Cobra HiSS Tank Turret (Original 1984) and the future

[Mike]

This is related to my other hobby, which is Action Figure collecting. Recently my parents brought over a couple of old totes that got stashed in one of their sheds many years ago. In one of them was the upper hull of an old G.I. Joe Cobra HiSS Tank (which I don't remember owning. I have two complete ones somewhere.) with the turret and the guns, but no retainer piece for the guns and no lower assembly with the tracks. That got me into a pretty deep rabbit hole with eBay that netted me a complete '84 Rattler in really great shape. A dream toy in 1985 for me. Anyways, I found that I could over-pay for a replicated retainer piece for that turret or I could use my skills as a scratch builder and fix it myself and add an upgrade I always thought it was missing anyways - controls. 

I got some basic measurements and found a tutorial on a method for fixing the common broken elevation pin problem which 90% of them suffer from, causing gun droop. Once I figured that out it was just a matter of replicating the original shape then adding my "controls".

Repairing old toys is another one of my liked hobbies and having a bunch of kids kept that skill in practice. I've restored many old and new toys over the years and many of them can be worth more then an original untouched toy if done right. Such as the aforementioned Rattler I just bought. I paid quite a bit for it and it's not 100% original parts, but finding one in the condition I did with all original parts can be extremely cost prohibitive (possibly $2,000 more or less if its still in the box). Putting the parts together myself and cleaning, with sticker replacements, can get super expensive, so I believe I got a deal considering what I know about parts replacements for old toys. 

If anyone has any questions about it I will happily share what I know and provide some links to my resources. Like I said, if done right you can actually make a decent profit restoring and repairing old toys. Especially with the collector markets as hot as they have been in the last 3 years. Upgrades are usually frowned upon by purist collectors, but if you can make it look like it belonged in the first place there's a bit of leeway with the average market.






I didn't take any pictures between the above and the finished pictures below. Not much to say about adding the face and details. Just lots of trimming and sanding. You guys know how that goes.





I don't have any completed pictures of the turret in the upper hull yet because I have lent the hull to a work companion who has an articulated track system he wants to design and 3D print for it. He has two of them himself. Since I don't have a lower hull for this HiSS Tank I thought it would be a perfect test bed for his project. Unfortunately he doesn't have the best 3D printer, but it's a very cool concept and one we all wanted as kids anyways. An idea that has been recently brought to reality by the HasLab G.I. Joe Classified HiSS Tank. Since I plan on investing in a 3D printer, hopefully by the end of this year, This project interests me greatly. 

I'll update this thread with more info as it comes my way. For now, I'll conclude with, COBRAAAA!

[kyledehart5]

Pretty darn cool stuff Mike!! Nice work using one hobby to compliment another.

[handiabled]

Very cool Mike! Our son-in-law does some collectables like this. A couple I was reluctant to 'touch up" for him due to the initial amount he acquired them for.

[Real G]

A friend of mine who really loves GI Joe wanted to make a Rattler out of an A-10 model.  I look forward to seeing your mods/repairs.



COBRA!!!

[Mike]

Hey guys. Like all projects that end up being awesome, this one is proceeding slowly. I've been doing a bit of digging and I know that, so far, no one makes an articulated lower hull with moving tracks for an original 1984 HiSS Tank. There's a plethora of parts and pieces, even reproduced figures you can print out (I'll be trying that out much later) but not the dream feature for the HiSS Tank we all wanted when we were kids. I've seen some upscaled models for the new 1/12 Classified line of figures, but not one of them looks all that good when blown up in scale. Maybe it's just the 3D models that need to be reworked, but I don't have that talent yet. I spent some time in 3D rendering but I was far better at textures than making models.

Anyways, I have two pictures of the start of this project from my partner on this project, Jordan. He has quite the set of tools for this job including a 3D scanner. I just hope he prints the parts in anything but PLA as the sample he gave me was low in detail, has massive print line defects, and was a royal PITA to try and sand even after going over the part with Bondo to try to smooth the sculpt out. PLA just sucks.

t



Jordan plans on making the track links indy style with track pins and a spring for idler tension. If he does this well he's got a heck of a gold mine on his hands. I also gave him an unbroken set of cannons for him to reproduce because the elevation pins are commonly broken and I haven't seen any models to replace them with yet. I'm not sure what material he's decided to use for the final pieces, but he does intend to print them in black so painting won't be necessary and moving the tracks won't scratch any paint that would need to be applied for any other filament color. He's more than capable to handle this project and He's a big GI Joe fan too.

One thing I know is that I'm going to need a rather big 3D printer later if I'm going to make some of these projects myself. Seems a bit daunting right now, but it intrigues me to no end thinking of what I could make.

[Mike]

Aug 21, 2024 19:22:16 GMT -5 Real G said:

A friend of mine who really loves GI Joe wanted to make a Rattler out of an A-10 model.  I look forward to seeing your mods/repairs.



COBRA!!!

I'm working on making a Rattler V2 right now. I'm just paused to consider the markings. I found the Rattler emblems on eBay but the rest of the markings are probably going to be hand painted. The only issue with the decals I have is that they have no white background so they almost disappear into the paint. I'm not sure if I want to try painting white over them and applying another decal or just apply another decal over the top and see if that darkens the image better. The "Z-06" markings, like I said, will have to be very carefully painted on by hand. Yikes.

I went with a two tone paint scheme with Dark Prussian Blue over Dark Blue and it looks pretty good. I've used a 1/72 snap tight kit from Revell and it's not a great kit, but my plan is to display it behind my custom 1/12 Cobra Pilot I made. So it doesn't have to be super detailed. I just have to figure out how to make the Cobra markings stand out better. A project to show you guys later in a different thread lol.

[Mike]

Bad news for this project. Jordan's hard drive kicked the bucket and he not only lost his progress on this project, but years worth of projects.

Slight delay.

[handiabled]

Aug 27, 2024 20:02:23 GMT -5 Mike said:

Bad news for this project. Jordan's hard drive kicked the bucket and he not only lost his progress on this project, but years worth of projects.

Slight delay.

Oh no that sucks! After having a HD go belly up on us I always try to remember to do backups onto an external HD. Maybe he can bring the hard drive in to a computer data recovery place somewhere nearby and see if anything can be retrieved from it.  

[Real G]

NOOOOOOOOOOO!

This must be the work of the Joes. It’s all Destro’s fault!

[Mike]

Thanks for the concern and the laughs, fellas.

Project is back on track. Just waiting for some revisions before I start seeing something useful.

[406 Silverado]

Sept 4, 2024 2:16:33 GMT -5 Mike said:

Thanks for the concern and the laughs, fellas.

Project is back on track. Just waiting for some revisions before I start seeing something useful.

  Now how cool is THIS??!! I'll be bookmarking this thread and following along Mike. Off to a good start and am glad to see this one back under way.

[Mike]

It's definitely back in full swing. Jordan has had to start from scratch with the entire project, but he's far better at this than I had thought he was. He's no expert, but he's no beginner either. The first prototype is going to be more of an update with moving treads but he's also planning on making a version that will be motorized for himself. Possibly radio controlled. He's been finding used 3D printers at GoodWill so he's building a printer farm. He just keeps impressing me with his ingenuity and resourcefulness. Just when I think I've got a skill that can help in this project he shows me something that makes me think I've got nothing to provide lol. He's an amazing artist. This guy is amazing. Humble, honest, and generous. He doesn't leave me much to do but just offer opinions. He really doesn't need me at all. The only advantage I've got is my experience with model building and painting plastics, but he's almost as good as me in that category as well.

I think I may have to recruit him to this forum.

Well anyways, here's some more progress pictures of the renders. Starting with the lower half of the upper hull which I believe is his testing platform for parts fitment once he begins printing.



Then he's made a new model of the turret guns. Jordan is planning on making these, not as one solid piece like the original, but as an assembly so you don't have to risk breaking anything to replace the broken guns on the original turret. I'm not sure how it will work yet, but I'm confident Jordan will figure it out. The guy has an engineers mind with an artists soul.

He's also decided to modify the muzzle breaks at my suggestion. So far we both like the one with the ovals best.







As you can see, Jordan has keyed the back of the muzzle breaks so alignment will be positive. Every time I think, hey you should do it this way, he's already ahead of me. Just like the track links he already designed (but has to do over) he designed them to be indy links, pinned with the standard filament size so pins don't have to be designed and can easily be replaced if damaged or broken. Lots of designers have been making tracks more similar to the rubber band type and you can't tension them correctly or they break so you end up with loosey-goosy floppy bands that don't want to stay on the model. I'll see if he's going to add tread to the tracks or emulate the smooth links that are on the toy already. A touch more realistic detail couldn't hurt I think. Considering the time frame this toy was designed I'd prefer the chevron style from an early M-60 or the later M-60 tracks which would also look great on the model as well. The width of these tracks is the only real consideration. I think the chevron style would adapt best, but we'll see how Jordan engineers a solution if he likes the idea. I trust it will turn out great regardless.

[handiabled]

It's great to see this back up and running again Mike! I'm looking forward to seeing the printed parts!

[Mike]

So am I! But I gotta let Jordan go at his own pace and be patient. Wish I could help more, but he's far more advanced in this field than I am.

[stuart]

Very cool! I didn't have a lot of this stuff as a kid but I do remember having Wild Bill and his Dragonfly Helicopter - great memories!

[Mike]

I didn't have many as a kid either, but there was a most magical Christmas when my mother got a big bonus and I got the Whale and my brother got the Sky Striker.

It's a shame both of them ended up broken and discarded years later. If only I'd known how much I'd want one now lol.

In other news Jordan has returned my donor parts as he's gotten all of measurements he needs.

[406 Silverado]

Sept 7, 2024 7:03:31 GMT -5 Mike said:

It's definitely back in full swing. Jordan has had to start from scratch with the entire project, but he's far better at this than I had thought he was. He's no expert, but he's no beginner either. The first prototype is going to be more of an update with moving treads but he's also planning on making a version that will be motorized for himself. Possibly radio controlled. He's been finding used 3D printers at GoodWill so he's building a printer farm. He just keeps impressing me with his ingenuity and resourcefulness. Just when I think I've got a skill that can help in this project he shows me something that makes me think I've got nothing to provide lol. He's an amazing artist. This guy is amazing. Humble, honest, and generous. He doesn't leave me much to do but just offer opinions. He really doesn't need me at all. The only advantage I've got is my experience with model building and painting plastics, but he's almost as good as me in that category as well.

I think I may have to recruit him to this forum.

    All of these concepts and planouts look great so far Mike and I'm looking forward to seeing this one moving forward dude. 

As far as inviting him to the forum goes: Go for it!! Sounds like a good guy to have here. 

[Mike]

He would be if I can get him interested. He's a busy guy and seems to be constantly doing something. I get the impression that another forum (He's a member of a few as I understand) is not something he's interested in if he can't use it for selling the things he's made. I suppose I'll have to keep tooting the horn for him here, but I'll check back with him again later on this subject.

So far so good! He's still using some spare time while he's at the laundromat to keep designing parts and he's shared a couple more screen shots with me of his progress.





This project just keeps getting more exciting for me.

[handiabled]

These parts will look fantastic once printed!

[Mike]

I hope so, but as I'm learning, there are a lot of factors that play into which materials you print things in. As much as I'd like to see every piece of this project printed in very high detail, the best material for that is resin which is more fragile than durable for toy replacement parts. So I'm learning a lot.

For reference, in case you never invested in 80's GI Joe, what Jordan is doing is replicating is best he can the actual parts as they already appear, but with functionality the toy never had before. He's learned the hard way that you can't market upgrades to the collector market. They only want original or exact copies of original parts. So For this project to have any traction to the collector market it has to be something we wanted as a kid. Some copy of the original that has gained functionality we simply wanted the original to have without making it look different. That's a tough thing to do, but like me I'm sure there are many others who have not only been disappointed by a tank with solid tracks, but in my case have somehow ended up with just the upper hull and no tracks at all.

Here's the original part and you can see Jordan is dedicated to making this look like a stock part.



Fixing and repairing old and broken toys has been a weird specialty of mine since I was a kid and was breaking them to begin with. 3D printing new things and bringing ideas that were only the stuff of dreams is an entirely new world for me lol.

I can't wait to finally get a prototype and mate it to this upper hull I have prepped and waiting. New stickers for ToyHax.com have been ordered and they should be here today, but maybe they'll be here tomorrow. Either way I'll have one original with a few custom touches and an original '83 hull with actual rolling tracks!



So yeah, I'm invested. I guess I've got to find more interested people as that will only help Jordan out and make it possible for even more cool projects to happen. I've got a few places to try finding some interest, but I'm waiting for a functional prototype. Obviously I don't want to waste anyone's time of there's nothing more than just a few of these things ever to be made. Besides, I'm a lousy salesman lol.

[Mike]

youtu.be/QUeIzAA0e-4?si=9oTGtv8hGnNagdb9

[TJ]

I still have a bunch of my GI Joe and Action Force figures from the 80's. Unfortunately I sold my vehicles in the late 90's due to money issues. If I'd only known then how much they'd be worth.