[Mordiganne]

The Universe is expanding.... (pics to follow in next post)

Ended up adding heavily to SHIELD once again. It was entirely unplanned this time around. I just happened to get in a lot of bits all at once that fit for making characters that fleshed out SHIELD to a suitable level for me. I've still got a handful of characters to add, so I'm not done with SHIELD just yet, but I won't be adding in this volume going forward. At least that's the current plan anyway. In comic news got through the AoV Crossovers which reminded me of a couple of new characters I still want to make from my comic reading heyday. Hopefully I can get to them soon. Read though the Infinity War trade that I picked up on a whim. I'm just getting to the additional material they included. I still think it's a weak follow up to the Infinity Gauntlet at best and a half hearted retread at worst. Definitely reminded me why I completely skipped on Infinity Crusade back in the day. I had severe "Infinity" burnout. The Guardsman is there to represent the character of Frank Ensign; Guardsman Prime - from the Acts of Vengeance breakout of the Vault. He's not a custom, just stuck on a generic head (Hyperion I believe) and glued the helmet to the hand so I didn't have to worry about it falling and rolling behind the bookcase. (It's just hot glue so I can peel it off anytime.) With this guy my 6-man Vault Capture team of Guardsman is complete. So, anyway, onto the rest...


Red Hulk - I was well out of comics before he was created, so my only real exposure to this character comes from the A:EMH show. That said I'm not a real fan of the Red Hulk being Thunderbolt Ross. Instead of having two Hulk foils now there's just one and it's a lame twist to begin with. I've never given the figure itself much thought. It was a red Hulk that looked just like a red Hulk same head and all. Recently I got this shrink of the BAF Red Hulk that gives the figure new life. Since I had to paint the head anyway, I went ahead and painted the whole figure in a red not quite so glaringly bright. I'm not sure how it will show in the picture, but the layering looks phenomenal in person. The matte spray also helped. I can't honestly fathom any incarnation of Thunderbolt Ross that I've come across being one to turn himself into a Hulk. Someone else, sure...so in my MU little is known of who the Red Hulk originally was other than that he was an up and coming Army officer who was terribly wounded overseas. Though he would live he was left paralyzed and horribly disfigured. Upon his return to the States General Ross offered him an opportunity to take part in a research project at Project Pegasus. Telling him that, if successful, it would give him another chance to serve his country and have a chance for a quality life. The result of that project left 15 dead, 29 injured and an entire wing of Project Pegasus in flaming rubble. Unfortunately for all involved, the process that created this new "red Hulk" left him void of the most basic elements of human compassion. Resulting in a supremely powerful psychopath with no compunctions about taking human life. A second Hulkbuster taskforce has since been created to track the newly created, murderous, Hulk-level entity that the taskforce has nicknamed "Rulk".

Taskmaster - I decided to revisit this character because the original Hasbro figure just wasn't quite cutting it. The buck was too large (IMO) and the accessory layout just bothered me. But I wanted to do something more that just putting the character on a better body. So what was I going to do? Well, I got real creative...Sometime ago I bought some magnets with the intent to use them for fixing limbs and such that I might break when putting a custom together. They've sat unused ever since. When I started working on this guy I just wanted to try adding magnets to the shield because of the annoying wrist clips that always warp. Then I thought, well why stop there? So when it came to the character of Taskmaster, and that he's a trainer and premier combat fighter, I wanted him to have a wide variety of gear layout options depending on who he was fighting/training. That's where the magnets came in. He was a perfect character to experiment with. This guy is loaded with magnets! On the figure itself there's 8 contact points: 1 each on the outside forearm; 1 each on the outside thigh; 1 on the back, 1 on the right hip and 2 at the collar to hold the cape. In addition to those, I added magnets to the cape, the quiver, the bow, the knife, the gun holster, the rifle and the two pouches for the billy clubs (since I can just pull one off and replace it I made one with glued in sticks and one empty for when he's using them). Most spots where I added magnets have them stacked several layers deep for some incredibly strong bonds. Lastly I was able to remove the sword sheath without breaking the peg or the hole it pegs into, so it's now completely removable. I sculpted up a new head using a Cloak head as a base hence the funky hood shape it has. I'll look at a replacement in time I'm sure. A full paint job and some additional hands and such and he's done. For something I had no intention of making this guy came out really nice. Beyond pleased with the results. I'm unlikely to add this many magnets to a single figure again. For Taskmaster it made sense. For anyone else, not so much. While wrapping up the last stragglers of this batch I went ahead and added magnets to all of the various other shield bearing figures and shields since I cannot stand wrist clips. But that's for a little later...

Lady Punisher (Rachel Cole-Alvez) - I admit I was looking forward to making this figure because it gave me a chance to actually use a Marauder Valkyrie figure in it's entirety. Don't think I'll be getting too many more for this project. No real need, but it works great for this character. I've read the backstory for her but it's pretty generic and I honestly can't recall too much of it. So wiping that slate clean, in my MU Rachel is an ex-DEA agent who was setup by her partner to take the fall for his actions. The setup failed due to the intervention of the Punisher who killed her ex-partner along with the heads of a Nicaraguan cartel seeking to setup shop in NYC that he'd struck a deal with. Though they didn't interact at the time, eventually Rachel and the Punisher would cross paths when Rachel - inspired by the vigilante and having left the DEA on unceremonious terms - began taking out drug lords in her own fashion. It wasn't the brutality that had attracted the Punisher, but the tactical strategy she displayed. Working in conjunction the two have become a plague harassing the underworld of the tri-state area.

Dum Dum Duggan - I don't have much to say about this one. It took ages but I finally got a Dum Dum head so I could finally get this character off the SHIELD list. Given the character's stature I put him on a bigger buck. I believe I used Gladiator and swapped the hands. Anyway, gave him a standard shield uniform and assorted Marauder gear. Nice to finally get the character off the list.

Nomad - This is the Jack Monroe version from the 90s. I don't know anything about this character. At all. Never even looked at a Nomad comic back in the day. I only made him because I wanted a Nomad to add to Cap's allies that's not a version of Steve Rogers. As a 90's character he had a stupid mullet and silver shades. I didn't go mullet crazy in sculpting his hair, but I did give him the silver shades. Also sculpted the gold disks and the N belt buckle. I had to splice the belt together from various bits I had leftover from cutting up it belt for another figure. Oh, also sculpted the shoulder portion of his tunic. I suppose that's about it.

Spider Woman - Like Mockingbird the character of Spider Woman is a SHIELD agent above all else. However, she is also an Avenger and does need to go out super hero-ing from time to time. Unlike Mockingbird I like her hero attire and made that first (since I already had a workable head). I'll be making a SHIELD inspired outfit soon to add the character back to the SHIELD shelf where she belongs. In this outfit she's hanging with the other Avengers. Custom-wise there's little to be said about her. The head required little modification to fit and a tedious paintjob followed by moving the wings onto this body is really all it took. If I find a suitable material I'll replace the web wings and get rid of the loops around her arms. Those bother me.

Mystique - This is a complete redo of the original custom. I got this shrunken ML head from....someone. I forget where actually. Since I had to paint it anyway, it was a good time to remove the Evolution color scheme I had and go back to her traditional look. So she got repainted. Not much else to say.

Tony Stark (cybermesh suit) - I didn't make this as an actual custom figure. I really just needed something to hold the head during painting and had a spare Cloak figure lying around that was headless. After I finished painting the head I still needed something to put it on long term, and since it fit this body so well, I added a bit of metallic paint here and there to make it a "cybernetic mesh" suit that he wears under the Iron Man armor to get max benefit. Though this didn't start as a full on custom, I've got some ideas for companion pieces that will ultimately turn this into a nice little Tony Stark side project.

SHIELD Agents & U.S. Gov - I was originally only going to make an Agent Coulson and stop there. However, I got some extra heads in and opted to turn a few into additional SHIELD field agents. Mostly I did this because I bought a couple of Marauders female suited figures which fit in well as SHIELD agents and wanted to add some other males beyond just Coulson. I'm not a big fan of the Agents of SHIELD show so I skipped most of those characters. So in addition to Coulson I added Agent Kaye & Agent Craig. Representing the US Government there's Valerie Cooper; mutant liaison to the office of the President and overseer of the X-Factor Agency - a government sponsored super group that rose from the ashes of the original Freedom Force. Along with liaison to SHIELD, Henry Gyrich who represents numerous government interest groups that have stakes in various aspects of SHIELD operations. To keep his meddling in check, Gyrich is kept under strict supervision by Nick Fury. All of them report directly to the POTUS represented by Mr. Obama. I even painted on a tiny US Flag lapel pin.