Head: Beachhead 86 (modified)
Alternate Head: Downtown 89 (modified)
Chest: Sure-Fire 02 (modified)
Arms: Leatherneck 86 w/ Psyche-Out 87 hands
Waist: Firefly 92 w/ added belt buckle
Thighs: Sub-Zero 90 w/ Intoyz holster and knife from Burnout 03
Lower Legs: Footloose 85 w/ kneepads from Duke 02

Accessories:
Backpack: Low-Light 91 w/ added holster
Rifle: Hit & Run 88
Pistol: Intoyz
Grappling-Hook Launcher: BBI weapons pack
Grappling Hook: Sgt. Hacker 03


Beachhead is one of the coolest Joe characters, but his figures have always left a little to be desired. I made a custom of him a couple of years ago, but after looking at it recently, I wanted to make a Beachhead that captured the character a little better.

This guy took forever to make: every part has at least a small modification, and some of them have some pretty extensive ones. Let's start at the bottom and work up:

-The lower legs: I cut the kneepads off of Duke 02 and hollowed them out a bit. Then I dremeled into Footloose's knees at an angle so the kneepads would sit properly and not interfere with the upper legs' movement.

-The thighs: Nothing special here: just sanded down the sides of the thighs and attached the pistol and knife.

-The waist: I cut off Crankcase's belt buckle and attached it to the Firefly 92 waist. Beachhead seems like the kind of guy who would wear an American eagle buckle to me.

-The chest: I sanded off the pistol and grenades on the Sure-Fire chest, and then attached the new pouches. It just wouldn't be Beachhead without a bunch of ammo pouches on his chest.

-The arms: I wanted rolled-up sleeves and gloves, but I didn't want to use Hot-Seat's or Stretchers (too muscular). So, I made my own. I cut off Leatherneck's hands, drilled into the arms, and glued a post into the hole. then, I drilled holes in the Psyche-Out hands, slid them onto the posts, and voila! Beachhead's got swivelling wrists.

The head: Well, Beachhead is almost always shown with his mask on, but he can't wear it all the time. So, I wanted to find a way to give him both a masked and unmasked head. I used the same technique that I did on the arms: put a post into a ball-jointed neck (Recoil's, if I remember correctly), cut off the Beachhead and Downtown heads, and drilled into them. So, Beachhead now has switchable heads. Why, you ask, would I go to all that trouble when all I have to do is unscrew his back and put a new head in? Well, honestly, I don't know. For some reason, I've never liked the idea of taking apart a figure in mid-adventure. So, I did it the hard way.

As for the alternate, unmasked head, ever since seeing Kowalski's take on Beachhead, I've imagined him with a mustache. But, I didn't want to borrow that idea (as if I haven't borrowed a million others before), so I looked in the comic for the rare moments where Beachhead takes his mask off, and found a head that resembled him.

Now for the accessories: The grappling-hook launcher is a cut-down grenade launcher from the BBI weapons pack. I drilled a tiny hole into the barrel so that the grappling hook would fit into it. Then, I drilled a deeper hole in the backpack (where the flashlight is supposed to fit) so the grappling hook would sit in there. I also added a holster (I think it's from a MGS2 Revolver Ocelot figure) for the launcher.

Here's a picture of Beachhead doing what he does best: approaching the camera with an angry look on his face.

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