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What would the Dreadnoks be without their leader? I always liked DDP's interpretation of this character, so I decided to base mine on it.



Parts: Head & Torso (25th Anniversary Zartan v13), Arms & Legs (25th Anniversary Zartan v15), AKS-74U (Marauder, Inc.).

I really liked the version 13 Zartan except that when I placed him next to my other Dreadnoks, he was way too short. He was the same height as Zanya and shorter than every other Dreadnok I've made up to this point. So, I swapped the v13 torso with the Gung-Ho torso that Hasbro used on the v15 figure. The simple result is that Zartan is now more proportionate to the rest of his crew. I trimmed the skull-shaped belt buckle from the v13 torso and glued it to the new torso. The belt buckle was painted white and the eyes were filled in with black. Since his knife also has the same skull design incorporated into the hilt, I applied the same paint scheme there. I also repainted the purple-ish color with a dark brown (personal preference). The leg and boot armor was given a drybrush application of a steel-colored paint. I decided to skip the shoulder armor in favor of a more scaled-down look (again, personal preference rather than holding completely true to the source material). Finally, he was armed with an AKS-74U from Marauder, Inc. and given a light application of Testors Dull-Cote.

I was one of the lucky folks who picked up a few of the G.I. Joe Ultimate Battle Packs when Target clearanced them out for a whopping $13.87! Since I never really cared for the red version of the H.I.S.S. tank that came with it, I decided to repaint it. And then... because I was repainting it anyway, I decided to try something different.



The upper half of the body was spray painted with a dark OD green. The then applied thin strips of painter's tape to mask off some erratic lines. Then, I spray painted it again with metallic green flake. After peeling the tape off, I re-assembled the entire tank. You may notice that a couple of the stickers are missing. This is because they were removed for painting and then did not cooperate entirely when I tried to put them back on. Overall, I am pleased with the way this turned out. Part of my keeps wanting to replace the dual cannons with a large caliber-machine gun (something with cooling holes drilled in the barrels). I consider this to be finished for the moment, but if the right idea strikes me, it'll be back to the workshop!

This is the second H.I.S.S. tank I've done and it is a project that took a couple of months. My son had a red H.I.S.S. tank from the Target Ultimate Battle Pack. After he saw the Crimson Sabotage version, he liked the way the drive covers were painted red. Who am I to deny him?



So I ended up spray painting the entire tank a much more vivid (bloody) red. The black areas were done with Testors flat black. The treads and drive wheels were drybrushed with Testors aluminum to give them a worn look. I also hollowed out the barrels on the cannons using my trusty Dremel.



Adam likes things red, and he apparently likes them shiny, as well. When I asked him to choose between Dull-Cote and Gloss-Cote, he didn't even hesitate to say GLOSS! The decals came from the 334th Joe Company. They cost me $3 with the shipping included. All in all, I think the whole thing turned out pretty well, and Adam is ecstatic about it!

This was my little brother's H.I.S.S. II - another item rescued from mom's attic. The goal here wasn't really to re-invent the vehicle, but it looked so horrible it was obvious that some work was required. Oh, and I hated the silly red cannons!



The whole vehicle was spray-painted with grey. The tracks were painted black and then dry-brushed with steel. All of the weapons were spray-painted with silver and then dry-brushed with gunmetal. The replacement decals came from Ruben Jimenez.

The Track Viper figure is probably the most ridiculously simple custom I have ever done. ARAH Track Viper head + 25th Anniversary Matt Tracker body. Perfect match!

This was actually my Cobra Hydro Sled, purchased with my hard-earned allowance, way back in 1986. When I rescued it from my mother's attic last summer, it was in pretty sorry shape, having barely survived infinite backyard battles. Aside from the expected wear and tear, the cannon / speargun attachment, which is needed to hold the forward armor in place, was long gone. The decals were mostly gone. One of the mounting pylons was broken off and stuck inside the corresponding torpedo.



So, I began by reattaching the torpedo mounting pylon with the aid of a little super glue. worked like a charm and the torpedo is still removeable. The bigger problem was what to do about a main weapon system. Fortunately, there were various vehicular weapons found in the same attic storage box. I trimmed and modified the minigun from the RAM sidecar (ironically, the only piece I still have from the RAM) and super glued it in place. When it came time to repaint, I kept a lot of the original paint scheme, but tried to spice it up a bit, too. The sled was given a liberal application of Testors Dull-Cote.



My son and daughter allowed me to borrow these three Cobra divers for the photos. After the photos were taken, the kids were delighted to receive the Hydro Sled as the latest custom donation to their ever-growing G.I. Joe collection!

The Cobra Slither is an all-weather, all terrain fast attack vehicle capable of delivering precision fire support to Cobra ground forces.



This project was completed for my daughter and is a re-paint of The Corps! Komotto vehicle, which is available at Wal-mart for about $7.00. I based the colors loosely on the color scheme used by Cobra Alley-Vipers. I found some suitable decals at GIJoe Customs and then modified them a bit for this vehicle. They did not come out quite as vivid as I'd have liked, but I don't think they look bad. I am thinking about doing a special driver figure for it and coloring him like an Alley-Viper. Kate doesn't have any Alley-Vipers at the moment and that might be something we have to correct. But for now, the Slither serves as the personal vehicle of Kate's favorite characters - The Baroness and Destro.

The F.A.N.G. was the primary attack helicopter used by Cobra forces during their early years. It possessed an open cockpit and a large heat signature, both of which were weaknesses exploited time and again by G.I. Joe gunners. Eventually Cobra Commander directed that the F.A.N.G. be replaced by the F.A.N.G. II. However, design problems and production delays with the new helicopter frustrated him repeatedly. In the interim, he directed that all existing F.A.N.G.s be augmented with additional weaponry, heavier armor and a more powerful engine. Ultimately, the Super F.A.N.G. project resulted in a helicopter that performed no better, but exploded far more brilliantly when successfully targeted.



This project was completed for my son and is a re-paint of The Corps! attack helicopter, which is available at Wal-Mart for about $6.00. I was originally drawn to the base toy because it so closely resembled the original 1983 Cobra F.A.N.G. (tragically, the Cobra F.A.N.G. shared by my brother and I was destroyed during the Battle of Kenny's Ditch during the mid-1980's). It looked a lot like someone had taken the original helicopter and added extra armor, extra guns and a pair of wing pylons to carry rockets. I re-painted it so that the colors closely matched the original toy. Once again, I found some suitable decals at [url="http://g-i-joe.50megs.com/customs.html"]GIJoe Customs[/url] and modified them for the helicopter. I also found some of the winged Cobra logos normally found on later Cobra aircraft. I applied one of these to the nose area, only to discover later that it would be concealed by the dual machine guns. Alas...

Lieutenant Flaherty (Ferret)


Captain McLeod (Ferret)


Lieutenant "Goggles" Head (Ferret)


Lieutenant Eduardo (Ferret)


Sergeant King (Ferret)


Sergeant Swami (Ferret)


Sergeant Headman (Ferret)

Colonel Nero (Annihilator) - Commander of an elite unit of Annihilator Officers who are tasked with Laird Destro’s more sensitive assignments.


Captain Starbuck (Annihilator)- Second-in-command of Colonel Nero’s elite unit.


Lieutenant Wert (Annihilator)- Member of Colonel Nero’s elite unit.


Lieutenant "Robo" Wang (Annihilator)- Member of Colonel Nero’s elite unit. The loss of his right arm on a mission in Sierra Muerte resulted in a cybernetic replacement - and the nickname "Robo".


Annihilator in jungle gear