15mm
The stars are burning bright
like some mystery uncovered
I'll keep moving through the dark
with you in my heart
My blood brother
Working on the somewhat lacklustre ninjas featured in my last post gave me a few pretty decent ideas for follow-up projects. This is definitely the best of the lot.
Like a lot of people my age, I had a substantial collection of GI Joe toys as the child in the 80s. And these were by far the coolest. These two mysterious characters, one Joe and one Cobra, were created to tie in with the contemporary ninja craze. I was never familiar with a lot of the extensive background presented in the comic books, but the Coles' Notes version is that Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow were both adopted and trained by a clan of ninjas called the Arashikage. Storm Shadow was implicated in their master's murder and fled, joining Cobra, while Snake Eyes was recruited by GI Joe.
And thanks to Doctor Merkury for always providing so, so much fantastic 80's toy theme inspiration :)
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| "I must complete Cobra's mission, Snake Eyes. Don't make me do this..." |
I loved ninja as much as the next 10 year old trying to rent +18s ninja movies in the 80s, and although GI Joe wasn't really my thing, it was some of my friends jam, and anyway, how could anybody not like Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes? They embody a certain sort of badass in unsurpassed ways really.
ReplyDeleteThose miniatures are just lovely. Instantly recognisable and oozing retro grooviness.
I read a few of the Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow comics a few years ago, the 80s ones written by Larry Hama. It wasn't difficult to see why they were (and still are) so popular.
I'm no expert but Hama took cheesy toy characters and gave them "real-world" based backgrounds interesting enough to hold up in a long-running comic series. Not a trivial feat.
DeleteThose look EXCELLENT! Very cool and the conversion work is ace.
ReplyDeleteBeing myself a fan of GIJOE in general and the comics (oh, the memories) I'm familiar with the characters background, so you hit a nerve; I simply love what you did. Haha, the 'nostalgia' label couldn't be more accurate!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I'm so glad these hit you right in the inner child, as they did me :D
DeleteWow, can’t believe you paint 15mm and you convert them as well?!? Paint jobs are lovely, I miss the days of GI Joe, had a huge crush on Jinx as a kid.if I ever see a 15mm HISS tank it’s getting express posted your way!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Jinx... ? That's actually a pretty good idea. I have a spear ninja that might work for her.
DeleteThere are absolutely 15mm HISS tanks available. I've seen them posted on Lead Adventure forums. From Shapeways, I assume; the downside would be Shapeways prices :/
Nice work ... and I agree with you. The backstory for these "brothers" is well written considering the overall toy-cartoon scenario.
ReplyDeleteNice conversion.
ReplyDeleteHadn't Snake eye a wolf companion? Loved not the toys and the series but can't recall much nowadays apart from the transformers crossover.
Nice to see you did your G.I. Joe project too. With 15mm scale you could play great battles with vehicles too. Did you yet know where to find the free 3d print designs? Jabberwock on Thingiverse offers a huge selection of gi joe vehicles to print (I've commissioned my 3d printed vehicles using his designs).
ReplyDeleteThanks. I feel like I've seen those vehicles in various places, including the Lead Adventure forums. Your GI Joe stuff is really great, I should have mentioned you as an inspiration here :)
DeleteI left a reply in the topic where you wrote about my gi joes last year. Here the link to the gi joe free vehicle designs: https://www.thingiverse.com/jabberwock/designs
DeleteLol he even did a "Trubble Bubble" XD
DeleteHow did I miss these??? Nostalgia in it's purest form. I still have both of them in my GI Joe stash in the cellar. You did a fantastic job on them, Allison!
ReplyDelete