[Fred Broca]

Classified style, first appearance, Baroness! First, a special thanks to #maraudergunners for allowing me to use a few of their photos for this render, the Luger and combat knife specifically (thanks so much MJ!). The other weapons are from the Tomytec Little Armory line, though the Uzi-pro is from Wiki. This composite is made mostly from my own photos this time around, with a few bits and pieces coming from Hisstank.com and other ad photos.

I wasn't planning on taking on any COBRA characters at the outset, mainly because most all the characters I'm interested in have been made already. But...the combination of the amazing support I've received from you all and the challenge and fun of bringing this old and forgotten design to life got the juices flowing.

She looks a lot different, yes, but that's the point. I wanted to capture what she could have looked like before the terrible explosion she was caught in way back in Marvel's issue #16, and before all the extensive reconstructive surgery she went through. This is the result; Eastern European features, a more natural looking nose and stronger jawline. In her eyes I wanted to convey the complexities of her character; devious, ruthless, cunning, terrifying but also sad; despite her character and deeds, the Baroness always struck me as a sad individual. But yes, I especially wanted her to look scary too, almost like a vampire.

Her jumpsuit was a bit of a challenge. Looking back at the old comics, was the orange quilt padding on her suit really orange quilt padding? Was it cloth-of-gold? I opted for the gold because it looked cool and made more sense; these are megalomaniacal freaks after all, lol. As for the weapons, a Luger as her sidearm just felt right. The original figure's card-back said she liked Uzis, so I gave her an Uzi-pro. I added the AS Val because it vaguely resembles the original figure's rifle, and as a nod to her Eastern European roots. Again, hope you all dig it, as much as I had fun in making it! - https://m.facebook.com/groups/398663...ibextid=Nif5oz

[Fred Broca]

The 4-Door Vamp is hard as fuck. I gonna have to get one of those made.

Classified Clutch and the Vamp! First, the images that I used for these comps are a combination of parts of photos from Hisstank.com as well as photos of my own figures. The weapons are from the Tomytec line, and the Vamp was made from a promo image if Kyosho?s Diecast 1/18th scale Lamborghini Cheetah model.

And so, at long last, the VAMP and Clutch! I really took my time with this one; the Vamp was my most favourite original G.I. JOE vehicle of all. I played with it inside, outside, took it to construction sites for big battles for my friends (those were the days!) and even tried to smuggle it along with me on a Christmas trip to my Grandparents. So, I wanted to make something that hit that sweet spot.

I never would have guessed in a million years that we have Lamborghini to thank for inspiration for the Vamp, but here it is, a Lamborghini Cheetah modified into a military jeep. I tried to keep as much to the original design as possible while also trying to balance it out with practicalities. I decided not to arc the hood (more a personal choice there). Yes, it?s a 4 seater, and really, that?s what I?d want to see at this scale. I added an ammo storage container between the rear seats and a back-up radio/ cell phone set, all for extra play value in the concept.
And yes, a jeep with the cabin completely exposed didn?t strike me as practical (better for displaying the figs), so for the concept I added an extra armored canopy, ala the Mark II, that could attach easily to the main body for whichever way one wanted to display it.

For the turrets, I remember very clearly that the Vamp?s turrets were able to obliterate a low flying enemy aircraft (which was just so totally dope). After some research, I came up with the idea of making it a twin mounted M230lf Chain gun (or something akin to that), combined with a Cockerill CLWS auto-turret, which has a very unique looking design for how the ammo belt would feed the turrets (almost like a fan motion).

For my Clutch likeness, not much to add here; I basically went for a straight interpretation of the original card art and figure. I did my best to give him his swag with just a hint of crazy in his eyes; he did after all think nothing of driving the Vamp over a steep mountain cliff road just to get CoCo, lol. The tool kit too is a straight nod to his pre-enlistment occupation (the idea being that the Vamp?s hood could open up and the kit would come with a few removable tools). Hope you all dig it as much fun as I had in making it (and this one was the most fun!) Thanks too for all the support! - https://m.facebook.com/groups/398663...ibextid=Nif5oz

[Fred Broca]

Classified style Cover Girl! First, the parts of this composite of Cover Girl were made from a combination of photos from Hisstank.com as well as my own, and the weapons are from the #tomytec line. For the Wolverine I used the lower half of an M1 Abrams R/C model from a company called Heng Long. The missile silos are a combo of the Hawk Missile system scale model from Tamiya, and the silos are from a scale model of the Russian TOS-1a tank from a company called Trumpeter. I also added the heavy machine gun as a way to enhance the concept; the idea being that Cover Girl should have at least one co-pilot that could sit in a canopy and work that hardware should any snakes get too close. Also, like the TOS-1a, I imagine that both the tank?s cockpit and missile silo array were situated on the same rotating platform in order to maintain their line of sight with her/ their targets. (No idea how feasible that actually would be, but I think it would look pretty cool and make for a fun mega toy).

So, Cover Girl! Again, I was only going to make dream pics of the O.G. 13, but the fun of making these images as well as the many requests I?ve been getting and the challenge of making her iconic tank definitely got her on my list. But...she wouldn?t wait! Cover Girl came to life in the back of my mind after 40 years, and was having no part of waiting for me to get through her classic teammates first, so I just rolled with it. For her overall uniform look I took cues from all the awesome Customs I?ve seen in the Joe groups I visit, and gave her her own version of the tank-inspired boots l made for Steeler.

For her portrait, yes, I know she?s classically red-brown in the mane, but I wanted to distinguish her more from Scarlett and thus went with the blonde look they briefly gave her from the original cartoon. And yes, the card bio: it said she was so hot that she reduced men to ?stuttering idiots,? so I did my best to give her a look that would do that to me, lol. Hope you all dig it as much as I had fun in making it!- https://m.facebook.com/groups/398663...ibextid=Nif5oz





You guys wanted auburn, ya gots auburn! I went for the shorter hair in this 1a version to better homage the original toy. Again, as with the composite parts, mix of my own photos and from hisstank.com for the body. The weapons are tomytec and the tank is made from various scale models: an R/C Abrams tank from Heng Long for the lower half and treads. The Silo base is from Tamiya's Hawk missile system, and the missile silo ports are from a Russian TOS-1a tank from Trumpeter.- https://m.facebook.com/groups/398663...ibextid=Nif5oz

[Fred Broca]

Classic Duke! My feelings about Duke are complicated, lol. When he was first introduced in the comic, I wanted noooo part of him; the team already HAD a leader, and that was Hawk, and I LOVED Hawk!! This new younger version of Hawk, who was supposed to be some kind of ultra hardass who thought the Joes weren't good enough already??...Nope, wasn't having it. But then he didn't turn out to be such a hardass after all, and he grew on me. Unfortunately, I never had the original figure though. He was hard to come by in Vancouver in '84, and by the time I saved up enough to get him, he was long gone. A friend of mine had him though, and kept all the card art. It was there, at my friend's house, that Duke started to come alive in my mind. I spent a lot of time looking over that fantastic artwork of him on the card. This was a proud and dignified man, honorable, courageous, noble, everything you'd want in a leader. Duke's had a lot of looks over the years, but for me the real Duke is the man portrayed on that original card artwork of yore, and I did my best to capture the likeness in the portrait.

And so, with this render, I give another gift to my 11 year old self; my ideal Classic Duke! What I never knew though was that Duke was a Green Beret! I therefore decided to include the beret and make him a part of the US Army's 5th Special Forces Group, with the Vietnam era beret flash. Both in homage to Duke's record as listed on the original card art, but especially in homage to my late Uncle, who was both a Vietnam Vet and US Army Ranger. (Yes, I am Canadian, but my father?s side are all Alabama Southerners). Hope you all dig it! - https://m.facebook.com/groups/398663...ibextid=Nif5oz

[Fred Broca]

My latest render: Lieutenant Falcon! I honestly had zero intention initially of making a render of Falcon. Nothing personal of course, I was just indifferent as he was introduced long after I'd outgrown JOE toys, lol. Having zero attachment to something allows for far more creative freedom, and I didn't want to redo Flint's beret-wearing Hothead swag vibe. Interestingly, Falcon's original card bio, though vague, still describes someone that sounds different to me than the character in the animated movie, so that's the inspiration I took for making the portrait: someone proud, dignified, intense but also respectful and fearless, basically everything you'd want a no nonsense bad ass soldier to be!

For his outfit I stayed with a more retro style tiger-stripe camo look. For his kit though, I wanted to modernize it a bit and therefore gave him a Harris-type Manpack radio set-up stuffed into a backpack, along with more modern rifles (I stuck with Hasbro's ingenious plastic-saving solution of creating a side peg on the backpack for storing his rifles). I also thought it would be fun if one had the option to play around a bit with his look by giving the collector a choice to choose Falcon's beret flash to either make him look classic, neo-classic, or realistic. Lastly, I'd like to give special thanks to John Marco Fincato, my advisor in all things military, and who has been very generous to me with his time! Thanks bro! (And yes, a Headsculpt is already in the works!) Hope you all dig it! - https://m.facebook.com/groups/398663...2385/?mibextid

[AWOL]

Duke was a Green Beret?

[TheOverlordCorp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fred Broca

My take on Classified-style Flash (at last!)

I can only hope the Classified version looks so good.

[Fred Broca]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AWOL

Duke was a Green Beret?

That was a mistake. Duke was 82nd Airborne.

[AWOL]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fred Broca

That was a mistake. Duke was 82nd Airborne.

I wasn't sure before, but his filecard says he went Special Forces in '69.

[Fred Broca]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AWOL

I wasn't sure before, but his filecard says he went Special Forces in '69.

That's what I get for not doing research before speaking.