Topic: Darth Optimus' Custom Nerdery! STRIDER HIRYU, fully kitted

[Tamer]

Oh yeah, great new additons. I love reading the backstories for these characters too as well as the helmet names.

[Darth Optimus]

Thanks, Tamer.  I don't seem to be getting the hits on these as I would on SW customs for some reason.  I had a blast making them and cannot wait to get them a dio built to smash bugs in.

[Art deWhill]

don't care about the number of hits, do what you like to do and have fun, nothing else matters ;-)
those figs are just great, keep 'em coming!!

[Darth Optimus]

Thanks, Art!  I really had a great time making the USCM squad.  I'll have Wave 3 pics up soon.   One word: exosuit!

Is that one word?  Mabe it's hyphenated: "exo-suit"?  Or two seperate words: "exo suit"?  I dunno.

[Darth Optimus]

USCM 1st Xenomorph Extermination Squad "Badass Bughunters", Wave 3.

Corporal Simon Riker, Exosuit Pilot, Squad Mechanic and Robotic Unit Technician.  Helmet art reads "TANK".  While any of the Marines can pilot a exosuit, Riker has been augmented with cybernetic uplinks that allow him to interface with the Battle-Type Exosuit v3.1 series.  He refers to his unit as "Big Momma", and personally handles all her maintenace and repair after every mission.  "Big Momma takes care of me during the mission, it's only right I take care of her afterward" he often says.  The shoulders of the exosuit have been tagged "BAD ASS".  Big Momma is equipped with a heavy pulse laser in the right arm and paired concussion rocket launchers in the left.  As the Squad Mechanic and RUT, Tank is in charge of the unit's robotic compliment. 







I didn't paint the suit, it came with this camo pattern.  I only added some light westhering and detailing.


Robotic All-Terrain Recon Unit F-1D0 "Fido".  These units are designed to act as recon support units, having been outfitted with ultra high-tech scanning, communications and recording gear.  They are also forward spotters to artillery units and are armed themselves with micro-concussion rocket launchers.  This particular unit has been nicknamed "Fido" and has been modified by Cpl. Riker and has an enhanced cognitive matrix.  It now is a mechanical equivalent of a K9 unit.  Be it a heavily armed K9 unit. It has "Fido" scrawled on one side, along with "Kill" and arrows pointing towards his cannon barrels.





Pictured here with Science Officer Ender.

This droid is a kitbash of bits 'n' pieces from the parts bin.


These are the squad's Sentry Guns.  High-caliber machine guns with smart tracking capabilities,  the Sentry Guns are usually set as guards if the unit has to "hole up" somewhere.  Tank has named them "Tommy" and "Gina" after charcters in an ancient Terran rock ballad.




Military Protocol, Procurement, Assignment and Logistics (M-PPAL) Droid 0100-001 "Zero".  Zero is the squad's minder.  He monitors and restocks weapons and ammunition, files reports, schedules vehicle maintenance, orders pizza, plots deployment routes and the 1,000 other things it takes to successfully run a Marine unit from mission to mission.  As anal-retentive as you would imagine him to be, he is the butt of many of the squad's pratical jokes.  He was delighted when Pvt. Laggan decorated his chest plate with a huge "0".  He didn't realize that at the exact same time PFC. Chen painted "NERD" on his back.  He still doesn't know.  His overtly robotic apperance is the result of a decree set by the Corps after a group of "artificial persons" led to a number of "incidents".  Afterward, any robotic entity has to appear as a machine...effectively banning all "synthetics" from the Corps. 




Thanks for stopping by and tune in for Wave 4!   

[Mando Assasin]

Great new addition's!!

[Tamer]

Wow! I give this new group the Tamer Seal of Approval. I really like that Mech too. Back on the front page.

[M4K3R1]

Cool Mech suit, real BAD ASS!!! I like how the figure sits inside and controls the suit.
Can you give parts list for the suit please.
Thanks.

[Darth Optimus]

M4K3R1: The mech suit is an older GI Joe piece.  I did not alter it in any way, other than to slightly weather it and add detailing.  I have three of the units, and this is the first one I've used so far.  Picked them up at flea markets and thrift stores.

[Sector_15]

Really creative. I like all these especially FIDO. If you've seen the little tank that came with the RoC Ripcord that might fit.

[Darth Optimus]

Thanks, everyone!  Here is a quick WIP of a Cobra BAT version 40.2.  It was made with an Extremis Iron Man body and a 25th BAT head.  Just somethin' I threw together real quick while I was waitin' for primer to dry on somethin' else. 


USCM Wave 4 coming soon!  Also, stay tuned for more Mando Kombat WIPs and "special effects" trials, a Steampunk Borg Drone WIP built on the Blanx Alpha buck.

[Sector_15]

I really really love the BAT.

[Mungo Baobab]

Nice BAT.

[Mando Assasin]

Nice BAT!

[Darth Optimus]

Ok, gang...here are the last entries into my USCM Xenomorph Extermination Squad (Badass Bughunters).  Wave 4 is an internet only exclusive.

Autonomous Robotic Artillery Support (ARAS) Unit A-77b.  The ARAS units were designed to fulfill a variety of roles.  Their primary role is on mobile artillery unit, being equipped with heavy guass rifles over the left shoulder.  The guass rifles fire non-explosive metal slugs at super-high speeds via magnetic propulsion.  The resulting speed of the projectile, along with the extremely dense compostion make for a devestating weapon.  Their secondary role is infantry support and each unit may have it's arm mounted weapon pods changed out to meet a variety of needs.  This unit, named "Joker" by the 1st XES unit, utilizes a heavy machine gun in the left arm and a frag grenade launcher in the right.  A high-powered spotlight rests behind moving panels in the center of the chest and emergency 1st aid kits are stored in protected compatments in the legs.  This unit has been decorated with "HA HA" all over it's body, along with a disturbing red smile on it's faceplate.








Autonomous Robotic Artillery Support (ARAS) Unit A-81f.  This unit has been named "Beast" and was decorated with faux blood splatter and a crude monster's visage on it's faceplate.  Beast is equipped with the same weapon pods as Joker.  Both are commanded by Cpl. Riker.  Although the ARAS units can be controlled like drones, they are also capable of independent thought and actions.  Riker believes that they function better without the usual post-mission memory dumps required by USCM protocol.  Squad leader, Gunnery Sergeant Frost agrees, and dismisses the "oversight".







Corporal Ben Kaszycki, Squad Smartgunner.  Cpl. Kaszycki is one of the XES's smartgunners.  Their ammo load-out has been greatly imporved with the dadition of an massive ammo pack carried on their backs and a built-in ammo box tied direcxtly to the gun's undercarriage.  The smartguns targeting comp is tied directly into the gunner's enhanced-visualization eyepiece, allowing them to basically "fire and forget" upon several enemies simultaneously.  The guns have automatic squad recognition software that will power off the firing system if a squad mate ends up in the LOS.  This eliminates the possibility of "friendly fire" from this particular set of weapons.  A gimble arm helps keep the gun steady and it is cooled and powered from micro-processors located in the backpack via external lines.Cpl. Kaszycki wears a custom-made pair of gloves made from xenomorph chitin, adamantium and beskar.  The result is that they are impervious to xeno blood, and he is the only Marine known to have choked a xeno to death with his hands.  He utilizes a standard M-44a pulse rifle as backup, holstered on the side of the ammo pack.  His ammo box on the gun is tagged "GFY" for "GO FRAK YOURSELF" (his catchphrase) and the gun itself is tagged "LIZ" in memorandum of his sister.  His backpack is tagged "DEATH BEFORE DISHONER".  





Corporal Travis Markell, Squad Smartgunner.  The other smartgunner in the Badass Bughunter unit is long-time Marine.  He was the first to wield the smartgun back when it was going thru protoype trials and is it's biggest fan.  It was his recommendation that led to the upgraded ammo load-out.  His gun is named "Tom" (a shout-out to Drake's gun from Aliens).  His gun-mounted ammo box is tagged "BFG" (Big Frakin' Gun) and his backpack reads "NO BUGS".  His back-up weapon of choice are a matched pair of sub-machine guns, holstered on either side of his backpack.






As a bonus scene, here are a couple of quick pics with my Mando Kombat Scorpion & Sub-Zero.  Testing out Scorpion's chain-attached kunai and Sub-Zero's ground ice, each with alternate hands.  I've tried giving Sub-Zero's guantlets and attached hoses a "frosted over" paint deco.  Still waiting on buckets to FINISH THEM.  



Thanks for tuning in!