Thanks!

The stumpiness never bothered me until recently and now I want to go back and re-do a lot of my older stuff. I'm running out of fresh ideas anyway.

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Dart was sent as the group's scout and survival expert. He has proven valuable since the initial landing to keep the team hidden from the prowling beasts and providing foraging to eat off the land.




Another newsculpt character that I thought was fantastic and I still like all of the releases but looking at it now, it didn't age well. The lopsided head, the too short jacket, the feather and gold eagle medallion was all just too much. I originally kept the head but eventually swapped in for this extra Spirit head. I don't use that for Spirit anyway and it fit better here. I gave he torso some extra frizz on the ripped sleeves and extended it as well. Sculpted over those pesky kneepads again. The arms are combined from the VvV Gung-Ho uppers and t-crotch Storm Shadow lowers. They are two different designs and took a little work t make them fit. Here again the large hands are too noticeable to me and I may swap them in the future. It shouldn't be too hard to slice them at the wrist wraps and pop on some new ones. The knife and sheath were a last minute idea after I swapped out the waist to the Tunnel Rat one with those nifty straps. I trimmed the sheath from the DTC Spirit and stuck it onto the strap and glued it in place. Now it can be removed if it gets in the way of pose-ability.

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perfect! i wish that figure was at retail !

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I like how you sculpted the ripped sleeves.
Crosshair is cool too!

Hollowpoint floated through the ranks after the failed BTR experiment of modular weapon systems did not work as intended. Duke knew that the team needed someone who could repair problems in the field but could also work under the pressures and stress of a battlefield. Hollowpoint brings a strong mechanical sense to the team and he is always looking for a solution to the next problem. His skills are put to the max when the teams AWE Striker did not survive the parachute drop and now they are left with no transportation on the island.



I've wanted to make a BTR-less Hollowpoint for a long time but could never work up a good recipe and still separate his look from Rock & Roll. Looking at the original figure the only thing that stood out to me were the boots were very similar to the Spytroops Wild Bill, so that was my starting point. I kept trying the original's head as well but it just wasn't working for me. The I decided to add a mullet and beard to the Ripper head everything else seemed to fall in place.



The Roadblock legs came in a lot that I bought and they were missing the fun holster so I trimmed a VvV Wild Bill holster to fit and glued the right leg together. The Tunnel Rat waist got swapped for the DTC Grand Slam which brought a few challenges since it is made on a different buck, so I had to create the inside of the waist to accept the Spytroop torso.. Since I was modding the other figure torsos so much I decided to keep going here. I shaved the detail from the undershirt and went for a Henley style shirt. The long Duke arms were swapped for the shorter and more compact DTC Footloose/VvV Alpine sculpt. This torso is pretty tall as is and the waist mod added all the length I needed but I still extended that short coat just a bit to bring it closer to his waistline. The mullet used bit trimmed from Ma Nok's skirt and some green stuff for filler. Finally the hat kept bothering me so I built up the front to give it a more trucker hat with the mesh back look.

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hollowpoint is really great!

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Really nice work. The WIP pics blow me away. Your work is so clean that without those WIP pics I'd never know what you did.

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Thanks!! I've never thought of my stuff as "clean". I'm trying to get better about taking pics at least pre-paint just to keep a better idea of the original parts. I used to paint these parts up and never bat an eye but now the proportions and sculpts make me cringe. I'm trying to fix that going forward as I use up the rest of my custom fodder from the newsculpt days.

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Now for the final member of the forward team.

Link questioned his part of the team until Duke revealed that they believed the island was inhabited by wild animals that may need neutralizing. Link, with his veterinary training, was the ideal Joe to take the lead when it came to animal handling and health. No one could be prepared for what the team found from the time they parachuted in to Isla Sorna or La Isla De Mil Muertes in the local tongue.



I had already made Link to update the original release and put him on the Ninja Force as a medic but when I brainstormed this team he seemed like a natural fit.

Here is the pic from the archive entry for the original custom.



As you can see there was paint rub at the hips and knees. I had sculpted the straps on the torso to tie those weird shoulder and back details together into a harness of sorts. I had also added wraps at the elbow to make the sculpted on elbow pad more realistic. I had intended to use this as my default Link and I wanted it to look as much like the original release but better. I was going to build another from the ground up but I didn't have any more of those legs. Overall I was pleased but the paint rub finally got to me and I decided to use it as my base for the new custom.



Here is Link after I stripped the paint and changed a few things. The Elijah Burke head was keeper and I didn't even need to repaint it for the new custom. The torso go lengthened a bit and filled out to fit the new Snake Eyes waist. I added the shirt tail so Link's shirt now looks more like a cut off sweatshirt. The straps carried over from the previous custom. The arms got changed up and here I used those VvV Gung-Ho uppers with the Link lowers. I shaved the floating elbow pads and sculpted sleeves to the biceps. The legs got a good trim and sanding at all of the joints and I don't have paint rub issues anymore, for now. After all was painted I trimmed some pouches from a Crosshair harness and glued them to the thighs to cover those odd panels and give them a purpose.

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After intel reports of strange anomalies off the western cost of Costa Rica and infrared satellite images showing unusual heat signatures coming from a large nearby island, GI Joe is tasked with discovering the truth of the island. Research into the area and discussions with local sailors leads to stories of dragons, chupacabras, and many other theories. The island marked on the map as Isla Sorna, but known to locals as La Isla De Mil Muertes, was once owned by the genetic research giant InGen but they have since went bankrupt due to many bad investments. With nothing concrete, Duke decides to send a team onto the island. The dangerous waters surrounding the island are not suitable for a boat landing so the team will parachute in. Duke assigns five new recruits to the taskforce. Rampage is the team's transportation expert and will take responsibility for the team's mobility on the island with an AWE Striker that will be air dropped with them. Hollowpoint, weapons expert and survivalist. With unknown conditions on the island he will be the team's wild card, ready to adapt and overcome. Crosshair is a trained marksman and will be responsible for covering the team and watching for incoming attacks. Dart will act as pointman and tracker. He will be the team's scout and will set the path across the island, following game trails, hoping to lead to the base of the anomalies. Link gets the lead on the ground. The rumored creatures on the island are too much to ignore and his veterinary training will be needed. They are assigned to discover the truth and neutralize any hostiles. With the nature of this incident and the rumored creatures, Duke wants to keep this a low key affair. The last thing that the world needs is rumors or even confirmation of population destroying monsters. The team has 30 days to prepare before mission launch. AS word spreads around HQ, the team are ridiculed and labeled The Dino-Hunter Team. Little does anyone know how accurate that name will be.




I've tried to place all my Joe members on some type of assignment using the sub-teams. Dino Hunters was a tough one to conceive even though I've long had the idea of Dr. Mindbender retreating to an island and experimenting with mutations and animal hybrids. It clicked to make them a research/attack team for that threat. Looking at the original Dino Hunter set, Lowlight and Ambush didn't have a uniform look but I wanted a similar color palette to tie these guys together. Looking for inspiration, I realized that I had not used the Slaughter's Marauders color scheme on any customs and decided to give it a try here. I went with a more traditional camo pattern using the greens and brown instead of the wide stripes. I also used a muted blue and I think it works good here, not too bright and kind of realistic. The blue was actually kind of a hangup as I thought it was ridiculous to go on any kind of jungle recon mission in bright colors and then I realized it wasn't too realistic to hunt dinosaurs and mutants either.

And the first WIP group shot I did just to see them all together.

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These are great. I love everything about them from the theme, the camo pattern to unified color scheme. Great choices for the team members too.

OB

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great team! from idea to execution!!

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Thanks!



Thanks for the continued support through the reveal.


As I said earlier, we are trying to keep the house neat and tidy for a hopeful move. The house is set up to show to prospective buyers at a moment's notice so to keep my sanity all I have is my customizing stuff. And all of that is extremely organized. It's amazing how easy it is to set up and complete a figure when I know exactly where everything is located.

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With the team's mission falling apart from the onset, they have been trying to stick to the shadows and stay on the move. They have yet to see clearly what is roaming around the jungle island but they know they are hunted. Crosshair has kept a watchful guard on their rear and Dart has kept them clear of the game trails. Rampage and Link are still working out there objective while Hollowpoint is trying to get the satellite phones working. While they settle down for the fifth night, a creature drops into their camp. Dart pounces on the intruder and presses his knife to her throat. Link jumps to his feet. The creature shows no fear and looks directly at Link. She says she came to help. Rampage leaps back, he can't believe his eyes. First, winged men attack them during their parachute drop and now a talking cat.




Dart eases his grip but remains on guard. He sees Crosshair with his sidearm drawn and knows this creature stands no chance if she is hostile. She introduces herself as Katarina and tells the team that they are not safe. She has been trailing them since they landed at orders of her father. Her father created her and the other creatures here. He is a cruel and abusive man who plays with lives like they are nothing. She and a few others want him dead. They need the help of the team and are willing to help. She tells them of a cave nearby where they can make camp. The team reluctantly agrees, they decide that to survive this they will need whatever help they can get.
The next morning she tells them about her past, how she was a criminal and serving her time in prison when the jailbreak occurred. With only months to go on her sentence she did not want to go but they took her and five other women. They were brought to this island and the Doctor promised them a new life. She was put to sleep and when she awoke, the changes had begun. Slowly she went from a woman to what they saw now and she said the changes continue. She took them to a lagoon nearby and as they stood by the water rippled and another woman came on shore. She introduced herself as Mara.



Mara was a Cobra scientist and diver that was gaining notoriety with Cobra Commander and rising through the ranks. She was given her own dive team. She was bossy and demanding to her crew. During her last mission, the team had enough and attacked her. They tossed her unconscious body overboard and returned to Springfield Island. She was on the bank of this lagoon when she woke up. Her skin was clammy and she felt as if she was choking. Mara tried to stand and fell into the water. She immediately felt better and then heard laughter. She stood and felt the air on her skin. The bald man looked down on her. Savage looking beasts stood behind him. He informed her that he had saved her life through some experimental techniques. Unfortunately she would never return to her former life.


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I picked up the cat body at Disney this year and began tinkering with it knowing I could use it for my Isle of Dr. Mindbender. Then I decided to make a different type of mermaid. As I worked through their designs I thought I could make them double agents. Not all of the creatures can be happy living on an island of predators and they would see their chance at being free of the evil father when the joes came to the island.

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nice! my first thought was cheetora? from thundercats ,and thought this story was going to get crazy

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