FRAG-VIPER 1989

The twelfth and final figure for 1989 is the grenade lobbing Frag-Viper. This figure was always a bit strange in appearance compared to the other Cobra figures from 89 with his insectoid helmet, but his concept was cool with the automatic reloading grenade thrower so he always saw a lot of action in my Joe battles. The combination of his insect helmet and the brown overalls always seemed like a tie in with W.O.R.M.S. which made sense as they both shared a similar role of hurling ordinance down range in a ballistic trajectory. That being said the brown just didn't work as a Cobra color on W.O.R.M.S. and neither does it work here with Frag-Viper so it had to go.

The actual layout of the colors didn't change from the original figure, it was simply a matter of changing the color palette to something more in line with the Cobra uniform code. Since the figure is equipped with an advanced weapons system, he was given the Advanced Infantry color palette used on Laser-Viper. This amounted to turning his brown overalls dark gray and darkening his body harness down to the standard Cobra blue color. The head was pretty dingy so I gave it a new coat of silver paint and then for some added detail the buttons and pouches on the overalls were also painted silver. Lastly I painted the neck in flesh tone, to add a human element to the figure so it looks less robotic.

The final touch after the clear coat was the addition of a red Cobra logo of the type used on the Viper and he was ready to frag some Joes.

Figure: Frag-Viper 1989
Scheme: Advanced Infantry
Notes: A front and rear view, with a group shot next to Laser-Viper.