Head: ARAH Airwave cast w/Star Wars- Ric Ollie goggles
Masked Head: ARAH TARGAT cast w/Para-Viper breathing hose
Torso: 25A Cobra Commander
Upper arms: Resolute Duke
Lower arms: ROC Neo Viper
Legs: 25A Croc Master
Vest: Star Wars- Rebel Soldier
Weapon: ROC???


Design:

The 1st Kenner Dusty Hayes figure is pretty iconic, sporting a blue and red boating outfit. And, like most of the MASK characters, it's already been perfected by other customizers. Plus, I just don't like it. So I looked to the 2nd Dusty figure for inspiration. But it was simply the 1st Dusty figure uninspiringly recolored in turquoise and reddish-orange- so close to the first version that the recolor by Kenner didn't accomplish anything.

I shifted towards the 3rd Dusty from the MASK lineup for my "Now a Joe" custom. The 3rd Dusty is strange. It has a theme combining riding chaps, alligator leather, and old west sheriff. The Croc Master parts obviously provide the alligator feel while the Cobra Commander torso somehow gives a bit of a western sheriff vibe. No need for the riding chaps.

Colors & Paint:

The 3rd Dusty figure was from the "Splitting Image" lineup, in which a MASK or VENOM agent would make a "computer image" of himself (meaning an autonomous hardlight holographic duplicate) to drive vehicles and fight. Kinda creepy, kinda awesome. The 3rd Dusty was a mix of orange, charcoal, and bronze. Sadly, its paint applications are sparse and lots of details were outright ignored.

The 4th Dusty figure, the hologram, was the 3rd Dusty figure molded in transparent gold. I aimed for at least one nod to the "Splitting Image" figures in my MASK custom set, so here Dusty is presented in a rough approximation of the hologram figure. However, it's intended to represent an active camouflage system worn by Dusty- not a holographic duplicate of him. Painting the figure with gold (or orange or yellow) paint would have made it look like a bronze statue, so I used red. To create the appearance that something "techno" is going on, it has reflective sparkles added. The effect is helped by using parts that contrast each other in terms of texture and shape, which would normally call for them to be painted in different colors.

The sparkles do all the work on this figure, but not as well as I'd hoped. This is the same technique I used to paint to custom Star Trek: The Motion Picture transporter malfunction figures. I considered painting the unmasked head in red/sparkles, but kept it painted in a standard style to offset the helmet. The effect works better on the ST figures, which I painted blue. Blue compliments the silver sparkles better, and it helps that with ST figures, one would make the leap that the sparkles/blue combo is meant to stand in for the transporter effect. The translucent Splitting Image figures are relatively obscure, making the concept harder to immediately recognize for most.

Sculpting:

Both heads are cast. The goggles were added to the unmasked head. The breathing hose was added to the helmet to give it a touch of the more popular Dusty Hayes V1/V2 mask. The neckerchief is sculpted.

Thanks for looking.

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