SkyStriker II

Air Superiority Fighter

Ahhhhh. :) The Skystriker has always been one of my all time favorite vehicles from G.I. Joe. From any toy line really! And this just made it that much better for me. I had planned this custom a long time ago when Smalljoes.com (free plug) first said they were getting in the Funskool Skystriker. After I finally got it, I wasted little time to get started. 

I first got a can of Semi-flat black Krylon paint. (Cheap and looks great!) I considered taking the Skystriker apart to paint it but decided to do the lazy route. I'm glad I did because I think taking apart would have wasted a lot of time when i tried to put it back together. I only left the easily removed parts off when I painted. I did the majority of the painting with the wings wide open. When I got to the bottom, I closed the wings and painted the parts of the wings that were hidden when open. I then painted the tails and engine covers. I painted the missiles with some extra flat gull gray paint I had leftover from a Star Wars Imperial Shuttle restoration project.

So then came the stickers. I had some left over from some a 2000 Locust, 1998 Conquest, the Funskool stickers that came with it and a few others. I printed up some as well on my printer. My big problem was the stripes on the wings. These stickers came with the Funskool Skystriker but there was a problem, the middle section is clear. On the original that was ok because the jet was white. The white showed through and made read, white and blue. That wasn't going to happen with my black jet. After pounding my head for a while, I figured out the easiest solution. I took some scrap Avery label paper I had and applied the stickers to that paper. I then trimmed the edges, peeled the Avery backer off, and applied to the jet. Easy!

I couldn't help but add some taunts to the terrorists on the missiles just like the real US military does. In case it's hard to see, the one on the left says. "Yo Mamma Osama!" and the right says "Cave monkey pest control." --FireFox