Rex's Tunnel Rat & Night-Ops Shipwreck

[Mandingo Rex]

This was a "fix-up" and a LBC kitbash, so I opted to toss them in together. I never really had a problem with the "squinty-eyed" Tunnel Rat until recently. I always excused the silly "He's Asian!" stereotypical/comically-squinted eyes because he's crawling around in the dark, but finally I decided... screw it, I'm painting in eyes.

So I did. Also, I was tired of him not having his vintage backpack, so I modded the Arctic Snake Eyes backpack, cutting off the snow shoe pegs and drilling into the top to store 2 Marauder flashlights. I think it's pretty darn accurate to the vintage figure, and I'm not quite sure why they omitted a pack (even if a lame repaint of something else) for a guy who's sure to need somewhere to store stuff as he's crawling through tunnels blowing up/disarming stuff.

"Night Ops" Shipwreck was an LBC that I threw together after I had to repaint the ROC Shipwreck head, after I stripped the paint off it from my failed original Frostbite custom. I dug through my fodder and slapped together a paintless (save for my "fix" repaint of the head) figure that I really liked, so I decided to share it. No, the pants don't match the legs perfectly and I realize that (and it does slightly bug me), but I may get around to that one day or not... It's not priority to color-match it. It's really only noticeable in bright lights, and the harness mostly obscures it. Anyways, enjoy, and feedback/criticism is always welcome.

Tunnel Rat:

Recipe:

Entire figure: 25th Tunnel Rat (with repainted eyes)
Backpack: 25th Arctic Snake Eyes (modded)
Flashlights: Marauder Gun-Runners

Night-Ops Shipwreck:

Recipe:
Head: ROC Shipwreck (repainted)
Torso/Upper Arms: Night Force Tunnel Rat
Lower Arms: Greatest Battles Duke
Vest: Heavy Metal
Legs: ROC Gung-Ho
Backpack: 25th Viper
Waist gear: Airborne

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

the TR mods are great!...so simple...the eyes turned out really good...and i guess they really never bothered me cause i havent ever thought about fixing them, but they actually do look so much better after your fix...though maybe i have parkinsons or something, but i still loath painting them...so theres that...

the backpack came out great too...obvioulsy the lights look good, but i really like how you painted the bedroll on the bottom...nice touch...

Shippys a decent bash...the paint on the pants isnt as noticeable as i was expecting when i read your text...

 

[xxxx]

great customs!

 

[Cloud Strife]

Something so simple that Hasbro could've done to make a figure much better (paint TR's eyes), but for some stupid reason they didn't do it. Excellent job on the backpack too! I've been trying to figure out a way to make a more ARAH accurate backpack for TR and that's an excellent idea.

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

that really was a brilliant idea on the backpack MR

 

[Rick]

Looking Good Rex! I like what you did with ship. I dig the forearms on these with the watch.

 

[Slaymaker]

Sweet stuff, Rex! I am gonna steel the back pack idea for sure. I think I have 2 of those flashlights I ordered for such a project, I just forgot with all my other WIPs.

Lastly - I wish I could paint eyes as well as you, too!

 

[xhairs]

very cool job on both man.

 

[Monkeywrench]

Love the upgraded TR!

 

[G.I.*EDDIE]

NICE!

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Thanks fellas (even you Eddie, ya smartass!)

Looking Good Rex! I like what you did with ship. I dig the forearms on these with the watch.

Thanks dude. I realized last night that he was missing his tattoo, so I swapped out Comic Pack Shippy's lower arms. He has the balled-up fist but it actually looks kinda sweet that way. Plus, he has the tattoo again. But, the watch is now gone. I did put the other forearms on the CP Shippy, and I guess now I have a "land" Deep Six. I was planning to eventually make a Deep Six from the early Joe Comics where he's in a blue turtleneck. I was going to get that Wave 13 Firefly and put some different legs on him, but for now I guess the Shippy hybrid works well enough.

Sweet stuff, Rex! I am gonna steel the back pack idea for sure. I think I have 2 of those flashlights I ordered for such a project, I just forgot with all my other WIPs.

Lastly - I wish I could paint eyes as well as you, too!

Steal away dude. I got a set of 6 or 8, so if you need them hit me up, I can't imagine needing the others. I got them just for this, then realized, what else am I gonna put them on?

 

[Meddatron]

As always Rex, brilliant work. i think this evening its time to paint my TR eyes. he looks so much better that way. Night and day better!

 

[Mandingo Rex]

Haha thanks man. I actually had an extra TR that I bought for my Footloose, so I have a spare TR noggin in the fodder bin. I wanna do a dio where I switch out the heads, so he's squinting and then full-eyed. By the way, I need to post at your site, I just keep forgetting.