Unpainted: Duke - First Sergeant

Still behind on getting any minis painted, so today I thought I'd take a different angle: minis I *won't* be painting.

When I started this project, I pretty much started with my favorites: Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow, etc.

Eventually though, my plans expanded to include most of the Joes from the original 1982 lineup through the 1987 lineup, with a few odd singles here and there.

However, there are a few figures that I will probably never do, and the biggest one of them all is Duke.

I just can't stand Duke: I don't like the figure. I hate him in the cartoon. I don't care for him in the comic. He was a dope in the live movie.

So far, the only version of Duke that I can tolerate is Renegades Duke, and he's just kind of...OK. Generically OK.

I've never understood why this bland, blond wing nut became one of the most well known faces of the team.

Seems like every iteration of G.I.Joe comic, cartoon, or video game features Duke.

But not mine.

-c

Dial-Tone - Communications

Another week, another EM4 Miniature. (Still trying to find time to paint.)

Whenever I am prepping the pictures for a post, there is always a point that I realize I should have done something different. In this case: why didn't I paint Dial-Tone's rifle silver?

*Sigh*

Anyways, Dial-Tone was always a favorite of mine and a suitable replacement for Breaker. I don't know why, but as a kid, I always imagined him speaking with a French accent. Even though his file card clearly indicates he's from Oregon, I thought of him as coming from G.I.Joe's European Branch or something.

I think...yeah, I think it's the mustache. The mustache kind of makes him look like Inspector Clouseau.

-c

Flint - Warrant Officer

Still trying to catch up on my back log of minis to paint, including a small selection of minis from EM4 Miniatures, like this one:

In my personal G.I. Joe canon, the chain of command went something like this: General Hawk > Flint > Snake Eyes > Everybody else > All of the animal companions > Duke. (I may elaborate on this in the future.)

Like Lady Jaye, for Flint I had to decide what was most iconic and what could be skipped. While Flint is usually shown with his shotgun, I decide on the EM4 Minis 0429 Trooper Sub Leader. He may lake the shotgun, but makes up for it with his commanding presence.

I suppose I could have painted his shoulder armor straps green to mimic the toy's suspenders, but it just didn't look right to me.

With Flint complete, I have almost all the Joe and Cobra power couples represented.

Now, I just need to find a sailor...

-c

Lady Jaye - Covert Operations

I originally thought Lady Jaye would be one of the easy minis to find, but it turned out to be a surprising amount of work to track down one that, to me, had the right qualities.

I eventually gave up on finding a mini I liked with a hat like the figure or with a javelin. So, I opted for the Star Wars Mini Human Engineer, that had a similar outfit and hairstyle.

You can't really tell from this angle, but I added a quiver of "javelins" (actually a quiver of arrows from the Legolas Heroclix) to at least cover that aspect of her character.

Given the...reputation...Lady Jaye has acquired over the years, especially regarding certain...endowments...she possesses, it would have been easy to pick any number of slutty-looking, machine gun-totting miniatures.

But that wouldn't work for me.

After all, Lady Jaye is a lady. (It's right there in her name.)

-c