Below are details of my latest project. As always, the explanation is copied from the AMHQ forum.
"Since joining the AMHQ forum, I’ve developed a real appreciation for the G I Joe Adventure Team figures. My only exposure to AT as a child was through the View Master reels that were produced in the 1970’s (I posted images of the View Master package in the REFERENCE section a while back).
For my latest VAM project, I wanted to have a stab at an AT figure – but with emphasis on Action Man, rather than G I Joe. I wanted my AT figure to ‘exist’ in the same time-line as my previous projects, so I envisaged a fictitious Palitoy line called ‘Adventure Team UK’ – pretty much the same as the original AT G I Joe line, but with emphasis on the UK, rather than the USA.
(Funnily enough, since starting on this project some months ago, I notice that Joe90 has used the term ‘Adventure Team UK’ in one of his posts! Great minds think alike!)
(I've since been informed that the above term appears to have been first coined by TFG! My apologies!)
I wanted my AT figure to look a bit different (hence the eye patch) and to be equipped with weapons/accessories from the 1970’s UK era.
I also wanted my creation to have a distinct name – rather like the original Tom Stone figure.
The following is a break-down of the items included in the project:
Retail Packaging (scratch-built, with the exception of the actual box, which was pre-made)
AT Uniform/Boots/ID Tag (Wal-Mart in origin, obtained on Ebay)
Shoulder Holster (custom-made by Steve)
.357 Magnum Revolver (custom-made and painted by Steve – he did a fantastic job on this)
Eye Patch (scratch-built using leather and Sculpey)
First Aid Kit (scratch-built using Sculpey)
2-way Radio (scratch-built using Sculpey and aluminium tubing…I tried to emulate a vintage Motorola 2-way radio)
Tan T-Shirt (obtained on Ebay)
Equipment Bag (obtained from a 1/6 scale website)
Topographic Map (scratch-built using an image found on the internet)
L1A1 Rifle/Accessories (obtained on Ebay)
Sterling SMG/Accessories (obtained on Ebay)
Green Torch/Rope/Water Bottle (obtained on Ebay)
I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. Due to the amount of rain we have had in Queensland recently, the local waterfall put on a great show! Hope you enjoy the photos."
Photos to follow...
Monday, February 18, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Confederate Guerilla
I finally got around to completing my most recent project. Below is my (rather long) post from AMHQ;
"Since discovering Stevo’s Toys website some time ago, I’ve been keen to try my hand at a Civil War Confederate Guerilla. I ended up using quite a few of Steve’s custom items and so, in many ways, I consider this project to be more a collaboration, rather than a stand-alone project. For those that haven’t had a look at Steve’s site, just follow the link below…
http://stevestoys.com/index.htm
Steve is a true 1/6 scale artist and I can’t recommend his work enough! The majority of his 1/6 scale weapons are cast in lead-free pewter, then hand-painted. The weapons have a real ‘old-world’ charm about them and because they are made of pewter, they also have some weight to them! Likewise, he uses real leather to construct the 1/6 scale holster rigs and accessories. For what you get, I think his prices are very reasonable. If you spend more than $30.00USD, you get free postage anywhere in the world.
Onto the project itself. I used a blonde bearded VAM that I recently acquired on Ebay. My intention was to create a Confederate Guerilla, perhaps a bit like Josey Wales, but still with some connection to a formal CSA fighting unit, etc. With this in mind, I wanted the figure’s accessories to be somewhat unique and a departure from the common weapons/accessories of the Civil War era.
For those interested, I have listed below the various items included in the project and their origin:
Brown Hat/Gold Cord (created by Steve – I added the feather to the brim)
CSA Shirt (I think this is a Sideshow creation – purchased from Monkey Depot)
CSA Pants (again, I think this is a Sideshow creation – also purchased from Monkey Depot)
Boots/Spurs (purchased from Steve’s web-site, but not created by him)
Sabre (possibly from a Sideshow set – also purchased from Monkey Depot)
Battlefield of Antietam Map (scratch-built by myself, image from the internet)
Dynamite (scratch-built by myself using Sculpey)
Water Canteen (scratch-built by myself using Sculpey/Leather)
Corn Cob Pipe (scratch-built by myself using Sculpey)
Bed-Roll (scratch-built by myself)
Civil War Binoculars (cast and painted by Steve)
1860 Henry Rifle (cast and painted by Steve)
Retail Packaging/Inserts (all my own work, with the exception of the actual box, which was pre-made).
I’d like to make special mention of the holster rig created by Steve. I’m really happy with how it came out. In addition to the bowie knife/sheath and the Derringer pistol, I was keen for my figure to be kitted out with two very unique sidearms – something that would make him stand out in a crowd. I therefore chose to equip him with 2 x custom-made LeMat CSA revolvers (again, cast and painted by Steve).
For those unaware of the specifications of the LeMat revolvers, these babies were something special! About 2500 of the revolvers were said to have found their way into the hands of the Confederate Army. Designed by Alexander LeMat, the revolvers were initially produced in France and later in England, and then shipped to the US. What made them unique was that they had a nine-shot revolving cylinder and were chambered for .42 calibre rounds – they packed quite a punch. In addition, the pistol also had a tenth shot available – a single .63 calibre 16/18 gauge shot round situated underneath the main barrel! Apparently they weren’t all that dependable and were prone to jams, blockages, etc. But what the hell - what a great weapon to kit out a VAM with! As far as I’m aware, the LeMat CSA revolvers were never produced with ivory stocks, but I wanted my pair to be unique. Perhaps my Southerner put in a custom order during the Civil War!"
Photographs to follow...
"Since discovering Stevo’s Toys website some time ago, I’ve been keen to try my hand at a Civil War Confederate Guerilla. I ended up using quite a few of Steve’s custom items and so, in many ways, I consider this project to be more a collaboration, rather than a stand-alone project. For those that haven’t had a look at Steve’s site, just follow the link below…
http://stevestoys.com/index.htm
Steve is a true 1/6 scale artist and I can’t recommend his work enough! The majority of his 1/6 scale weapons are cast in lead-free pewter, then hand-painted. The weapons have a real ‘old-world’ charm about them and because they are made of pewter, they also have some weight to them! Likewise, he uses real leather to construct the 1/6 scale holster rigs and accessories. For what you get, I think his prices are very reasonable. If you spend more than $30.00USD, you get free postage anywhere in the world.
Onto the project itself. I used a blonde bearded VAM that I recently acquired on Ebay. My intention was to create a Confederate Guerilla, perhaps a bit like Josey Wales, but still with some connection to a formal CSA fighting unit, etc. With this in mind, I wanted the figure’s accessories to be somewhat unique and a departure from the common weapons/accessories of the Civil War era.
For those interested, I have listed below the various items included in the project and their origin:
Brown Hat/Gold Cord (created by Steve – I added the feather to the brim)
CSA Shirt (I think this is a Sideshow creation – purchased from Monkey Depot)
CSA Pants (again, I think this is a Sideshow creation – also purchased from Monkey Depot)
Boots/Spurs (purchased from Steve’s web-site, but not created by him)
Sabre (possibly from a Sideshow set – also purchased from Monkey Depot)
Battlefield of Antietam Map (scratch-built by myself, image from the internet)
Dynamite (scratch-built by myself using Sculpey)
Water Canteen (scratch-built by myself using Sculpey/Leather)
Corn Cob Pipe (scratch-built by myself using Sculpey)
Bed-Roll (scratch-built by myself)
Civil War Binoculars (cast and painted by Steve)
1860 Henry Rifle (cast and painted by Steve)
Retail Packaging/Inserts (all my own work, with the exception of the actual box, which was pre-made).
I’d like to make special mention of the holster rig created by Steve. I’m really happy with how it came out. In addition to the bowie knife/sheath and the Derringer pistol, I was keen for my figure to be kitted out with two very unique sidearms – something that would make him stand out in a crowd. I therefore chose to equip him with 2 x custom-made LeMat CSA revolvers (again, cast and painted by Steve).
For those unaware of the specifications of the LeMat revolvers, these babies were something special! About 2500 of the revolvers were said to have found their way into the hands of the Confederate Army. Designed by Alexander LeMat, the revolvers were initially produced in France and later in England, and then shipped to the US. What made them unique was that they had a nine-shot revolving cylinder and were chambered for .42 calibre rounds – they packed quite a punch. In addition, the pistol also had a tenth shot available – a single .63 calibre 16/18 gauge shot round situated underneath the main barrel! Apparently they weren’t all that dependable and were prone to jams, blockages, etc. But what the hell - what a great weapon to kit out a VAM with! As far as I’m aware, the LeMat CSA revolvers were never produced with ivory stocks, but I wanted my pair to be unique. Perhaps my Southerner put in a custom order during the Civil War!"
Photographs to follow...
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Indiana Jones Teaser
Greetings...one of my next projects is a custom VAM Indiana Jones figure. To get into the spirit, I designed a simple 'teaser' image which I have attached above. I'll post results of the project in due course. Cheers, Craig.
New projects nearing completion
Hi, just a quick update. I have three projects that are all but finished. I'm just waiting for some good weather to arrive in Queensland so that I can start taking photographs. I'll post the results in the next couple of weeks. For those interested, I have recently modified and updated the retail packaging that accompanies each figure. The new design will be utilised for my upcoming projects. Cheers, Craig.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
The Jackal Revisited
Here are details of my most recent project posted on AMHQ...
"For those who recall, my first project was a custom VAM figure from the movie ‘The Day of The Jackal’. As I always intended, I have revisited this movie and made a second version of ‘The Jackal’. However, this time he is dressed in his war veteran’s disguise from the latter part of the movie.
If you’re a fan of the movie, I won’t need to explain the figure. However, for those that haven’t seen the movie (or read the book for that matter), the figure may look a bit odd! Spoilers below!
Essentially, ‘The Jackal’ is an assassin-for-hire, who at one point during the movie, conceals his identity by disguising himself as a WW2 French war veteran – complete with crutches and an amputated leg!
The pin-striped suit, white shirt, tie, sock, etc. were obtained from Ebay and complimented with a black waistcoat from my spares collection. The black beret started life as a green Dragon beret, which I dyed. The two crutches are original VAM/G I JOE in origin (slightly shortened in length and painted silver). The single boot is VAM in origin. The three medals he is wearing were constructed using images I found on the net. The medals I used are the same as those portrayed in the movie, namely:
1. Order de la Liberation (the second highest French order)
2. Croix de Guerre (same as the VAM one and awarded to commemorate a mention in dispatches, etc.)
3. Insigne du Blesse Militaire (Military Wound Badge – nice choice considering he lost a leg in the war!)
It was kinda cool that the makers of the film used the appropriate medals, etc.
The only downside to the project is that I didn’t have a nice Parisian backdrop for the photos! However, I was able to track down some nice French war posters on the net which you can see in the background of some of the photos.
For those interested, I have four additional VAM projects in various stages of construction. Whilst I still enjoy customising/kitbashing the figures, the process of making the retail packaging for each successive project has become a bit repetitive. For this reason, I’ve decided to retire the current packaging design after the next project and try my hand at something different. The changes won’t be too radical, but I think the original design has run its course."
Photos to follow...
"For those who recall, my first project was a custom VAM figure from the movie ‘The Day of The Jackal’. As I always intended, I have revisited this movie and made a second version of ‘The Jackal’. However, this time he is dressed in his war veteran’s disguise from the latter part of the movie.
If you’re a fan of the movie, I won’t need to explain the figure. However, for those that haven’t seen the movie (or read the book for that matter), the figure may look a bit odd! Spoilers below!
Essentially, ‘The Jackal’ is an assassin-for-hire, who at one point during the movie, conceals his identity by disguising himself as a WW2 French war veteran – complete with crutches and an amputated leg!
The pin-striped suit, white shirt, tie, sock, etc. were obtained from Ebay and complimented with a black waistcoat from my spares collection. The black beret started life as a green Dragon beret, which I dyed. The two crutches are original VAM/G I JOE in origin (slightly shortened in length and painted silver). The single boot is VAM in origin. The three medals he is wearing were constructed using images I found on the net. The medals I used are the same as those portrayed in the movie, namely:
1. Order de la Liberation (the second highest French order)
2. Croix de Guerre (same as the VAM one and awarded to commemorate a mention in dispatches, etc.)
3. Insigne du Blesse Militaire (Military Wound Badge – nice choice considering he lost a leg in the war!)
It was kinda cool that the makers of the film used the appropriate medals, etc.
The only downside to the project is that I didn’t have a nice Parisian backdrop for the photos! However, I was able to track down some nice French war posters on the net which you can see in the background of some of the photos.
For those interested, I have four additional VAM projects in various stages of construction. Whilst I still enjoy customising/kitbashing the figures, the process of making the retail packaging for each successive project has become a bit repetitive. For this reason, I’ve decided to retire the current packaging design after the next project and try my hand at something different. The changes won’t be too radical, but I think the original design has run its course."
Photos to follow...
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Sandbag Accessory Pack
Here are some details of a side project I have just finished. Again, the text is from the AMHQ site.
"Following my recent obsession with sandbags, I thought I’d try my hand at an ‘official’ VAM accessory set.
I needed to make a new batch of sandbags, as the ones I made a month or two ago were permanently glued together for the Gurkha newsreel project.
The retail box was not scratch-built this time. I found a nice pre-made one that was the perfect size. All that the box needed was a coat of green paint. It holds the forty new sandbags quite nicely."
Photos to come...
"Following my recent obsession with sandbags, I thought I’d try my hand at an ‘official’ VAM accessory set.
I needed to make a new batch of sandbags, as the ones I made a month or two ago were permanently glued together for the Gurkha newsreel project.
The retail box was not scratch-built this time. I found a nice pre-made one that was the perfect size. All that the box needed was a coat of green paint. It holds the forty new sandbags quite nicely."
Photos to come...
Monday, November 12, 2007
5th and 6th projects nearing completion...
As the title suggests, I'm currently working on my 5th and 6th projects (plus a couple of side projects). I'll post the results when I can. Cheers, Craig.
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