Head: IJ Cairo Swordsman
Torso, upper arms: 25A Hawk
Lower arms and gi belt: Hard Master
Legs: 25A Storm Shadow
Sword: ???
Design:
After making a Brad Turner custom figure, I wanted to do some more "now a Joe" figure conversions of characters from other toy lines. MASK is a great toy line for this, but an even better one is Eagle Force, as it was a military-themed line. Although Storm Shadow is often regarded as being the first modern bad guy ninja, Eagle Force's Savitar character came along without any fanfare earlier. Sadly, the toy line's creator, Paul Kirchner, never gets any due credit. There is even some debate as to how much GI Joe might have stolen from Eagle Force: Wild Bill, Gung Ho, Spirit, and Quick Kick all have EF equivalents that came first.
The wrapped face of the Cairo Swordsman doesn't have the exact look of the pentagon-shaped headpiece of the original Savitar figure, but I liked the simple wrapped head better. It also pushes design elements away from the Storm Shadow look.
Colors & Paint:
This was basically taken from the original Mego figure. I left some details unpainted, like the arm pouches, to match the few paint applications on the original figure. As for the solid black eyes, I just liked the creepy look.
Modifying & Sculpting:
The head was hollowed out to accept the neck post. I added a bead of hot glue to the mid-torso articulation joint to lock the upper and lower parts together, allowing for the addition of the across-the-chest strap.
Thanks for looking.