While making Tundra I remembered the use of the mold in the TRU Winter Ops 6 pack. Oddly colored but I still dug the camo and the early nineties inspired jacket. So I decided I would make that one too.

Hailstorm is the Arctic Rangers demolitions expert. If it needs to be destroyed and needs to be done in spectacular fashion, Hailstorm is the answer. He will plant explosives, launch an artillery strike, or toss grenades, whatever it takes to get the job done in the flashiest way possible. He loves taking his work to the polar regions since the pristine snow and ice make for the perfect backdrop of the fireballs erupting to the sky.




The gray and white camo was great in that 6 pack. I tried to replicate it here. I kept the boot covers in white unlike the TRU figure. The purple and green was different for me as it is not a color combo I would normally use.



Hailstorm's head came from DTC Lowlight. The torso is another extended Crosshair piece. The arms this time are a combination of Crosshair and Hacker. Again shortened at the bicep and the wrists. The left hand was shortened by removing the watch and the right was shortened and then I shaved the pouches from the upper forearm. I sculpted the missing arm and glove detail to match the left arm. Major Barrage waist with the inside shaved out to allow the torso to sit lower. The legs are from a previous custom that never came to fruition. I had shaved the pistol grip from the leg to allow better articulation. The shredded cuffs had been removed and I attempted to make the boots into tall biker boots. I never liked the look of it but it worked good enough here as boot covers. I had to add a little more green stuff to make the stirrups and then added a PTE knife and put it handle up just to separate it from Tundra's handle down mount. Finally the pouches and shotgun shells are from Marauder.

_________________

another "cool" figure!

_________________

I see what you did there.

_________________

I made two might as well go for the hat trick. The third member of the Arctic Rangers is based off the mailaway Stalker using the same sculpt.

Glacier comes to the team from Puerto Rico. Considered to be a bit of an oddball to come from what most people describe as paradise, Glacier just reminds them that everybody has a different utopia. He is the team's sniper and has a knack for disappearing into the snowbanks or tundra as needed. Perfectly content with lying in wait by himself for long periods of time in the freezing weather, Glacier makes up for it with non-stop conversation when in the company of others. The Arctic Rangers appreciate his disappearances for the brief moments of silence and they know he is watching their backs from his spotting scopes.




I really wanted to do that odd camo from the first release of the Tundra Stalker and saw my chance here. The lower legs could be pants or boot covers but I used the same color green from the ankles up. I mixed a greenish brown for the details. I did change his race since the head I was using took on a more Hispanic look with the thin mustache.



The head is DTC Barrel Roll that I think I modded with the sculpted 'stache and hat a while back to make Tundra Stalker. It never worked out and ended up in my parts bin. Finally found a use for it here. The torso is another Crosshair piece with only the jacket extended. The arms are Crosshair with VvV Wild Bill forearms. I only needed to shorten the biceps here. The waist is from Footloose and the legs are Red Zone with a few details added and the kneepads removed.

_________________

And the team so far.



And the comparison with the 89 release and the Winter Ops release. I don't have the mailaway to compare with. And yes that is my original 89 with paint rub and loose knees.



And the group is still growing with this guy up next.

_________________

great improvements! nice to see next to the originals.

_________________

What a weird and cool project. I'm all for it. Keep them coming.

_________________

Wow, Glacier looks terrific! Best of the bunch IMO.
Can we get a more detailed pic of his backpack? I don't recognise it. Does it have any mods or is it an original version? I love it when they can hold something extra like a gun.

The pack is from Marauder with some Marauder pouches and rifle sling attached. Really awesome accessories. I'll try to get better pics posted later

_________________

I did a terrible job getting pictures but I'll send you the links to Marauder!

The CamelBak that I'm using on Tundra:

http://www.marauderinc.com/product-p/mtf-w7290.htm

The backpack for Glacier:

http://www.marauderinc.com/product-p/mtf-w7570.htm

and the rifle sheath:

http://www.marauderinc.com/product-p/mtf-w7360.htm

The rifle sheath has a longer backpack style post and the backpack has the short accessory holes on the back and sides so I just drilled the side hole deeper and glued the sheath in place. The ammo is from Marauder as well and fit into the holes very snugly so those are not glued and can be swapped for pouches or pockets.

_________________

Taking a break from the winter troops, I finally got around to painting this big guy and replacing the VvV dud I've been using as a placeholder. I always thought the V. Max character was a decent idea and deserved fleshing out more.


Mindbender's first creation in his attempt to bring forth a new Cobra Emperor while still employed by Cobra. A combination of a captured American soldier, crossed with a leftover DNA sample of Serpentor, and mixed with Mindbender's own genes, Maximus stepped from the chamber as a true scientific success. When Cobra Commander discovered the creature he ordered Mindbender executed for attempting to overthrow him once again. Maximus stepped in and destroyed the troopers as they came for his "father". Mindbender enacted his final escape plan and with Maximus' escort they escaped to Central America and finally landed on Isla Sorna where they began setting up a new world of their own.





Picked up a Marvel Ares and Omega Red from 5 Below a while back. Swapped the head and feet between the two and made a quick Nemesis Enforcer. The leftovers became Maximus. Added a shoulder pad from a Hulk figure and the thigh guards are trimmed from StikFa pieces. The bandana got trimmed off and a new hairline created with green stuff. The left arm is original to V. Max and fits much better here on the larger sculpt. The cape was the final piece and it made so much sense to be a Mindbender cape but I kept passing it over. The skulls are trimmed from a Chap Mei figure and the cape attachment is a twisted piece of wire tie that was leftover from some packaging.

_________________

not familiar with VM ,but yours makes me want to make one!

_________________

The Omega Red head works perfectly here. This is a great update.

_________________

Really well done. Great parts choices.

_________________

I intended to fill my Arctic Rangers ranks with two more out of the TRU Winter Operations 6 pack with these updates. But I knew I needed new characters since I already have a Snake Eyes and Backblast. I had already decided on The Corps head and the more I worked on it, the more I decided to adopt the character and the "mythos" into my joeverse.

When GI Joe disbanded, many small heroes and hero groups formed to fill the void. Most soon found they were no match for the villains that were out there in the shadows. The Corps survived. A rag tag bunch of former soldiers and wannabe heroes formed The Corps. They fought against a group of criminals calling themselves The Marauders and finally saw them destroyed or locked behind bars. The Corps were America's Heroes in the absence of GI Joe but after vanquishing their foes, they found themselves in the same situation as GI Joe. They had found themselves without a purpose and soon focused their vigilante attacks on smaller groups. Their benefactor's funds were diminishing and they began to struggle as a group. The Corps found a new income through internet videos filmed by a new recruit. Helmet cams and body cameras gave viewers a first person account of the fights and victories. Their popularity exploded and the donations flooded in. Their new exposure caught the eye of the government who sought to shut them down for showing such raw footage. The Corps went underground and continued to film their exploits. In the meantime, GI Joe had been called back into action against a new Cobra. The new recruits led by the old guard quickly gave meaning and pride to the term Hero again. In an effort to maintain popularity The Corps targeted Cobra but were over-matched. They retreated to lick their wounds. Fortunately, or maybe not, two of GI Joe's newest recruits, Hacker and Hi-Tech, were streaming the live footage. They tracked the feed and reported to Duke who sent a team to intercept the would be heroes. With a little stiff persuasion, The Corps leaders were brought to GI Joe HQ and given an offer to join the cause or become a target.

Rain was the "star" of the videos and The Corps' de facto field leader. His action shots opened every video and the sight of his masked visage drew more views than any other member. An expert with sword and small arms, Rain has a martial arts background of an unknown nature. He frequently spars with Snake Eyes and although he has never beaten him, he holds his own. The Corps have been broken up across GI Joe but Rain will always be the one that they follow and if he had refused the offer to join, the rest of The Corps would have turned away as well.





Tried to replicate the Winter Ops Snake Eyes with this one. That was one of my favorite RAH versions of the character and I always liked the Sub Zero mold. Kind of odd to have a winter uniform in black but I thought it looked cool. The mask was a last minute thing and I like the idea better than the execution. I used a Spytroops Grunt CLAWs mask with sculpted goggles. Kinda wish I had gone with swappable heads but I had already created the neck ball for this head. I have another head that I had previously drilled for modern bodies so I may still try to make a neck post to fit this body that will allow me to swap heads. The backpack and weapon assortment is my attempt at a callback to Snake Eyes V3 and V4 silver weapons and grappling hook gun. All made to fit on the Guillotine backpack.



I posted the parts selection picture to the left earlier. The one on the right is prepaint. I'm surprised how well those Firefly uppers flowed with the Hacker lowers and changes the whole look of the figure. I beefed up the mid-section to better fit the waist and added straps to the waist to connect the thigh pouches to the belt. The bicep pouches had to go and I swapped in some shorter Hacker biceps.

_________________