher

His face and head shape remind me a bit of Gabriel Macht. Hmm, he could probably play Duke in a G.I.Joe movie aiming for the vintage ARAH characters.

Had to Google that guy. I won't argue with you: man's got the jawline for it. Depends on how old you want or envision Duke. From Bellomo's book, Duke's info from Hama, Duke was envisioned as older than Hawk (if we're talking about following the vintage takes).

Quote:

Originally Posted by CADPAT

I noticed this myself some years ago. I've generally left the knees "mismatched," though, as I find putting them on the "correct" legs tends to prevents the legs from straightening to their fullest extent.

Interesting--I found better results when the knees were swapped, but you might not be wrong, since the Cobra Trooper also has leg straightening issues with the "correct" knee match.

When I first read your reply, I interpreted that you've seen/done this on many other figures. Is that the case, and if so, any come to the top of your head right now? Today started scanning others that may have leg straightening issues that might benefit from swapping knees. To be continued...