Prometheus Rising Studios   Ben Mininberg's models, toy customs, and design work.

Phil Reed (battlegrip.com)’s latest 1/6 figure push inspired me to pull this figure out, which I bought back in 2004 or 2005 and have basically been sitting on since.  Before Ashley Wood was pushing the 1/6 envelope with his little Hong Kong firm 3A Toys (expect lots more 3A toy pics forthcoming), Da Joint released  small range of really unique sci-fi 1/6 scale figures.  Da Joint is a small graphic design-type firm from Hong Kong that has done many interesting TV commercials and such now-a-days.   The side of the box reads:

“2037 a.d.  An Iron meteor shower rained down from the sky brought the known human civilization to an end.  Years later, inside the enormous crater of Hongkong island.  Some surviving scientists discovered a large meteorite floating in the air.  The phenomenon was caused by the extreme force and temperature generated during the meteor impact, resulting a realignment of matter’s atomic structure.  The scientists named the anti-gravity meteorite as “ZERO METAL”.  2067 a.d.  The new Hongkong declared independence, named itself “Gang Dao”.  A highly mobilized armour unit armed with Zero Metal technology is introduced as a force to police the region’s security.  Anger and fearful Kowloon civilians united to fight these troops for their own sovereignty.”

Engrish aside, Da Joint’s little world sounds pretty slick, and it’s too bad more did not come out of it.  Regardless of the setting, this Jiu Gang Zero Metal Defense Capsule figure is awesome, but was not perfect. Back in 2004, the base 1/6 person body used in this figure was loose and crappy, so the fantastic armored trooper never really stood up well or could his gun arm out, even though the actual armor was really well detailed and designed.  After seeing the new Hot Toys True Type bodies for sale, the inspiration hit me to finally fix my ZMDC trooper, as the first step in expanding a 1/6 sci-fi collection.  The new body fit perfectly, and is tight and articulated enough to finally breath some life into this impressive design.  I also added a second belt with a pistol holster, and new hands.

Da Joint even went so far as to include decals with the figures for buyers to apply, which were really well printed, and happily, still went down great after sitting in the box for 5 years.  Once all the decals were laid down (I used about 2/3 of the sheet, and the rest is just different numbers and artsy stuff to apply to individualize the figures), I did some weathering to beat up this guy a touch.  I drybrushed the armor in just about the same color as the factory used to fade the decals in, and then did some sponge chipping with a few spots enhanced with some brush-applied marks.  An oil wash brought out the details and added some grime, and then the boots (as well as the guy in the suit underneath) received some dirt and mud splatters using layers of both acrylic paints and weathering pigments.  I added some grease leakage to the moving joints of the armor (mostly on the articulated feet) and some grease to the shiny metal pistons on the feet.  Without going too over the top, I’m really happy with how this guy looks, and he’s just a blast to mess around with now that he can actually hold his gun arm up!