Project New Sculpt Day 13: Hackers

The project is wrapping up tomorrow, but today we have a pair of GI Joe IT guys.

Hard Drive (VvV) - Oreobuilder

Hard Drive was created for the Valor vs Venom line and serves as a Battlefield Computer Specialist. I guess he proved to be less than popular since he never made a second appearance. Most of his parts were used to create Med-Alert for the DTC line. For my version, I started from there. Since I made Med-Alert for last year’s Project New Sculpt, I went back and used a very similar recipe for the body. At first, I was going to buy an original Hard Drive for the head. However, by playing around with some fodder, I managed to build aversion that I’m happy with.

 

Hi Tech (VvV) – Bucky

When this figure was released, it was a horribly proportioned mess. Just horrible. The characterization on his original filecard was somewhat unique, and cast him sort of a tech nerd. I changed the look up on the custom a bit compared to the original look. I'm not quite sure if I'm completely happy with the way it turned out in the end.

Project New Sculpt Day 12

We will be wrapping up this project on Sunday.

Day 12

Tunnel Rat (VvV) – Bucky

This is not a straight up match for his Valor vs Venom figure.  I decided to mute the colors a bit to match the parts. I initially tried to go with a Spytroops version, but didn't like the build. I then dug up an old Valor vs Venom figure, but could not quite figure out what was going on with the strapping... I'm not sure what to make of it. I compromised by tying in that strapping look to the suspenders and tried to color it to make it flow a little bit better. I purposely built him smaller than the rest.

 

Kamakura (VvV) - Oreobuilder

Kamakura is probably one of the best know new characters to come out of the new sculpt years and has become a recurring figure in Hasbro’s lineup in the last few years. He got several new sculpt figures, all of which suffered from proportion issues or action features. He has had two modern era versions, but none of them have been true to his new sculpt look. Basically, I tried to take the best from both eras and combine them.

 

Shadow Strike (VvV) - Oreobuilder

Another new character born from the days of Valor vs Venom, Shadow Strike is as obscure as they come. According to his filecard, he is a ninja loyal to Cobra Commander who infiltrated the Arashikage clan to destroy it from within. He was included with the Ninja Battles exclusive and was a repaint of earlier Storm Shadows. I used this strategy to build my version, by basing his recipe off the GvC Storm Shadow I made last year: http://oreobuildersblog.blogspot.ca/2014/02/project-new-sculpt-day-1-gvc.html

Project New Sculpt Day 11: Built to Rule

Hollowpoint & Shadow Viper (BTR) - Oreobuilder

The Built to Rule(BTR) line gets a bad rap… and it is entirely deserved in my opinion. That said, the line did introduce a few new characters. Although they did not catch on and have remained very obscure, I thought that they would be fun to explore.

Hollowpoint is GI Joe’s first Range Officer. The BTR figure had an interesting look that was very similar to Rock & Roll v2. I originally planned to use Retaliation Clutch’s head for this custom, but I was lucky enough to find a loose Hollowpoint for 2$ at a comic book shop.

Shadow Viper’s specialty is listed as counter-intelligence and he was included with the Night Prowler, a cross between a dune buggy and a soapbox racer. For my custom, I decided to try to replicate the look of the original figure as best I could. However, he will be a part of a team of Cobra couriers that carry and deliver important documents for Cobra or Extensive Enterprises.

 

Heavy Duty (BTR) – Bucky

My first attempt for an HD figure was the wave 1 desert version. I wanted him to be a big guy but couldn't find a build I liked. I then switched over to trying to build his Valor vs Venom build, and didn't have much luck there. One thing with the Valor vs Venom figures is that I can't tell what exactly is going on with a lot of the uniforms. They don't make sense and end up being a little frustrating when trying to translate them over to Modern Era. I started to look at BTR figures and saw a rather different looking HD in that line that I had never seen before. I went with that one. I used the Lowlight forearms to try to translate the BTR forearm look.

Project New Sculpt Day 10: Spytroops Part 2

Switch Gears (Spytroops) – Bucky

Switch Gears for me was an easy way to use up one of the Hawk figures from the 50th wave. Very easy custom to make and, for the most part, stays very true to the original.

 

CLAWS Commander- Oreobuilder

CLAWS Commander was one of the first figures I thought of for this project. He was actually on the list to be made for last year’s first Project New Sculpt. At the time, I could not find the parts, time and energy to get him done. The first build of this guy was going in a different direction. I was looking at the RoC Destro torso and legs as a base. It did not work for me, so «I kept pushing the custom off and moving forward with other figures. When I was nearing the end of my list, I found my stash of spare Indiana Jones figures. He came together quickly after that.