Here's a new custom Red Ninja. I had previously done one using a Ninja Force torso, but it never really worked because of the issues with putting a torso like that back together. This one uses the torso from M. Bison (recoloured Hardball which provides a red base to work with), along with other parts from the previous attempt: head from Scorpion/Sub-Zero, waist and legs from Storm Shadow v1 and arms from Armadillo. It's pleasingly comic-accurate, unlike the official Hasbro ARAH-style releases.

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Here's an original character, Tracer. He was designed starting from the head, which is Liu Kang from the Mortal Kombat figures. The torso is Spearhead, the arms are Thunder, and the legs are Law. I'm not sure about the waist - it's a New Sculpt-era one, but I don't know who it's from, it was just in my fodder pile. (If anyone knows offhand, please let me know). I want to make customs using all heads from Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter, so this is another one checked off.

He's a Marine Corps SAW gunner. I gave him a cap and M249 from Marauder Inc. and backpack from Red Dog. Recently I've been doing a lot of militaristic colours, so I wanted a bit of a change from that. This camo isn't something a Marine would really wear, but I think it's pretty snazzy and fits in with other Joes.

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Love the Red Ninja!

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They are all cool, but the Red Ninja is a show stealer!

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my favorite is you crazylegs!

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The Red Ninja is pretty perfect. Looks like he stepped out of issue 21. That's what the comic pack figure should have looked like.

Tracer is a nice innovative use of parts and your paint, especially the camo, is tight. You put more detail than a typical Hasbro release while maintaining a simple crispness that will fit in with other figures.

My only critique is this... The Thunder arms don't quite fit. Thunder had rather slender arms and hands. Spearhead's torso is wide and Law's legs are thick, which makes those arms look even more diminutive. I would recommend Beach Head arms or even Shockwave to get the simple long sleeve with gloves look.

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I'd recommend Lift-Ticket arms. Gloves, long sleeves, and elbow padding.

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Thanks for the comments. I agree about the Red Ninja, I'm really pleased with how he turned out. And you managed to pinpoint my one dissatisfaction with Tracer - the arms never quite looked right to me. Your suggestions are good - are you thinking v1 or v2 for Beach Head? I may change him before I submit him to the gallery.

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Either 86 Beach Head or BC Beach Head would work, but DJ is right on about the Lift Ticket arms as well.

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I tried both Beach Head v1 and Lift Ticket. The Lift Ticket arms are pretty good, but they fit really tightly against the shoulders of the Spearhead body, and I think paint rub would be a big issue with them. I'm going to go with the Beach Head arms I think.

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Here's Big Lob, from the animated movie. The head is a custom cast of a Krexx Radek sculpt, arms are Heavy Duty, body is Bazooka, waist Roadblock v2 and the legs are Duke v11, which were used to create additional height in the figure. I included a pic with Big Lob and his buddy Chuckles to show the height difference.

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Here's a simple repaint of Scrap-Iron. He was mainly done to try the chrome ink pen I just bought, which I used to do his visor. And then just painted some more details on the figure as well.

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Here's a WIP of a custom Cover Girl. The original is probably the one ARAH figure in most desperate need of an upgrade, since she's supposed to be a model but barely looks human. This uses a cast of a Krexx Radek head sculpt, the original torso and waist, Wild Bill arms and legs from the 2006 comic pack Cover Girl, since the originals are pretty chunky. The grey gloves are an homage to the 2006 comic pack version. I definitely wanted her to have gloves as an armor crewman, so used that figure as inspiration.

I have an old Wolverine that I've restored and painted a bit, when that's done I'll take some better pics of Cover Girl with her ride.

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Finally today, this is First Aid, an original character. He came about as a way to use the Ryu head from the Street Fighter line. I found a torso that worked well with the head, and that torso suggested Air Force, so I decided to make him a Pararescueman, which is a surprisingly badass unit which fits in well with the Joe team. Like Tracer who I posted a few days ago, I used brighter colours on this guy, which aren't military accurate but they fit in with the Joe aesthetic. Parts used are as follows: head - Street Fighter Ryu, arms - Major Altitude, torso and waist - Sky Patrol Airborne, legs - Falcon, weapon - Hit & Run (grip trimmed down), parachute pack - Flint v8, helmet - Galoob Unifighters line.

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Both Crazylegs repaints look great, I especially like the night force one.

Spectacular job on that red ninja, very inspired choice of parts.

Tracer is solid, it's hard to find uses for speahead's torso.

Big Lob also looks good. I kind of wish I had one of those custom heads to put on the club version.

The chrome visor on scrap iron looks very cool, it adds some depth to that helmet.

Nice job enhancing cover girl. Truth be told I used to dislike v1 but now I'm ok with her headsculpt, as strange as it looks. Those new arms and legs work very well.

First aid looks awesome, nice job with the paint and the parts selection.