Arms: Star Wars- Han Solo
All else: Sgt. Rock- Sgt. Rock
Thompson submachine gun: Fortnite


Character:

Sgt. Rock is DC Comics' everyman soldier. Retroactively created in 1959 as a WWII soldier, Sgt. Rock ended up leading Easy Company after its officers were killed. That's the gist of the character, which changes from time to time with continuity alterations.

The Sgt. Rock figure line holds a soft spot in my toy-collecting heart. They were my first lesson in economics: they were cheaper than GI Joe figures in the early 80's, making it was easy for nine-year-old me to collect them. The cheapness was mostly fewer articulation points and a waxier plastic. Forgivable. Many of the figures also featured weapons not appropriate for the era. Also forgivable. There was a grease gun and a Thompson submachine gun in the line. But I couldn't find either, so I went with the great Fortnite Thompson.

Other lines I've pulled into a GI Joe lore have been contemporary, like MASK or Eagle Force. But Sgt. Rock fits well. Maybe someway, somehow, there could be some connective tissue between GI Joe and Sgt. Rock. It's possible to envision a not-yet General Austin serving with Sgt. Rock during the Korean War or shortly thereafter. It would be a stretch. A bit after WWII, but within the range of Austin still being in the Army in the early 80's.

Design:

The sculpting on the Sgt. Rock figures, with one glaring issue, surpassed that of the early ARAH Joes. The head/faces looked more realistic, whereas some of the early Joe heads looked downright ugly (Grunt) or like a mannequin (Flash). The uniforms had folds and creases.

The unforgivable glaring issue is that Remco somehow let the short and undersized T-Rex arms make it all the way through the design process and actually go into production. That's the point of this custom.

Here I've replaced the stubby arms with better proportioned ones. Like the original arms, they have no lateral shoulder movement, and no elbow/swivel articulation. The front pouches limit the arm movement, as the both arm are bent at the elbows with the hands positioned towards the center line of the body. Even with the limited arm movement, this custom satisfies my need to see a Remco Sgt. Rock figure with anatomically correct arms.

Naturally, I couldn't stop with just replacing the arms. Sgt. Rock was usually drawn with an ammo belt draped over his shoulders, so they were added.

Colors & Paint:

Based on the original Sgt. Rock figure, with slightly different colors on the t-shirt and web gear.

Sculpting & Modifying:

The shoulders were reworked for the arms, and the ammo bands are epoxy sculpted. The knee pin holes were epoxy smoothed.

Thanks for looking.

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