FOX UNIT: SNAKE

Surely.... one of the coolest characters in gaming history, dating back almost 2 decades. A bash in my 'to do list' for the longest time ever, the others being.... (never mind).

The only ever 1/6 release for this character line was by a Jap company who probably manage to snagged the license. Problem was the price tag for this box figure is way too steep & i sure as hell won't pay above $200 for some Real(short) Arse Hero no matter how much i like the character. Phenomenally, some local Bird-brain distributor even had a restock at a pre-order price of $240 though the figure had already been released 3-4 years....(clearing excess unsold stock???)

Anyhow back to the bash which was do-able with the amount of 1/6 lose gears out there though not 100% game accurate. Body was one of my recycled HT Truetypes with commissioned work on the HT Nam Navy Seal h/s. Balance are mainly TS e.g. tiger strip, M1956 gear set with some unknowns in the accessories dept. Should have also styled the hair with some wax/clay but never got down to it coz haven't tried it before & didn't want to ruin the hair.

So end of day, a much more satisfying figure for $100 or less (not counting parts i had) & not $240 poorer, u do the math....

Relive The 60s, Relive The Cold War....

Browsing thru' OSW forum today & saw quite a few postings on 60s Vietnam bashes.

Got me feeling nostalgic & remembered the excellent MGS3 Snake Eater which had a Cold War era theme as well. Not to mention the almost forgotten Snake Eater theme song by Cynthia Harrel crafted with an opening movie intro to resemble an old school 007 movie opening trailer.

Perhaps its time to plug in my dusty PS2 again & relive MGS3 & at the same time come up with a bash of its main protagonist in the game's 60s Cold War setting....

1st SFOD-D (D-boy)

Another rework of an old bash on a subject matter that needs no further intro.

Basically changing out the tac. vest to the TS D-boy Breacher version. Other parts are a combi of BBI & DML.

Threads on OSW: 'Your first kitbash...', 'The figure that gou u started...'. This would be the one that did it for me ever since stumbling across it on a feature in an issue of ARMS magazine back in 2004. Also got acquainted with the first SpecFigures magazine thru that feature & as the saying goes, the rest is history....

CLEVELAND P.D. - S.W.A.T

A re-bash of an old figure from couple of years back originally the 1st Gen. BBI SWAT figure released around 2000/01.

Underlying reason was economical coz it was using a HT Truetype body which i wanted to recycle (tough times....). Also, had a spare tac. vest lying around which was one of the essential ingredients for the re-bash. But most of all i guess was that i wasn't entirely satisfied with my original bash in the first place.....

Anyway HT Truetype was replaced with a BBI G3.5, used up the spare ABA Vest (from ACE) but removed the backpack that came with it. Changed out the original M4 to an MP5 to go with the vest. Swap out the gloves & assault boots, added the pistol mag. pouch & mech-light + pouch.

End result: an almost totally new figure. Too bad didn't manage to snap any shots of the old bash for comparison (gotta remember to do that next time).

SEAL in MultiCam

To be completely honest, the idea for this kitbash is totally based on an original one done by Fuji san & featured in SpecFigures4 magazine.

While certain parts used are different due to resource constraints, my attempt was certainly meant to emulate Fuji san's bash to as close a detail as possible. Thus credit in this regard goes out to Fujico for the inspiration.

Secondly, the presentation in my first pix was also done up half in jest/spoof as a mock up cover resembling SF4. Anyway to make it short it was a satisfying bash & presentation the way everything turned out just right (to my expectation).

HBO's: THE PACIFIC (Trailer)

More The Pacific News & Previews

101st Airborne WWII

Seems like WWII theme is in a bit of a revival these days.....

Is it the bashes in SpecFigures4??? Or 1/6 manufacturers slugging it out with similar theme/timing WWII figures releases??? Or simply the fact that most had run out of ideas for modern military boxsets. Also shouldn't be any surprise that with HBO's telecast of the WWII miniseries: 'The Pacific' later this year, the next wave of 1/6 box releases by the aforesaid makers should be anybody's guess.

No matter what, here i am jumping on the WWII bandwagon. Essentially kitted out a Toys City accessories set with a DID h/s + body, DID helmet & DML M1 rifle..... some nice weathering should do this bash justice but i guess it's something for another day.

NYPD-ESU

NYPD-Emergency Service Unit: As an old saying in the NYPD goes: "When a citizen needs help, he calls a cop, when a cop needs help he calls Emergency Service".

The ESU is the elite unit of the NYPD, much similar to LAPD's SWAT. They are deployed to overcome tactical situations as well as being highly trained medical & rescue specialists & were notably also involved in the 9/11 rescues/evacuations at the Twin Towers.

Had actually bashed 2 ESU figures utilising the old DML ESU uniforms. The first version are those commonly seen deployed in New York City e.g. Wall Street, Federal Buildings post 9/11 due to heighten security in the city.

The second tactical/SWAT version is inspired by a scene in the movie: Max Payne; a shootout in an office building between a team of ESU & Mark Walberg's Max Payne.

The PUNISHER

I'm not into comic-book heroes or super-heroes for that matter. The only exception being Marvel's: PUNISHER. A brutal & violent psychologically troubled antihero who battles criminals from: The Italian Mafia, Russian Mob, Colombian drug cartels, Chinese Triads to the Japanese Yakuza etc.

The Punisher does not possess any super-powers but relies purely on his military training & diversified range of weaponry in his lone vigilante campaign against crime. Therein lies the appeal: the use of GUNS GUNS GUNS & more GUNS in The Punisher's arsenal.

The idea for a 1/6 Punisher bash first took hold right around the time the movie one-sheet for Punisher-War Zone first appeared in 2008. I had missed out on the previous 12-inch Punisher release from Marvel Studios back in the day & regrettably, there had also not been any 1/6 Punisher release from other makers all this while.

This bash is based on the Punisher-War Zone movie but not entirely 100% movie accurate due to certain limitations. Credit for the commission work of the vest, slight mod & painting of the h/s goes to Mr. Pang of YellowBox Trade who was more than kind to indulge my request. Next, gratitude to my fellow 1/6 mate Kev.-LTK for his willingness to part with the HT left-leg hostler.

The bash is far from perfect.... not by a long shot, but it's a fulfillment of a subject matter that i wanted realize for some time.

If you're guilty, you're DEAD.......

DEAD SNOW

More Dead Snow Info

How's this for some 1/6 bashing (no pun intended) ideas??? Hahaha...... u gotta give it to the Norwegians.

ACU: Army Combat Uniform

ACU had been adopted by the U.S. Army for a couple of years now, so a ACU bash now seem appropriate or kinda late..... Well the problem was the less than satisfactory 1/6 ACU offerings in the early days.

From memory, the earliest ACU rendition was TS' ACU accessories set & BBI's 10th Mountain Div boxset. TS' set was a rather comprehensive set less figure & weapon but the problem was the accuracy of the ACU camo pattern which in those early days tend to be slightly smudgy & not as pixelated as actual 1:1 ACU digital print. BBI's boxset on the other hand was slightly better in terms of the ACU pattern (even till today) but one major gripe was it only offers ACU BDU & helmet but not in the loadout e.g. rig, vests, pouches.

As time goes by & fast forward till today, various ACU offerings by HT, VH, SS, TS had been produced with HT rolling out one ACU boxset after another in 08 with only variations in theme/loadout only. All ACU patterns seemed to differ slightly amongst different makers with some looking more greenish when in my opinion they should be grey. TS' ACU Ranger Mullen was the closet by far in my feel.

Parts from my bash are from all the usual suspects. I kinda think the BDU & interceptor are from SS but can't be 100% sure. And somehow they still look kinda greenish which still bothers me. WELL... if you can't beat them, just use them..... or whatever you have that is.