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KMart Exclusive 4-Pack hitting shelves now

Over at JoeBattleLines, MaxPower has stumbled across the KMart Exclusive 4-Pack at his local California K-Mart and was kind enough to snap some pictures of what can be found inside.  The set comes with:

  • Desert Camouflage Heavy Duty
  • Duke (in MP Uniform)
  • MARS Weapon Officer
  • Neo-Viper

Heavy Duty is the best of the bunch, just because he comes with the best of the gear from the two previous versions!  He’s got the machine gun and pistol from the Weapons Specialist (as well as the backpack w/ straps), but he’s got the heavy machine gun and grenade launcher from the Reactive Armor version.

The two COBRA’s are colored up in a strange dark brown/bronze shade which doesn’t appeal to me a whole lot, though each of them come fully equipped with their original weapons load.  Duke is just kind of a toss in, I think.  I’m not crazy about the MP/Zartan figure, and we’ve already got a decent desert camouflage Duke.  Anyway…retail was apparently $27 or $28.  Keep your eyes out if you’re interested!

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Darkness Falls update – The Set Building begins…

So I really want to keep folks in the loop as production begins (or continues as the case may be) for my final dio-story installment, Darkness Falls.  Well, over the past few days I’ve begun design and production on one of the various diorama sets that are required for the story.

One of the main focus points of the story features a battle in an underground cavern converted into a base of operations.  Obviously, without giving too much away, I wanted to just sort of show off where I am so far.  I did some rough sketches of what I wanted, based on what the story called for, plus what my dio building capabilities are.  I am NOT an expert by a long shot.  In fact, I’d say everything I know I just stole from Capolan over on JoeCustoms, and I don’t do it nearly as well as he does.

Regardless, for better or worse, I’m pressing forward and just hoping what I come up with is good enough to not draw anyone out of the story, since the sets are merely a compliment to the story itself.  They should not be the focus.

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This is the very rough, early stages.  For what you see above, the following was required:

  • 3 Sheets of Foamcore (30″ long by 20″ wide)
  • Scrapbook Paper – Nostalgiques “Rough Pavement” (for the floor)
  • Scrapbook Paper – ProvoCraft “Texture Copper” (for the walls)
  • Glue Stick (for the scrapbook paper to the foamcore)
  • Hot Glue Gun (for gluing the foamcore together)

Both scrapbook paper patterns were found at a Michael’s Craft Store.

I did some rough measuring, leaving the foamcore at 30″ long, since a lot of action takes place on scene.  Cut down the back and side walls a bit, and then cut the door designs using a straight edge and a roll of packing tape.  :shifty:  Very important to have a sharp knife blade to cut clean, and another VERY important thing is to cut straight down through the foamcore, and not on an angle.  You want as clean and straight an edge as possible for the hot glue to seam.

So I cut each sheet and marked it as needed, then glued the back and two sides to the bottom to get the frame for the typical “3 wall stage” set up.  Obviously you keep on wall either off or removable so you have a place to shoot pictures.  I’ve found that gluing to the outside of the bottom frame creates a more durable seal as well (instead of gluing everything to the top of it and using it as a true base).

Then I took another piece of foamcore and cut it down to match the height of the others, and cut out the arches (again using the straight edge and trusty packing tape).  I put the scrapbook paper down on the base and the two walls partially in preparation of the other wall.

And that’s pretty much it so far.  This doesn’t take very long, and really, it’s almost more a matter of finding the right material rather than the work itself.  Measure twice, cut once.  :shifty:

Some folks have also expressed interest in seeing my collection and my work area, so I shot a few pics of that, too, while doing pictures for the in progress diorama shots.  It’s a mess, and it’s in my garage, which is unfortunately unheated (so it’s tough to work out there a couple months out of the year), but it gives me a nice space to spread out and do some work.  It’s also the only place I currently have to showcase my Joe stuff, though it’s not as nicely displayed as I’d like.  Check these pics out below…the screw drawers are all full of vintage Real American Hero figures.  On the other wall of the garage I have about 25 or so other cabinets as well.

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G.I. Joe Dragonhawk Variant, or a running change?

Duck over on the JoeBattleLines forums has reported that he received a pair of Dragonhawks from HasbroToyShop, and there are different paint applications on both.  One of them has distinct black trim on various parts of the copter like the stabilizers and engine covers.  Check out his reports here, and I’ve mirrored the images below.

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I also have to echo Duck’s thoughts in the thread that the Dragonhawk is actually a really cool little helicopter regardless of its size.  If you can think of it as the evolution of the Locust rather than the next Dragonfly, I think you can appreciate it a lot more.  If folks had the Night Attack Chopper and use that as the primary assault copter with the Dragonhawks acting as smaller, quicker support crafts.  In fact, Count Blacktron did the same thing in an image below.

Blacktron_NAC

Regardless, the copter is neat, regardless of its size.  The $25.00 is still a hard one to absorb, considering the Locust was a lot less back in the day, but still a neat vehicle for what it is.

G.I. Joe Origins #7 5-Page Preview

The 5-Page preview for G.I. Joe: Origins #7 has now been posted.  This issue focuses on Mainframe, who actually plays a much more critical role on the team than he has in years past.  Part conspiracy theorist, part computer expert, Mainframe really has some very interesting character about him, and I’m really looking forward to this issue!  Check out the five page preview below.

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