Head: one ARAH Grand Slam, one ARAH Steeler
Chest/back: ARAH Doc
Arms: one pair ARAH Leatherneck V1, one pair ARAH Stretcher
Waist, lower legs: ARAH Shipwreck V1
Upper legs: ARAH Lifeline V1
Kibble at top of harness: cut from ROC Para-Viper straps


Character:

GI Joe Special Missions #5 featured a Joe vs. Cobra dogfight, with a b-plot about the support crews. The Joe pilots, Slipstream & Ace, treated their crews with respect and were shown respect in return. They rushed to save Ace. The Cobra pilot, a Strato-Viper, treated his with distain. The Cobra crew let the Strato-Viper drown through both sabotage and cold indifference. The Cobra team doubled as both a maintenance team and a rescue team.

Design:

The bodies only vaguely match the uniforms seen in the comic book. But I liked the overall flow of the parts and used them for the Repair & Rescue Team, as they captured the spirit of Herb Trimpe's wonderful artwork. These customs are of generic Repair & Rescue team members, not the individual ones seen in the comic book, but I tried to make the heads drift towards the appearances of two of them.

The larger Stretcher arms are paired with the larger Grand Slam head; the slimmer Leatherneck arms with slimmer Steeler head.

Colors & Paints:

Based on the comic book. The colorist, Bob Sharen, was smart to not use Cobra blue on the Repair & Rescue Team, as it presented them as support airmen. However, there wasn't anything especially "Cobra" about them. To slide in some bad guy visuals, I used the open spot on the left thighs to place Cobra logos. The winged Cobra logo would have been more fitting for the specialty, but space-wise, the regular logo worked better.

In addition to the Cobra logo, I threw in some metallic red for some of the gear.

Sculpting & Modifying:

The rear shoulder rivets, elbow rivets, and thigh screw insets are epoxied smooth.

Thanks for looking.

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