DISCLAIMER: So today should be a welcome break from the lolhuge customs threads I posted so far this week - this is a smaller group of customs, but still one of the major themes I've been tackling over the past few months. Should be easier for folks to read through without getting bored, at any rate. Also - I think there were some fingerprints on the camera when I took these, so apologies up-front if they look a little wonky or hazy - I'll be sure to refrain from eating fried foods when snapping pics in the future .

Ok, so now we move onto my "Hybrid" customs - yes, they fit in the world of superheroes, but they have much more of a Joe feel to me now.

I'm really tired of the whole SHIELD-HAMMER-SWORD-Secret Warriors-????-???? crap that's been going on in the comics. Too much power put into one "government" agency, and it seems like they have their hands in everything, but never seem to be able to solve any real problems without causing a ton of others.

So I down-sized my team considerably. I used the O13 Joes as my template - and kept the team small. I also dropped the acronym nonsense and just decided to use the literal meaning of "Shield", and have them as a line of defense/protection agency. I've also taken away the government angle - they're sanctioned by the US Govt, but not owned or controlled or even funded by them. This gives the team more freedom to operate and takes away any conflict of interests.

So where the Avengers are the premier superhero team in my Marvel 'verse, SHIELD consists of non-powered heroes. This is an anti-terrorist/black ops team - their main focus is HYDRA and AIM, not Galactus or Doc Doom or any of that. These are all human and peak human individuals with special skills, no superpowers.



Steve Rogers -- Former "Captain America" - now leads the SHIELD team against terrorist threats. I like the new look for Steve, but I've only read a couple of recent comics - so far I like how he's leading the "Secret Avengers" - similar concept here, but again - no superpowers, more realistic threats. Didn't go nuts with the mods on this figure, because (just as I suspected) we're getting a superior Hasbro version soon enough, but I tried to at least make it recognizable. He kept his shield because there isn't a Captain America anymore (both Steve and Bucky decided that the concept was out-dated) and it fits with my whole "SHIELD" motif.



James B. Barnes - Yes - he's basically just Winter Soldier with a shield. If the Bucky-Cap figure from the upcoming movie line is as awesome as it looks in the preview pics, then he may pull double-duty as Cap, but for now, he's on the team with the rest of the non-powered guys.





Natalia Romanov -- aka "Black Widow" - Made this one after we got the preview of the crappy IM2 version. Thought the Jean Grey head worked well enough for now with this combination of parts. But I'm still not completely happy with it, so I'll continue to try and find the perfect head. Suggestions, as always, are most welcome.



Clint Barton -- aka "Hawkeye" - because a bright purple costume with a skirt looks goofy.



Bobbi Morse-Barton aka "Mockingbird" -- Probably the closest to having a non-shield costume besides Steve. I wanted to make her recognizable, but still practical - looks more like her current comic outfit than I intended, but that's actually cool with me.



And a big reason why I did the SHIELD team thing in the first place



-- which pair would you be more afraid of if you were a bad guy?

Sharon Carter -- modded from my previous version. Gave this one a Spy Kids Carla Gugino head.



Rocky Johnson - yeah, that's "The Rock" - but in this universe he wanted to do something meaningful with his life -- He started out as a straight-up Rock/Walking Tall/Rundown custom built on a Luke Cage body, but I was messing around and slapped on a pair of legs from one of my other SHIELD customs and "Rocky Johnson, Agent of SHEILD" was born



And once again, an updated (repainted) Nick Fury. Still trying to figure out his role on the team, since Steve is the leader. Maybe he'll be in charge of intel and the "not-entirely-legal" missions. Steve's partner, in any case.



And here's the whole team with Dum-Dum and a couple of dudes I haven't named yet --might just drop Nick's WWII backstory altogether (since it's getting more and more ridiculous for him & Dum-Dum to live this long) and make these guys modern-era Howling Commandos Gabe Jones and Billy Talltrees (aka Red Wolf)



I had a Maria Hill custom all finished up until I realized that even though she's on the "right side" now, she's still a major itch-bay and I don't like the character. This is a small team, and they all need to mesh well together - so she just wouldn't fit in.


So after putting together the team, they needed a way to get around. Helicarriers are stupid, so they got this baby instead:




Obviously this team mirrors my new Joe team in many ways (right down to the identical number of members.) - I built this team first and it actually gave me the inspiration to go back and "re-invent" my Joe team to fit a similar niche. I considered trying to make the teams work together in the same universe, but decided to keep my Joes separate from my comic stuff, which actually makes the similarities easier to deal with.


And for those of you who haven't seen them before - my Hydra/AIM doods:




I should probably get around to making an Arnim Zola and a Zemo Jr, one of these days...


Thanks again for indulging me this week and putting up with my long-ass write-ups

Tomorrow: Superheroes!!

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Man, you have been busy. It's neat to see a "what if?" Rock- cool idea.

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Really like Steve and Hawkeye. But what I like the best is your use of the ROC Rhino for SHEILD. The color works so good here, much better for SHEILD than GI Joe or Cobra. Very nice eye.

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That Rhino repaint is sweet. Hawkeye almost has an Ultimates feel to him.

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Mockingbird FTW.

seriously, Chief -- you can do no wrong.

1. how did you do her glasses?

2. how did you do Bucky's shield?

3. did you paint Cap's chest logo? sorry, Steve's chest logo?

fantastic work - AGAIN!

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Thanks, Gents -

JM - Mock's glasses are just Snowjob's(?) goggles cut and glued into place. I may have painted them with some clear yellow (can't remember.)

Bucky's shield is a Cap shield with my first-and-only successful waterslide decal application. Really pleased with how it turned out, but seriously - waterslides can suck it

Yeah, Cap's chest is painted (which is why it's so sloppy) - the torso is from Ultimate Cap, so the star was already there. I should have sanded down all the "chain-mail" to make the lines easier to paint, but again - I figured we'd get a decent one from Hasbro sooner or later. So I didn't want to kill myself getting it perfect, since he's just a placeholder for now.

The blue RHINO (got it for like $12 on clearance just for the Heavy Metal fig) was sitting in the Batcave since the day I bought it, but when I was painting up my SHIELD guys, I noticed that it was more-or-less the right color, so they "requisitioned" it from Batsy

Thanks again!

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All great stuff. Where or where is the Modok from. Thats awesome. I'm not a huge Marvel guy (DC guy) but all of these are wins!!

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Lots of neat stuff here. Bucky's shield is awesome. I still don't quite know what a waterslide decal is, but I need to find out. I also love the RHINO, Steve Rogers, Strucker and The Rock. That's just a cool look for the latter and I could easily see him in this sort of team.

I've had a shocking week and you're post have made me smile all week. More great customs mate .

These are all great.

Did Marvel really make Steve director of SHIELD? That's an awesome idea!

These are all really well done. I like how they are mostly all wearing the same uniform but personalized to their own personality/special skills/whatever. It definitely has that O13 feel, if the O13 were SHIELD agents.



Yes they did and he's rocking it hard core.

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Fantastic, and thank goodness you gave Hawkeye some dignity. Didn't someone, might have been D here, use the head of the squadron pilot Pre-Lumiya gal? I remember her head having some fantastic detail and likeness.

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Only one critique, the Rocks Legs seem too small for his torso, though I know going with the bigger MU legs would make him way to big as is the proportions throw me off. Also you need to get Samoan all up over that right arm of his,...

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more likes here too.Really like steve,widow, and sharon carter.keep on posting

That is one very impressive set-up and collection. Nioce work with teh logos.

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