Trouble at the Checkpoint - Cobra A.P.V

[Urban Saboteur]

I thought I'd share with you a sequence of photographs. I've titled it
Trouble at the Checkpoint it stars the rise of cobra APV Steel Crusher albeit without cobra stickers, the front steel plow and the jezzy spring action launcher.

What I didnt like about the launcher was the fact there is no up and down movement with the launcher, just a 360 rotational thing, which is fine I guess if its only required to take out low traffic. What about joes on jetpacks.. or maybe the skyhawk?
I done away with the turret, it's easy enough to do, just remove the screws from the bottom, and the vehicle comes in two pieces, then take out the screws holding the turret chamber in place and pull out the spring. Theres no breakage and if you ever want to sell it at a later date you can put it back together ;)

Alright on with the pictures.

The Power Team Military checkpoint has been quiet for most of the morning..
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2651/3983493514_7fb739c699.jpg

A Courier for Cobra gets a nasty surprise when delivering some materials to a warehouse. A military checkpoint flags him down for a check.... damnit
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2653/3983494978_5355dd7c06.jpg

The checkpoint springs to life, as an approaching Black S.U.V will be subject to a stringent check.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2668/3982733503_d113e9c13a.jpg

Continued in the next post.

[Urban Saboteur]

As the SUV slows to a crawl everything seems normal.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2429/3983498878_093ce4b848.jpg

The Power Team Military explain this is just a brief check and he can be on his way soon, unfortunately the driver has no intention of letting the military see whats inside his A.P.V
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2476/3982741887_74ded4879d.jpg

With a press of a button the roof slides open.. two Cobra Agents armed with machine guns rise from the top and suddenly they have a height advantage over the checkpoint.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2497/3983500958_5f8a95cd63.jpg

The attack will be over in a few moments, as the cobra Vipers have a distinct advantage of height and surprise over their adversaries.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2600/3983502986_fb42fc0a24.jpg

One Viper agent lets loose a small salvo of gunfire taking down the military inspector, it all happens so fast, the other Power team pulls round his rifle to fire at the driver but an armored plate has swung over the top of the vehicle to protect him.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3464/3982744895_efd8988d21.jpg
The element of Surprise is in favour of cobra as they sweep up with a few quick bursts of gunfire leaving the decimated checkpoint in ruins the unmarked Black APV accelerates at high speed into the distance.

[Trench-Viper]

Awesome series of pictures! So nice and clear and with great action!
This should be a diostory.

[rnrhero]

Thats great. The more photos of that truck i see the more I want to break down and get one. Photo's are superb, but one suggestion, get down to the eye level of the figures once in a while. There is the inside of the truck shot but all others look like they are from a sky crane. Not that I don't love your shots, they are way way crisp looking.

[Urban Saboteur]

[QUOTE=rnrhero]Thats great. The more photos of that truck i see the more I want to break down and get one. Photo's are superb, but one suggestion, get down to the eye level of the figures once in a while. There is the inside of the truck shot but all others look like they are from a sky crane. Not that I don't love your shots, they are way way crisp looking.[/QUOTE]

Thanks! With the surrounding garden I shot this in I would of had stuff like a large brown fence or garden gnomes in the way, I also had my dad in the garden sorting out his shed and tools, so i've combat this by only going to ground whenever possible. I totally get what your saying though, I love taking the camera down to ground level whenever I can, it really gives you a figures perspective and makes things look way cooler.
I done it in my unifighter series of shots recently..
Unifighter #1 (http://www.joedios.com/dioramas/showimage.php?i=23925&catid=member&imageuser=755)
Unifighter #2 (http://www.joedios.com/dioramas/showimage.php?i=23926&catid=member&imageuser=755)

But yeah, due to garden activity and other elements i wasnt able to go to low otherwise it included giant garden patio chairs etc :D all in all i am pretty pleased with how it turned out, thanks for the kind comments too. The APV cost me £15.00gbp which is half the retail cost, over here the UK Industry swaps the $ for a £ without taking into account conversion rates.. so this vehicle at retail is £30.00gbp which is twice the cost it is in the USA. :(
I'd been waiting a good few weeks, and i lucked out at a local supermarket that had a sale on. I was like.. I'm havin that!! I just dont like the fact the pop up turret doesnt go up and down to take out aerial threats, truth be told i think the turret is cheaply made, I've seen better designs from PTE etc. The one thing it does do in removing the turret is take out the armament of the vehicle, I've also rejected daubing it in cobra stickers, this way it can move around the city looking like a normal SUV. :cool:
Rich

[cyko]

Nice mini-dio! Removing the launcher was a great idea; now they can actually carry stuff in the back. I'd get one of these, but I saw a photo where it's actually bigger than a HISS tank! I can't have my toughest Cobra armor be a Hummer.

[Scuba Steve]

great idea! I wasn't to keen on the missle launcher either, I may have to do this to mine also. Cool little story!

[ThinkTank]

I will definitely taking it apart to remove the launcher sometime this week. Great set up and follow through. nice pics too.

[Urban Saboteur]

Definately guys, remember if you take apart the initial bottom screws dont forget to put them all back in during re-assembly. As long as you remove the turret chamber holding the turret in place properly, you can re-assemble it again at a later date (should you wish to show it in a dio story, or for sale purposes) etc. :)

[Outrider]

Nicely done Rich. Like I said on the photo, the Steel Crusher looks good without any stickers.