Geeky craft request

Okay, weird request. Do any of you happen to have a GI Joe sized (the little GI Joes, not the big Barbie sized) guns laying around? Things that you bought for your kids, but they left them on the carpet for you to step on too many times so you don’t want them any more? Very specifically, I need a Thompson subgun. Preferably a GI style, but a 1928 style will do too.  Also I need a lever action rifle.  Anything that looks like a Marlin or Winchester would be perfectly close enough.

This is super geeky, but inspired by my friends that paint miniatures, all the custom action figure people on the internet (I think Silof is the most impressive), and the fact that all of my family except for me do some sort of geeky crafty thing, I’m trying to build/paint my own custom MHI action figures.  Don’t worry. I’ll put up pictures. (of any that turn out good).

This isn’t business. This is hobby. This is also extremely geeky. But inspired by my friends that paint miniatures (like Howard Tayler and Kirk Pfau) and by pages like http://www.sillof.com/C-Steampunk-ESB.htm I’m going to try and build myself some custom MHI action figures.  

I’ve got a few hobbies (shooting, but that is very time intensive), and writing consumes almost all my free time, but I’ve not done anything artisticaly creative in a really long time.  I’ll post pictures of the ones that turn out okay. 🙂

The Thompson is for Earl. The lever gun is for Sam. Both of those are already shaping up pretty well. I’m actually already very proud of my Gretchen and Skippy.

Emancipated Worlds Chapter 1
Book Signing tomorrow - Layton

27 thoughts on “Geeky craft request”

  1. your best bet is probably to see if you can scavenge something off of an existing WW2, Vietnam or later miniature. I’m fairly certain I’ve seen WW2 ones with Thompsons, and there are probably vietnam or later sniper ones with rifles based off or the Remington 700. So treat it as an excuse to go to a games store and browse some.

    1. Oh, I read that as bolt, not lever. Never mind on that, although you can still probably find something to scavenge off of.

  2. Well, being a miniature geek myself, but not so much action figures… do you know the scale you’re working in? I have a lot of resources for parts and miniatures in a variety of scales, and worst case, I just make my own. I’ll have to try and find more information once I get home, where I don’t risk getting caught on here. =) You may want to check out Andrea Miniatures, that work in a lot of larger scales, and have a lot of historical stuff that may suit your needs.

  3. You should license the anime rights to MHI.

    After the anime comes out, the Otaku will see to it that you can buy MHI action figures off the internet.

  4. Cotswold Collectibles is your one-stop shop for the 12″ G.I. Joe figures, as well as many others. You have enough gear and loose pieces there to make up your own MHI team, you can even choose from a huge variety of custom heads. That might be a good alternative to the smaller stuff.

  5. Hastur’s Games on South State St. in SLC has a variety of minis for different ranges including Malifaux, Weird Wars, etc. If you’re looking for stuff around 25 – 28 mm scales they may have it.

  6. Off topic, mostly, but I was planning on using some figures from Wargames Foundry for MHI roleplaying and wargaming.

    The Backstreet Militia will represent Owen’s team with a minor bit of conversion work. “Alison” – Julie, “Catweasel” = Owen, “Carrie” = Holly, “Penv” = Trip, and “Shuggy” = Milo.

    (http://wargamesfoundry.com/fantasy_ranges/single_packs/futuristic/street_violence/backstreet_militia_sv054/ )

    Several of their more generic swat teams will be turned into more MHI teams or MCB agents; One or two of the more colorful gangs should make good cultists and vampire mooks.

    (http://wargamesfoundry.com/Search/search_results.html)

    There is also a whole universe of fantasy figures out there to provide werewolves, trolls, and other beasties.

  7. I gotta say, this is tempting me to do my own set of miniatures. I’ll have to put it on my list, perhaps under diorama. Its a long list, though.

  8. Larry, a couple years ago Toys R Us and WalMart both had a package of three “Build Your Own” 1/6 Thompsons (1921, ’28 and M1 plus assorted optional parts for long-barrel variants) under the “Ultimate Soldier” product line.

    Check this guy out, though:
    http://www.stevostoys.com/ww2.htm

    Shot you a note re email difficulties, and now have my “wear-out” copy of MHV–and at this point, Project Abomination is now waiting for the accountants.

    Any thoughts about MHI in 15mm? I’d like to see if some of my animals who work with the Axis & Allies Miniatures game could hatch custom-cards and a scenario or two for MHI “At The Front” in WWII. Hmmm… what could justify Owen and Abomination showing up in 1944? And how did the war effort impact MHI operations?

  9. As an aside, it seems the scale of 1/18 scale or the action figure scale is also 90mm for miniatures purposes, for those that might find this interesting. =)

    I’ve begun work on clearing my queue to make room for some MHI conversions. Planning on doing some custom sculpting and otherwise. Should be fun and an excuse to re-read the books. =)

  10. I suggest Marauders Inc for the thompson, and playmobil for the lever action- several of their western sets have them.

  11. Hey Larry – just finished up MHV today, and have been mapping out my own custom Joe-scaled Hunters. I’m not in Siloff’s class of customizer, necessarily (much of his stuff – and another great one, Glorbes, are in the 6″ figure scale anyway), but I do have a decent collection on display at Joecustoms.com under the name “drbindy”.

    I wasn’t on here last week to respond to your initial question, but you’re welcome to look me up for any insight into this scale of customizing. Marauder was a fine choice for your subgun (makes me think there are more than a few other customizers here).

    1. I checked out that link. Cool stuff.

      I’m thinking that I’ve got a few customizers on board here. 🙂

      I’ve done a few now, and I’m feeling pretty good about them. I started simple, with some parts swapping. Then I tried some parts swapping and painting. Then some parts swapping, painting, and sculpting. The first sculpting attempt was hideous. But I’ve done a couple since that I’m pretty proud of. So far I’ve only really screwed up one figure (Franks) and I’ll be starting over on him. My Julie and Holly are looking pretty good. My Trip surprised me and actually came out pretty cool. (I sculpted dreadlocks). My Lee started as a Storm Shadow, and actually looks phenomenal. This has been relaxing.

      Pictures coming soon.

      1. Awesome. The process you describe is one that most customizers go through. I agree 100% on the relaxing part. I think it’s safe to say you’ll soon be able to add “addicting” to the list of adjectives that apply. lol

        After I finished MHI, I posted my recommendations for it at the site I talked about. I commented even then that these characters will make for great customs and that you seemed like a guy who (for all I knew) could already have been into that hobby as well. At least based on the description of you being married to a Baroness look alike. lol.

        Can’t wait to see pictures (of the customs that is!).

        1. Yes, of the customs, because my wife won’t let me post pics of her on the internet. 😀

          I’ve not done any work on them for a week, book tour and an editing deadline. But I need to do a few last little tweaks and touch ups, then I’ll take some pics next week.

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