Quick Kick - Silent Weapons

For a man whose specialty is "Silent Weapons", he sure is noisy, at least in the cartoon.

Quick Kick is a figure that I loved as a kid but always had one issue with: no shoes.

I don't care how bad-ass you are, put some freaking shoes on!

My original plan for Quick Kick was to use the Reaper Mini Chan Li: Martial Arts Master (50190) but felt he was a little too Bruce Lee.

Then I found the Heroclix Shang Chi who had almost everything I needed for Quick Kick. All I had to do was add a sash with a little green stuff and paint.

Voilà!

-c

Viper - Cobra Infantry

To me, the classic Cobra grunts represent a more traditional army, where the Viper was a more modern interpretation.

For the Cobra Viper, I picked the Heroclix SCU Veteran. With the vest, machine gun, and helmet, this worked pretty well for my Viper.

I just noticed that I neglected to pain the red inner parts of the pants.

Hmm.

-c

Mutt - Dog Handler (K-9)

Before Law & Order came around, Mutt and Junkyard were the closest thing the Joe team had to military police or security.

In fact, on his filecard, Mutt is noted as an "advisor to Security and Enforcement Committee", whatever that means.

So, maybe it makes sense to use the Heroclix Captain Gordon for my Mutt:

I added some knee pads with green stuff, but otherwise didn't change the fig.

A note on the coloration: When painting Mutt, I used a Marvel G.I. Joe comic as my color reference. In that comic, his goggles were green and his knee pads red. Well, until I turned the page and then they were brown...and then green...and then red again...etc.

What about Junkyard, you ask?

He'll be here.

Cheers!

-c

Update:

I was never really happy with Mutt. He looked too much like Jim Gordon cosplaying as Mutt. So, I tried remaking his face with a green stuff helmet and muzzle with...limited success:

Serpentor - Cobra Emperor

Not too much to say about this guy:

I've seen this done before by others, Heroclix Kobra as Serpentor.

Unfortunately, the picture didn't pick up the gold very good.

But hey, genetically created warrior!

Yay!

-c

Jinx - Ninja Intelligence

Another departure from the metal miniatures, this time coming from the Heroscape line.

Jinx, Ninja Finance Clerk! Ok, she's actually "Ninja Intelligence" but I love the little detail of her Secondary Specialty being Finance Clerk. Those are the kind of details that really bring the characters and the Marvel comic alive. (Thank you, Larry Hama!)

For Jinx, I found the Heroscape Otonashi figure. (For the curious, "otonashi" is Japanese for "silence", which is appropriate for a ninja.)

A simple repaint and rebasing. I like the little pony tail, which reminds me of some of the more recent Jinx figures.

The scale seems just slightly smaller than some of the others, but I think that is just the figure, not the Heroscape line itself.

Alternatives? Well, there's no shortage of female ninja minis, so if you really insist that Jinx have a naginata, there's probably a mini out there for it.

Good hunting!

-c

Tele-Viper - Cobra Communications

A bit of a departure from the previous Joes, and the first of many repaints, welcome the Cobra Communications officer: Tele-Viper.

One of many Cobra troop builders, I happened to find the perfect model for the Tele-Viper:

From the Star Wars Miniatures line, the Galactic Alliance Scout can basically be used as a Tele-Viper right out of the box. A little bit of repainting was all he needs to become a new addition to the Cobra forces.

And, since you can usually pick this mini up for around $2, it makes for a pretty cheap troop builder for minis as well.

Now, I just need to figure out how to put a little, tiny led read out in his visor...

-c

Side Note - YoJoe.com and the Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe

Giving credit where credit is due:

Some of the images and information used on this site come from YoJoe.com and from The Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe 1982-1994 by Mark Bellomo.

I highly recommend both of these as invaluable resources for Joe fans.

Cheers!

-c

Torpedo - Navy SEAL

Back in the early G.I. Joe days, when Snake Eyes was still a commando and not a ninja, my go to guy for martial arts adventures was Torpedo.

After all, it's right there in his filecard: "Attained black belts in three martial arts by age 19 (Wu-Shu, Kenpo, and Go-Ju-Ryu)."

No real modifications necessary for this one. Just straight paint job on the Reaper Mini Navy Seal Diver (50058).

Now, I just need to find a good mini for a Cobra Eel.

-c

Zartan - Master of Disguise

The famed mercenary: Zartan.

Pretty much any mini that is a dude in a hood could work for Zartan, but I chose Talathlan, Elf Ranger (03198) from Reaper for my Zartan.

Admittedly, the boots and skirt are more fitting for an elf than a mercenary, but what can you do?

One note about this mini: it's HEAVY. Lots of metal in that cloak, I think.

-c

Scarlett - Counter Intelligence

Hmm. This one should have been an easy one to knock out the park, but alas, my painting skills weren't quite up to task:

Another Reaper Mini, this time Tara the Silent (02743).

I went a little too heavy around the eyes and kept the coloration a little too cartoony.

I may decide to redo this one later. Right now, I have a different plan for this iconic Joe...

*foreshadowing*

Cheers!

-c