The base figure I used was a S.T.A.R. Corps action figure, a knockoff (well, licensed) GIJoe space figure sold in blister packs at places like Wal-Mart and K-Mart. Basically, this was the third figure in the pack that I used for Backpack and Roadgunner. The space armor was a good starting point for kitbashing, although this figure did not have a separate head. I recently bought a bag of assorted GIJoe bits (weapons, vehicle parts, etc) at a toy show, and I put some loose skids/skis to use here.

    The first step, as always, was to figure out what I needed to glue to the figure before adding putty. I decided not to glue the backpack skid set on, instead leaving it loose so it could turn. I added little Lego bits to the backs of the feet, to the front skid and to the right wrist so that the skid could either be held between the feet or on the arm. A happy coincidence was that the pegs atop the front skid fit nicely into the holes in the figure's feet...snowboarding! Also, I cut the grip off a Cobra Commander-style pistol and glued the barrel to the figure's left wrist.

    Time for putty. Most of the work was on the helmet, which was a bade faceplate originally. I added a crest and a Soundwave-like faceplate with putty, then used sheets of plastic to build up the Gundam-like "horns." Putty filled in some of the gaps on the wrists, and built up the boots to give the figure very nice stability in standing poses (needed because of the backpack skis). The peg on the skis was also built up a bit with putty so it'd fit more snugly into the hole on the figure's back.

    Then it was painting. I've gotten kinda bored with the mostly white look of the other two STAR Corps-based figures I've done, so I decided to go wild and emulate the garish outfits worn on the slopes. Turquoise, teal, construction green, golden yellow...and purple nail polish. Plus some red, black and gold. It too a LOT of coats of the nail polish to get a good solid purple. I got the nail polish in an attempt to get something for "Decepticon Purple," and it's pretty close. Although Alpine's an Autobot. Such is life.

Alpine was part of a mission to the ice planet Kryos to find a cure for the side effects of Nucleon, when his ship crashed in the snowy peaks. He volunteered to submit to Nucleon repairs in order to get above the storm and call for help. But something about the unique radiation of Kryos allowed him to retain part of his ability to transform, putting him among the Actionmaster Elites. He prefers to patrol in mountainous areas, where his skicraft mode is more useful than any other ground craft and less susceptible to the high winds than an aircraft. In either mode, his wrist-mounted cryoblaster can freeze opponents in their tracks, plus he's learned to use it to either cause or prevent avalanches. His skis contain antigravity circuits that allow him short bursts of weightlessness. Aided by a small jet motor on his back, he can make controlled leaps of up to two kilometers. Or as he puts it, "wicked hang time." His front ski is made from duralloy and can be used as a shield in robot mode, or to slice through metals made brittle by the extreme cold of his preferred haunts. He can even ski on it. His garish colors make him stand out on the slopes, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

STR 6  INT 5  SPD 8  END 8   RNK 6  COUR 9  FRP 8  SKL 7   Avg 7.125