Custom dolls based on fanfic

[Mary]

I've been watching the progress of "Doc's Army" of NCS Spectrum figures with admiration. I've been doing the same, sort of, with GI Joe/Action Man large-size figures. What I've done is taken the head from the 1993 Vivid Imaginations Scarlet doll, swapped it with a different doll body (the Vivid dolls just can't be properly posed, not enough moveable joints) and dressed them in a mix of clothing and gear from various sources to depict our hero in scenes from my fanfic stories. I will post a few pictures shortly and more when they come available. Comments are welcome.

[Mary]

My first picture isn't from fanfic but from the backstory printed in the 1967 annual. Here's our hero when he was a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. This is an actual GI Joe outfit; it's a remake of an original issue from the 1960s -- thank goodness for the remake as the original is one of the most expensive of Joe collectibles!

(I've given Cadet Metcalfe some socks since I took this pic... )

[Mary]

In "Chance for a Lifetime" I mentioned that Scarlet had a picture taken of him when he was camouflaged. Here's the doll but in the picture in the story it's mentioned that it's hard to see him... maybe later I'll use a better background...

[Mary]

In "Do Thunderbolts Strike Twice?" I had Scarlet in a gym suit running along the Washington (D.C.) Mall. This outfit came from, of all places, the dollar store. The sneakers are also a dollar store item but from another toy; the original color was red and I hand-painted the black and white details. There's a miniature Spectrum roundel on the left breast, and he's wearing a mini-backpack that was actually a keyring but is the perfect size!

[Mary]

Now for my masterpiece. In "Mixed Doubles" and "Good Knight, Dear Lady" and in other people's fanfic, there has been mention of a Spectrum formal dress uniform. This is a project I've been working on for a long time (admittedly with a long break in between). The uniform is an extensively-modified US Marine dress blues uniform and cap, painted a charcoal gray (there was no other way to change the fabric color, I tried...). To the original uniform I added gold braid, scarlet piping (some of it was on the original Marine uniform, just brightened up) and red socks. Then I added a Spectrum belt made from a rainbow ribbon and the original Marine buckle, with the "globe and anchor" shaved off and a mini Spectrum roundel added. Other roundels were added to the cap badge and sleeves. The sword is from the West Point cadet outfit (the Marine sword is out of scale; besides, he went to West Point, he has earned the right to use his cadet sword...). The crowning touches are the Spectrum Cross medal and neck ribbon (a reduced-size color copy of the belt ribbon), and the chest decorations, all handmade and/or hand-painted.



Here's a closeup of the medal and ribbons:

[Carrie]

Mary, these are excellent, very well done!

[Marion]

Spectacular! and with such amazing detail...

[Sage]

Oh wow, those are really good.

[hazel]

I've had the pleasure of seeing these "in the flesh", as it were. The attention to detail is extraordinary. Excellent work, Mary!

[Mary]

Here is a special doll done for Colonel Chris (the picture is for the colonel, I keep the doll ) . In one of our chats we were discussing the dolls and I mentioned I had some winter camouflage pattern clothing. I decided to make my next doll up as the "bad" Scarlet from Chris' story Parallax View...

[Mary]

More camouflage. This is Scarlet in a "drill" outfit inspired by War of Nerve. Here he is in camouflage fatigues - with Spectrum roundels on the cuffs, just like the everyday uniform - but has a color-coded "drill" vest (i.e. not the expensive-to-dryclean suede one ) in addition to his regular-issue cap and boots. He is brandishing his paintball gun (loaded with a clip of his color, naturally) and has a paint grenade hooked into the ring of his vest pocket zipper pull. Since there are often "real" injuries during the Cloudbase drills, he is also wisely using knee and elbow pads as well as protective eyewear and gloves (the dolls I use often have the hands molded as black leather gloves, very convenient!)

[Carrie]

Quite stunning, Mary..I especially like his face in the first one..(Parallax View)

[luvmylops]

Great works of art Mary! A lot of hard work and thought went into each of these! Hope to see more 'outfits'!

[Parker Gabriel]

Two problems with the "dress" uniform--Spectrum dress-uniform breeches are white in color, NOT gray, and the black boots are omitted entirely.

But those are just quibbles. In toto, better job than I had expected.

[chrisbishop]

Where does it say it has to be white trousers?

Do not forget that these dolls are inspired from fan fiction - and not from actual official stuff of any kind. Secondly, they were made by the person who actually imagined how the dress uniform *could* look like - that's her personal view. Thirdly - considering that the needed material used to build those dolls must be rather scarce, I consider it quite an impressive job that these dolls had even been built at all. They're obviously a labour of love (and tremendous patience!).

Anyone is free to envision the dress uniform he/she wants (if any need for it!) - and if you want white trousers, that's fine.

However… I believe that this reference to white breeches could be related to the fact that Spectrum security guards are wearing uniforms with white trousers. As they are wearing them while on the job, I do not think they could qualify as 'dress uniform'. Security guards are not colour-coded officers, and in my opinion, the uniform, in that case, is probably homogenous for all of them, and assuredly different from their superior officers. Additionally, white trousers, when you’re already wearing two colours for your uniform, might become a little too much, no? But this is just my personal point of view in the matter.