Hasbro: Dollar General "Duke" 2nd issue
Resin and plastic parts
Black paint and super glue gel


Stan "Andy" Andrews was not sure what it took to be a G.I. Joe, but he was certain he had the right stuff.

I am wading into the 1/18th custom modeling waters and here is a simple custom effort. As previously mentioned, I am a gear geek, obsessed with giving my customs appropriate field gear. I credit an older cousin with this affliction when he explained how the classic G.I. Joe German Soldier had rifle pouches on his belt while he was armed with a sub-machinegun. Since, I have labored to match gear to gun, equipment to era, etc. Despite the fictional theme, I wanted my Greenshirt here to have good field gear. The canteen on his belt was retained but I cut the extra holster from the belt with an Exacto knife. I added pouches to each side of the belt buckle from castings. The one to the figure's right was a pouch with grenade pockets cast from a pouch cut from another Dollar General find; a USMC themed figure of questionable aesthetics. The other pouch was from a BBI figure's leg panel. I popped it off the leg and made a mold for casting. These pouches were painted black and clear coated with matte Modge-Podge acrylic sealer. The coat does not look that matted, but rather has dullish sheen matching the belt and canteen. The pack was cast from a 21st Century Toys Vietnam era rucksack and given the same paint treatment. The rifle had the magazine cut so I could add a longer curved magazine cut from an M&C Toys 1/18th M4. M&C Toys rifles are too bendy and will warp when used in action poses but they are nice for spare parts. I attached the magazine with superglue gel and reinforced the joint with a section of sewing pin inserted into tiny holes I drilled into the joining parts. Now this generic trooper has a touch more battlefield-credibility than he left the store with.

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