Head, torso, arms: ROC Zartan in disguise
Hands: one set 25A Shipwreck, one set ???
Legs: Resolute Beachhead/Resolute Stalker
Push molds of Ice Viper vest and leg and Dusty 25A goggles
Resin casts of '82 Grunt backpack


Design:

The foot soldiers of RIOT, presented as "Now a Joe" characters. Mego's RIOT troopers predated Hasbro's Cobra soldiers, but they really lack the villainous appeal of the masked baddies in dark blue. This is an update of the RIOT trooper design. The biggest change is that I did away with the sunglasses, mostly because I don't want them to thematically overlap with the Strike First customs I'm also making. The sunglasses are replaced with goggles perched on the hats. The original hands of the Zartan arms were just a little bit undersized, so I replaced them with larger gloved hands.

Using the same legs that I used for my Beta Man custom help establish some uniformity within RIOT.

Colors & Paint:

With the good guy Eagle Force team, I replaced the (literally) metallic gold uniforms of the Mego figures with a camouflage pattern containing light brown, yellow, and orange. So it stands to reason that I might try to replace the metallic silver uniforms of RIOT with a pattern of grey, blue, and white. However, I've always had a soft spot for bad guys having over-the-top elements. So the uniforms stayed silver. Maybe the silver is the neutral point for a high-tech active camouflage system?

The RIOT logo proved to difficult for me to make a decal of, so I made a new one using the word "riot" instead of the globe design.

Because these figures are identical (except for the hands), I painted them using two different skin tones.

Sculpting & Modifying:

The chest straps were added and topped with the push molds. To keep the chest straps in place, I hot glued the upper and lower portions of the torso together. This also hid the wide articulation gap that I find annoying on many 25A style figures.

Thanks for looking.

To teach, improve, share, entertain and showcase the work of the customizing community.