Tunnel Rat
Explosive Ordnance Disposal
GI Joe

Design:

The body came together as the byproduct of my yet-to-build Cobra Youth customs. It was scaled to use for Tunnel Rat, who was usually depicted as a short man with a slight frame. Topped with a NS Tunnel Rat head, it creates a figure perfectly scaled next to ARAH figures, coming it around 5’4”. The NS Tunnel Rat head is just a little smaller than the ARAH one, which is why it was used. This is also a case where using the actual head of a specific figure lends some authenticity to it.

Colors & Paint:

Because this figure is a replacement of sorts for the first ARAH Tunnel Rat, it uses those colors as a starting point and then shuffles things a bit. The grenades on the backpack are light blue for a color pop, as the figure already had three different shades of green.

If there’s a character whose specialty demands washes on the painting, it’s Tunnel Rat. I used a very mild white wash on the brighter green and darker green, but a dark wash on the greyish green of the vest and gloves.

Sculpting & Modifying:

The Tunnel Rat head was glued and then epoxy blended onto the Jonny Quest neck. The Jonny Quest figures might have been the first ever to have “drop down” hips. These are in the down position, then epoxy was added to the top to make sure the hip gap wasn’t empty. Epoxy also filled the elbow pins and thigh screw insets. The vest and thigh pouches are push molds.

Thanks for looking.