Prowl-Ar's Customs: Last and Galactic Avengers

[Prowlar]

The long abandoned satellite Hawk Haven's computer, sensing the approach of an Earth ship, activated its final resident Pilotlight. Upon analyzing the data sent to him by his Fighting Hawk, Phoenix, he realized that the StarHunter was in dire straits and that it was being towed toward Bedlama by an unknown vessel. He quickly contacted Cougarra and gave her the coordinates so that she could land at Hawk Haven. Once the ship was docked the StarHunter's sleep capsules were moved to the infirmary/workshop. Cougarra requested the use of Hawk Haven's star charts so that she could plot an intercept course with the missing Thundarian cruiser and after careful study Pilotlight realized that they were headed for Earth. Given the new information Cougarra realized that she would arrive at their destination several years in advance of the Nobles arrival.

By this point Pilotlight had reviewed all the communications between both Hawk Haven and the StarHunter and realized that the Earth he remembered might no longer exist. He asked Cougarra to help him, using her advanced Thundarian engineering knowledge, to retrofit the base so that it could be moved to Earth orbit. She reluctantly agreed and started the project by salvaging the parts she needed from the Star Hunter's ship.

Code Name: Pilotlight & Phoenix

Name: Paul Lightwind

Planet of Origin: Hawk Haven, Limbo Galaxy

Primary Specialty: Heavy Armor

Secondary Specialty: Law Enforcement

Phoenix's Special Ability: Thirty-Minute Time Displacement

[boyd]

Yea Thundercats / Silverhawks cross-over!

[TENIME_art]

OMFG I want official Silverhawks Minimates so badly...

[Monte]

I just went through the whole thread, and it is awesome!

Stream-of-consciousness replies:

I love her belt! Who'd it come with, originally?

As a longtime fan of the metal band, I love Iron Maiden as the name of the gender-reversed Iron Man.

Much of the cleverness of your Marvel work is sadly lost on me, for the simple reason that I have never been a student of the Marvel Universe. That said, while he’s much simpler than many of your customs, there is something about the look of Dakota North that I really like. Ditto Electra Nachios. Also Wildside, who I tried and failed to replicate with G.I. Joe parts. Madison Jeffries looks great, too; not to sound creepy, but her face is pretty.

I may have asked this before, but what the hell were those Dazzler parts before you made ‘em into Dazzler?!? (Never mind; boyd identified them).

Henrietta Jones is the greatest goddamn thing in the history of ever, and I shall have her in some scale someday. I shall start brainstorming kitbash ideas…

Guh. I’d forgotten how pants-crappingly fantastic your MiniMates Badlands is. One highlight of staying in Twin Falls, should that pass: I’ll get my hands on my Sigma Badlands again! Also, MiniMates Paradise is much tougher looking than my Tree Frog custom.

That’s the Sigma Dragonhawk stomping on the Red Ninja, right? How’s the scale on the 2.5-inch Sigma vehicles with MiniMates? I almost nabbed a new ThunderTank to use with the MiniMate Panthro you gave me.

Tech looks awesome! A bit of retrofuture charm but with a modern viciousness… and it’s amazing how vicious these MiniMates can look.

I may have an extra of that gun, should you need it.

I feel like I shouldn’t have to ask this in 2012, but I’m ignorant: how do you combine two photos into one .jpeg file?

Sputnik is unbearably cute. I like Fanatic, too. Any relation to the Sigma custom?

I love Hammerhead! The understated classifications for all those monsters are brilliant.

Who'd the head on the right come with? Is it Tony Stark? 'Cause he's a dead ringer for my lazy G.I. Joe kitbash, Gray Ghost:

He's a two-fisted vigilante in the '30s. That's his sidekick Spooky standing behind him.

Crap, I forgot about your Outback. He’s perfect. DST, get the Joe license and I shall tattoo your company logo upon my forehead!

Mr. Marvel has such a cool pulp feel. He’s like that MOTUC figure, He-Ro, which is to say he looks nothing like him but I get the same fun vibe from both.

Betsy Braddock reminds me of Jenny Sparks, from The Authority. Too cool!

Breakdown! I didn’t know you’d recreated him as a MiniMate. Awesome! You made a Sigma Freefall, too, didn’t you? Hell, I think you gave me a Sigma Freefall, but I might be confusing characters.

Armored Raven is very nice. The Rise of Cobra Accelerator Suit Scarlett body would be a good base for a G.I. Joe version. Hmm… On the other hand, I prefer Peregrine without her armor. Just a cool, simple design.

Add Shauna Cassidy to the holy-shit-that’s-awesome pile

Dude, Tegra is perfect; factory-quality paint and awesome parts. Did you ever paint any of your MOTUC Panthors?

I think Reaper is my favorite design of all the Zombie story characters. I like that long military jacket. Or perhaps Death; whose face is that?!?

Mangry friggin’ rules! Your description didn’t do him justice!

Now then…

Requests/suggestions (to make you laugh at my expense and/or keep you up at night):

1. Any and all Wizard of Oz-themed customs. Moody modern updates, satirical gender-reversed alternates, earnest tributes, whatever lights your fire… after the ideas you shared regarding my Hot Toys Dorothy ambitions, I’d love to see what you could do with the Oz mythos in MiniMate form.

2. Moss Man and Fisto. They’re my favorite vintage Masters of the Universe characters, and I bet they’d look wicked in MiniMate form.

3. The Bionic Six! Or at least Karate-1.

4. Planetary: Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagner and The Drummer. I suspect you never read that comic, to which I say, That’s no excuse!

5. Promethea. See above re: no excuse.

6. Casey Jones. ‘Cause I wanna see one in very possible scale and format. I loves me some Casey Jones.

7. Update this thread more frequently!

Seriously, man, your creativity is inspiring. I’m trying not to let these damn ThunderCats MiniMates turn into a gateway drug, but this thread sure isn’t helping.

Keep it up!

[Prowlar]

Wow, that comment is going to take some time to just sink in even before I begin to respond.

[TENIME_art]

Monte! Long time, no talk!

The belt you asked about is from Bucky Captain America. Not sure which one, but that's his, I'm sure of it.

[Prowlar]

I just went through the whole thread, and it is awesome!

Stream-of-consciousness replies:

I love her belt! Who'd it come with, originally?

Henrietta Jones is the greatest goddamn thing in the history of ever, and I shall have her in some scale someday. I shall start brainstorming kitbash ideas…

That’s the Sigma Dragonhawk stomping on the Red Ninja, right? How’s the scale on the 2.5-inch Sigma vehicles with MiniMates? I almost nabbed a new ThunderTank to use with the MiniMate Panthro you gave me.

I may have an extra of that gun, should you need it.

I feel like I shouldn’t have to ask this in 2012, but I’m ignorant: how do you combine two photos into one .jpeg file?

I like Fanatic, too. Any relation to the Sigma custom?

Who'd the head on the right come with? Is it Tony Stark? 'Cause he's a dead ringer for my lazy G.I. Joe kitbash, Gray Ghost:

Crap, I forgot about your Outback. He’s perfect. DST, get the Joe license and I shall tattoo your company logo upon my forehead!

Breakdown! I didn’t know you’d recreated him as a MiniMate. Awesome! You made a Sigma Freefall, too, didn’t you? Hell, I think you gave me a Sigma Freefall, but I might be confusing characters.

Dude, Tegra is perfect; factory-quality paint and awesome parts. Did you ever paint any of your MOTUC Panthors?

I think Reaper is my favorite design of all the Zombie story characters. I like that long military jacket. Or perhaps Death; whose face is that?!?

Mangry friggin’ rules! Your description didn’t do him justice!

Now then…

Requests/suggestions (to make you laugh at my expense and/or keep you up at night):

1. Any and all Wizard of Oz-themed customs. Moody modern updates, satirical gender-reversed alternates, earnest tributes, whatever lights your fire… after the ideas you shared regarding my Hot Toys Dorothy ambitions, I’d love to see what you could do with the Oz mythos in MiniMate form.

2. Moss Man and Fisto. They’re my favorite vintage Masters of the Universe characters, and I bet they’d look wicked in MiniMate form.

3. The Bionic Six! Or at least Karate-1.

4. Planetary: Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagner and The Drummer. I suspect you never read that comic, to which I say, That’s no excuse!

5. Promethea. See above re: no excuse.

6. Casey Jones. ‘Cause I wanna see one in very possible scale and format. I loves me some Casey Jones.

7. Update this thread more frequently!

Keep it up!

A few answers.

As Tenime pointed out it comes from the Bucky Captain America in this case the Modern Golden Age box set. The chest harness from Sarah Connor in the Terminator box set.

Henrietta Jones: like I told you after watching Indy 4, the movie would have been even better if Indy had a daughter that acted just like him rather than a son.

Sigma 6: While the Dragon Hawk really works well with Minimates something just feels off when trying to use them with the other vehicles.

The Aliens/G.I. Joe Rifle: You should have an extra of it since it was in the pile of loot I gave you last year. So no I don't need an extra of that one.

Photo merging: I use a program called IrFanview for all my photo editing needs. With it merging is as simple as choosing the create panorama image and then choosing the images to string together.

The only thing the two Fanatics have in common is the name though I'm considering doing a minimate Sigma Fanatic now that you've mentioned it.

The Forge head is indeed from a Tony Stark with a bit of the paint removed to shorten the mustache. However there is another minimate head that is a much closer match to your custom that I noticed in my fodder box but I forgot to check it closer while I was working on some one else.

Minimates Tattoo: While I doubt your wife would allow you put the minimates logo on your forehead I have no doubt you'd at least try to get it. Meanwhile Outback is far from perfect since he still needs "Survival" written on his chest block but I have updated him none the less.

Breakdown and Freefall: Breakdown is based on my Sigma 6 custom but Freefall is just a reuse of the name like Fanatic.

MotUC Panthor/Battlecat/Nightiger Custom: No I still haven't gotten around to painting it, yet.

Death's Head: Not the character but the Z-Day custom's actual head is from the Penance/Speedball in the Thunderbolts box set.

Mangry: When you say my "description didn't do him justice" do you mean when I was telling you about him the other day or my bio I posted with him? If you mean the other day then I don't have to worry but if it's the bio it means I'm going to have to go back and see where it needs improvement.

On to the requests, and yes one of them did keep me up all "night".

1. See the Ruby WIP

2. For MOTU check out Nervous' Customs: http://bobs-minimate-blog.blogspot.com/search/label/Masters%20of%20the%20Universe

3-5. All properties I have never seen and so have no current interest in attempting. And I'll use it for an excuse if I want too. Also there is the fact that very few of my customs are based on existing properties rather than crawling out of the dark depths of my own imagination.

6: While Casey Jones is one of my favorite TMNT characters as well until the right mask comes along I'm not going to make the attempt. However, I still maintain the belief that eventually DST will make turtle mates.

7: *Head Explodes*

Now since you insisted you wanted more here are a few updates and a couple of WIP

First up is Peregrin, as you can see I've gone ahead and added wings to her armored flight suit.

Then there is rage powered Giest, Minotaur with new legs, Apollo with the white Magneto Helmet, and the updated Outback that I mentioned earlier.

For works in progress I have Quark from the Marvel Mojoverse still in need of an eye patch and after a couple of hours worth of sleeplessness Detective Ruby.

The idea for Ruby is that she is Dorothy's great granddaughter. During a drug raid gone bad on a lab producing the new drug OtR (Over the Rainbow) she is caught in an explosion. When she wakes she finds herself in a world similar to the stories her grandmother used to tell her only twisted into a nightmarish parody of Oz. A place where you're as likely to be eaten by the Lollipop Cannibals as you are to be able to be helped by the Wonderful Wiccan of the West and her flying monkeys. Ruby had to make her way to the Emerald City to deal with the Super Scientist of Oz, the creator of OtR, in order to destroy the drug and use his dimensional gateway to return home.

Finally I have a few pics of my modified Thundertank. Just to enable your eventual new addiction.

There, I think that's it for now.

[Sherbertice]

WOW...

LOVE YOUR ThunderTank

[TENIME_art]

SEATS!!!!

[Monte]

Thanks for the info, TENIME.

Also, I agree with you, Sherbertice: the Tank looks rad! It's currently $12 or so at Wal-Mart, and I came THIS close to using my store credit to nab it today. At the risk of sacrificing what little masculine credibility I still have, I'll confess that I spent the same amount on a Monster High doll, instead.

Henrietta Jones: like I told you after watching Indy 4, the movie would have been even better if Indy had a daughter that acted just like him rather than a son.

While I am politely indifferent to Mr. LaBeouf and certainly don't consider him an affront to my existence as do so many of my fellow nerds, I agree wholeheartedly with your suggestion. A daughter for Indy woulda been badass.

Unfortunately, I have no idea where to start crafting a Joe version. The only head that comes to mind is the 25th Anniversary boxed set Baroness, which is bastard-ugly:

http://generalsjoes.com/images/reviews/2007/anniversary/5_Packs/baroness-4.jpg

(The Baroness from the later boxed set is a much better toy, but the face looks too hard and stern and not nearly adventurey enough).

The Aliens/G.I. Joe Rifle: You should have an extra of it since it was in the pile of loot I gave you last year.

Negative. You gave me the Duke that you bought for the gun. You kept the gun itself.

Photo merging: I use a program called IrFanview for all my photo editing needs. With it merging is as simple as choosing the create panorama image and then choosing the images to string together.

Thanks! I shall look into it! (I have bookmarked Nervous' Customs, too. Thanks!)

Meanwhile Outback is far from perfect since he still needs "Survival" written on his chest block but I have updated him none the less.

I say thee nay; your version is an improvement over the original design, in my opinion. I'd suggest that adding "Survival" to the shirt would be unnecessarily literal-minded, particularly in light of the fact that you were willing to add that pants-crappingly awesome cloak, which isn't part of the vintage look.

Mangry: When you say my "description didn't do him justice" do you mean when I was telling you about him the other day or my bio I posted with him? If you mean the other day then I don't have to worry but if it's the bio it means I'm going to have to go back and see where it needs improvement.

I was referring only to our conversation from last weekend. Your bios are amazing, man. You should read my sad efforts. Here's an example:

I call him Red Queen.

I haven't fleshed out his background yet.

So yeah, I'm not likely to suggest that your bios are in any way lacking.

As for your updates, Peregrin looks amazing! Where'd the wings come from?!?

And I say again: Outback looks awesome, and the cloak adds a lot of character.

Finally, Ruby is badass! I am seriously considering stealing some of your ideas for my character, Ruby Slippers, whose flesh is black and white. (She angrily notes at some point that it should be sepia). Her steel-toed cherry red Doc Martens are the only part of her that's colorful; even the rainbow on her Dark Side of the Moon T-shirt is grayscale.

I like the idea that Ruby is Dorothy's granddaughter; if I ever get Resident Evil Alice, I may make her Dorothy's granddaughter rather than a contemporary Dorothy. And I love the idea of the OtR drug!

I think your next custom should be the Super Scientist of Oz; that's a compelling idea!

Your creativity is infectious, man!

[Prowlar]

The Aliens/G.I. Joe Rifle: You should have an extra of it since it was in the pile of loot I gave you last year.

Negative. You gave me the Duke that you bought for the gun. You kept the gun itself.

As for your updates, Peregrin looks amazing! Where'd the wings come from?!?

Finally, Ruby is badass! I am seriously considering stealing some of your ideas for my character, Ruby Slippers, whose flesh is black and white. (She angrily notes at some point that it should be sepia). Her steel-toed cherry red Doc Martens are the only part of her that's colorful; even the rainbow on her Dark Side of the Moon T-shirt is grayscale.

I like the idea that Ruby is Dorothy's granddaughter; if I ever get Resident Evil Alice, I may make her Dorothy's granddaughter rather than a contemporary Dorothy. And I love the idea of the OtR drug!

I think your next custom should be the Super Scientist of Oz; that's a compelling idea!

Your creativity is infectious, man!

Huh, I could have sworn I had two of those guns at one point. Then again maybe I still do and I just haven't dug through the right box for a while.

Anyway, Peregrin's wings are from a dragonfly mech from the Heroclicks/Mageclicks? series that I found at a yardsale.

As for Oz I do have a lab coat or two so I suppose it is a possibility but the current customs I'm putting the most time into are my Soldiers of Horror Drac, Frank, and Mummy. Quasimodo doesn't make the team because I've never seen him as a monster. However, I still stand by what I said about needing an updated Kraven the Hunter Mate so that I can give Ruby a Cowardly Lion Vest instead of her trench coat.

[Monte]

Quasimodo doesn't make the team because I've never seen him as a monster.

Interesting. You should create a Quasimodo as a separate entity and make him a rogue "man without a country" type.

[Prowlar]

Quasimodo doesn't make the team because I've never seen him as a monster.

Interesting. You should create a Quasimodo as a separate entity and make him a rogue "man without a country" type.

Nope no Quasi-monster soldier. After all because of you I'm now working on Over the Rainbow. Characters currently include: Detective Ruby and K9 Officer Toby, the Depraved Drug-lord of Oz and his goblin guardians Frick and Frack, and Dr. Emmy Raile the Sinister Scientist of the South with her guard the Emerald Enforcer.

[Monte]

Characters currently include: Detective Ruby and K9 Officer Toby, the Depraved Drug-lord of Oz and his goblin guardians Frick and Frack, and Dr. Emmy Raile the Sinister Scientist of the South with her guard the Emerald Enforcer.

I love it! I cannot wait to see them.

For my part, I am working on the world's longest and most unsettlingly earnest Monster High doll review of all time.

[Prowlar]

Since it has been suggested that I need to update a bit more often I thought I'd post a preview of a few of my WIPs.

First groups are from my Over the Rainbow project

Goblin Frick, The Depraved Drug-Lord of Oz, and Goblin Frack.

The Oz Security Services: Aluminum Axe Man, all he wants is a heart and he really enjoys cutting them out of anyone and everyone. Scarecrow, he wants brains, the fresher the tastier. The Emerald Enforcer, The Southern Scientist's personal guard.

The Four Directions: The Arms Dealer of the North, Wiccan of the West, Priestess of the East, and Scientist of the South,

Next up is my Warriors X Angel.

Finally, there's my newest project/quick custom Venture Bros. Brock Samson.

[Monte]

Huzzah! An update!

Whoa! Your Oz universe is really taking off! There are some brilliant ideas and designs here!

Also, it goes without saying but I will say it anyway: Brock friggin' Samson!!! He looks much better than my Sigma Strike Duke with a Syco Sid head!

[jcastick]

I hope you continue with the Oz universe, that's some snazzy stuff there!

[Monte]

I hope you continue with the Oz universe, that's some snazzy stuff there!

Agreed! Aluminum Axe Man is my favorite.

[Prowlar]

Believe it or not I'm not a big fan of the Oz Universe. The only character that I'm working on that isn't pictured is Toby (MvsC3 Amy) and that's because I have to repaint his eyes, I got a bit overzealous when scraping off the red paint. There are likely to be small tweaks and improvements as I write up the bios but until there is a Lion or a Monkey released in the Battle Beasts line there probably won't be any more customs for that universe. I say probably only because there is always the slight (very slight) chance I'll come up with two more companions to assist Ruby on her travels through Oz.

Currently my customs have drifted off to working a few of the Lego Ninjago Snakemen into the A51 universe, a tentative Daughter of Space Ghost character (needs more research), a set of Thundercat/human hybrid twins and perhaps even a new Thundercat character if or when I'm able to find a DC Cheetah mate to use as parts.

[Prowlar]

Wow, I'm really letting my customs get ahead of my writing. Since my last update I've expanded my Thundercats Universe customs into a new outcasts/space pirates team. I've also come up with an idea for an Over the Rainbow flying monkey custom but that will have to wait until after NYCC when I can get a hold of a monkey. With that said I'd better get more bios written up before I'm completely overwhelmed with new customs.

Now back to trying to finish up the StarHunter team.

Code Name: Chase

Name: Commander Jessica Chase

Planet of Origin: Earth

Primary Specialty: Starship Commander

Secondary Specialty: High Speed Driving

Unlike the TigerShark and the SilverHawk teams, whose members were chosen because of they were the elite of humanity, the StarHunters were assigned to their posts because they didn't fit in and were expendable. While Jessica Chase is a competent commander she had two strikes against her the first is the fact that when she gets control of any vehicle, be it a hover board or a starship the first thing she has to do it go as fast as possible often pushing it beyond it's safety limits. Her second strike is her brother Captain David Chase.

When she was revived aboard Hawk Haven she remained calm and collected. She didn't flinch when she was told how long she had been in hyper sleep. It didn't bother her that the StarHunters were the last genetically pure humans in the galaxy. However, she went ballistic when she learned that the StarHunter had been dismantled, integrated into Hawk Haven, and that they had returned to Earth before giving her a chance to "test the engines" before waking her. Her anger didn't last very long when she discovered Cougarra's Thunder Tank and the Thunder Racers.

[Prowlar]

Code Name: Drive

Name: Captain David Chase

Planet of Origin: Earth

Primary Specialty: Starship Navigation

Secondary Specialty: Pilot

Like all the StarHunters, Captain Chase has issues that made him unsuitable for military service. Basically he is an adrenalin junky constantly putting himself in dangerous situations. He was on the verge of being dishonorably discharged when he was given the option of joining the StarHunter project, an endeavor many insisted would fail. Drive not only jumped at the chance of being part of the mission but he even insisted that High Command should assign Jessica as the ship's Commander. While it is likely the thought "two birds with one stone" passed though many minds at that suggestion it was never placed on any official records.

Of all the StarHunters, Drive is likely the least affected by all the changes that have taken place during their long sleep. As long as there are still risks to be taken and hearts to be broken he feels right at home.

Oh look it is bonus time! Here is the team of space pirates from the Thundercats universe that I'm working on.

Also I have this custom that is finished and I love the way the parts came together but I have no idea what to do with her in the way of a biography or even a name.

[Monte]

That space pirate group shot is awesome! I love every one of them!

I have this custom that is finished and I love the way the parts came together but I have no idea what to do with her in the way of a biography or even a name.

She is awesome, too! I'd probably make her a vigilante hero from the '30s in the vein of The Shadow or The Spider and call her The White Skull or something. But then, I make most of my characters into 1930s vigilantes these days.

Or you could have her be the daughter of Scareglow. Or a gender-reversed Scareglow.

[Prowlar]

Thanks Monte, the Buccaneers/Freebooters/Mercs/Pirates group is only in the opening stages I've got at least three more customs to make for the group. I've just got to wait until the Thundercats Mutants set, Strange Tales box set, and Marvel Wave 48 are released to make them. Yes, there is quite a bit of planning and waiting going into that group. As for my unknown character I'm thinking of building my own Femme Fatales set starting with Snow White: The Executioner. Wicked Step-Mothers, stop obsessing over the crows feet and laugh lines, there's a new Sheriff and her posse in the Fable Lands.

Now back to the StarHunters.

Code Name: Riot

Name: Ryan Thomas

Planet of Origin: Earth

Primary Specialty: Security Chief

Secondary Specialty: Unarmed Combat

Riot's biggest problem is that he enjoys the company of his weapons and armor more than other people. He was added to the StarHunters after the loss of his best friend, the nearly depleted plasma coil he was removing from his rifle exploded, left him depressed and even more withdrawn than usual. He refused to allow anyone to repair the scarring and instead started wearing a mask.

Since waking up Ryan has started coming out of his depression and started making new "friends" with a new rifle and even coming out of his shell enough to join in conversations with the other StarHunters. Of course the conversations are usually about the new weapons and technology aboard Hawk Haven and Cougarra's scout ship.

[Prowlar]

Code Name: Armor

Name: Sheldon Fields

Planet of Origin: Earth

Primary Specialty: Starship Repair

Secondary Specialty: Heavy Armor

Armor wasn't exactly added to the StarHunter project as much as he couldn't be removed from the ship. The StarHunter was his dream project from design to construction and he made sure everyone knew that when the ship launched he would be aboard and there was no way that anyone could remove him. In fact even Commander Chase didn't know the location of his hyper sleep chamber. Not that it mattered since Pilotlight discovered him when the ship was integrated with Hawk Haven.

Of all the StarHunters Sheldon was the most effected by the changes he faced upon waking up. It wasn't so much all the changes that had taken place as he slept so much as the fact that his ship had been completely destroyed. After recovering from the shock he has made it his life's work to rebuild the StarHunter even better than it was before.

[Monte]

What a cool group so far! I'm diggin' 'em!