Shockwave - S.W.A.T. Specialist

Shockwave (aka Shockblast) is the Joe team's resident S.W.A.T. specialist and not a giant purple robot that turns into a big purple laser gun. I wonder if that is why they changed Shockwave's name to Shockblast? Maybe a lot of people couldn't tell the difference between a little human in blue and a big robot in purple.

When I first picked up the Halo Actionclix Sgt. Johnson mini, I was thinking it might work for Stalker, but when I got it, the hat just didn't look right.

So, a little green stuff and some paint and now it's Shockwave.

Now, to find a mini with a beret...

-c

Scarlett - Undercover Agent

When it comes to doing these G.I. Joe miniatures, the characters fall into one of three categories for me:

1) Characters that are my favorites, so of course I'm going to do them.
2) Characters that I like enough to do, if I can find a good mini for them.
3) Characters that I either don't know (because they came after I stopped collecting G.I. Joes) or ones I just plain don't like.

Categories 1 and 2 still provide me with a TON of minis to paint, and that's not counting repeats.

Speaking of repeats...

I didn't find out about the G.I. Joe - Renegades cartoon until after it was off the air. I've only seen about half the episodes, but it's not bad. Some of the cameos are a little forced, but the main Joes used (other than Ripcord) are done pretty well.

I really like the Renegades version of Scarlett. She seems closer to the Marvel comic Scarlett in personality, and her outfit is functional yet calls back to her previous design. As much as I love the original Scarlett leotard, this is more appropriate. (Why didn't live action Scarlett wear this outfit?)

For this version of Scarlett, I used the Heroclix Checkmate Knight. I think I used the Black Knight, but they are all the same if you're repainting them.

The pose is awesome, the outfit matches up pretty well, and she even has a ponytail. And one of the best things is that the Knight's knee pads kind of look like the knee joints on the figure.

Cheers!

-c

Zap - Bazooka Soldier

Painting miniatures can be an expensive hobby. Each mini might be anywhere from $5 to $20 for metal miniatures. Heroclix and Mage Knight plastic minis can be cheaper to pick up, but even those can sometimes cost $3-4 dollar for common figures, and way more for rares.

But what if all you want is a pretty standard assortment of military type guys to paint?

Enter Zerboz Military.

Zerboz are little mini plastic toys sold at Wal-mart for $.97 each. The come in military, super-hero, and Power Ranger versions. They are just slightly smaller than most 28mm minis, but pretty close to Star Wars Miniature size once mounted on a base.

(The paint job on the Zerboz military figures on their Facebook page is *way* better than the actual toy, but I'm repainting anyway, so no big deal.)

One further not on mini painting: there tends to be certain parts that are difficult to get right and I wind up having to try over and over. Eyes are especially hard to get right.

For Zap, I tried and tried to get his moustache just right but it's still...off.

Well, at least I tried.

-c

Hawk - G.I. Joe Commander

Hawk is one of those characters that I figured I would do eventually, but wasn't high up on my list. And his original incarnation was not that...inspiring when it comes to mini painting.

His second version though...

I happened to run across a good deal on the Captain Ben Daimio Heroclix mini and it's a great match.

In fact, I could have almost gotten away with just painting camo on his pants and calling it done, but that wouldn't have been as much fun.

-c

Doc - Medic

Doc is a character that I never really cared too much about when I was little, but has grown on me in later years, for a couple of reasons.

First, the realization that Doc is kind of the Donatello of the Joe team. In the cartoon, when the Joes needed an intelligent or scientific solution to a problem, their only choice was to go to Doc. Even  though he was a doctor, not a scientist, I guess he was the only smart guy they had.

Also, while I *do* like Lifeline, I think the way Doc's pacifism was handled in the early Marvel comics run was better than how they treated Lifeline. Doc managed to disarm Destro with a snowball and get a serum from him by basically tackling him and letting Destro pummel him. That's pretty ballsy against a guy with a polished beryllium steel head.

For Doc, I was looking for two main feature: glasses and a sort of doctorly looking outfit. I looked at a few others but decided the Heroclix Lucious Fox mini had a good pose for the Joe's resident smart guy.

It's a pretty good match, although a little more formal than his normal uniform. He looks like he's about to make the rounds at the G.I.Joe hospital.

Hope the prognosis is good!

-c

Tunnel Rat - Explosive Ordance Disposal

Another Recreational Conflict miniature, from their S.P.R.U. line, and this time the slightly smaller size works in its favor: it's Tunnel Rat.

Tunnel Rat, at least in the cartoon, is supposed to be a little smaller than the other Joes. At least if you consider the G.I.Joe Movie canon, which not everyone does.

The mini I found, C.J., works pretty well for Tunnel Rat: he has the bandana, the short sleeve shirt with gloves. Too bad he tucked his pants in his boots, although that might make more sense when crawling in tunnels.

I suppose I could have tried to mock up a backpack for him, but I think this look works just fine.

Too bad he doesn't resemble Larry Hama a little more, but what can you do at 28mm?

-c

Kwinn - Mercenary \ Tracker

From one mercenary to another.

If you don't know who Kwinn is, go pickup the first couple of trades of the Marvel G.I. Joe comic and get educated.

For my money, the live action G.I. Joe movies won't *really* be good until they include the Kwinn vs. Dr. Venom rivalry. (Since Kwinn was often employed by Cobra, I filed Kwinn there, but he could have gone either way.)

Thanks to Recreational Conflict, I found a great Kwinn with their Civilian Singles: Photographer mini. The pose, the clothes, everything works great.

Well, almost everything...

As it turns out, these minis are a little on the small side compared to Heroclix or the more "heroic" sized miniatures.

Or, maybe Kwinn is just in background...

-c

Major Bludd - Mercenary

Today's mini is kind of a big deal for me, because he's one of my favorites: Major Bludd.

Despite the fact that Major Bludd retreated almost as often as Cobra Commander, I always thought he was cool in a smarmy, pirate-y kind of way. And in the Marvel comic, he was down right bad-ass sometimes.

I think the fact that he had the stiff robo-arm and was the first mail-away figure I ever got also made him seem...special...compared to the others.

Finding a mini with Bludd's unique helmet proved difficult, so I opted for a slightly different take on it. The Heroclix Zod mini just looks menacing to start with. After adding some green stuff to the right arm for his arm armor, and a little eye patch, I think he came out looking maybe even a little better than the original.

Maybe that knife is actually a quill for his poetry writing:

     When you're feeling low and woozy
     Slap a fresh clip in your Uzi!
     Assume the proper firing stance
     And make the suckers jump and dance!
     (from The Attica Gazetta).

-c

Track Viper - H.I.S.S. II Driver

Today marks a first for this blog: the first mini based on a figure I never owned.

Up until now, every mini I've painted has been one that I owned at least one version of, but not this guy.

So why paint a mini for a figure I never had? Well, I first saw the Track Viper in the Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe and thought, "Hey, that's a neat looking figure."

Didn't think too much more about it until I saw the Halo ActionClix ODST mini and saw how it was almost a perfect match.

So welcome to the club, new guy!

-c