Insidious Customs: The Ultimate Action Figure Art: The Little Differences: Beachhead & Outback G.I. JOE Custom Kitbashes

Friday, July 2, 2010

The Little Differences: Beachhead & Outback G.I. JOE Custom Kitbashes

"It's the little differences. I mean, they got the same $#!t over there that we got here, but it's just – it's just there it's a little different."

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Friday means a new "Little Differences," and this week's entries are two fan faves that can be made with very little effort; Beachhead and Outback.

To make this grumpy, foul smelling ("I don't use deodorant") Ranger you'll need the comic pack version and the Hall of Heroes version. Both of these figures had some great parts but neither was definitive in my eyes. (What the heck was up with the yellow paint on the boots of the Hall of Heroes version anyway?) Take the body, weapons, and backpack from the HOH version and replace the lower legs/boots with those from the comic pack version. The legs easily unscrew and the colors are a perfect match. For some reason, the vest and ammo bag of the HOH version are gray instead of black and the comic pack version has the proper black but for some reason they painted the pouches that hold the clips. This is easily remedied by painting the pouches on the comic pack version black.

If you want to go all out, you can also paint the clips themselves gunmetal so they better match the injected metallic color of his machine gun as I did. (To avoid paint rub, be sure to seal the vest with a light varnish or sealant and let it dry thoroughly before placing it on the figure.)

Outback is one of the easiest bashes you can do. Take the vest and backpack from the Assault on Cobra Island Pack and place them on the figure that came with the FLAK Cannon vs. Cobra CLAW Vehicles.

The head naturally sits a little high on the neck post so I took a smooth dremel bit and drilled a little deeper into the neck hole. The head now sits a little lower and looks more natural. No more rubber necking for this survivalist!