Hi Everyone,

I'm basically toying around with the idea of creating a custom figure of Spook, the guy who seems to have been the inspiration for Snake Eyes.

I know JoeCustoms have already created a figure like this, but I'd like to discuss recreation/possible improvements.

Here's the figure as created by JoeCustoms:



Here's the list of parts:

Head: Storm Shadow V2
Torso: Cross Country
Arms: Battle Corps Outback
Waist: TBC Hawk
Legs: TBC Hawk
Poncho: 25th Storm Shadow
Shotgun: 25th Flint

Here's a piece of (I'm assuming) fan art also from JoeCustoms:



Here's another piece of art created by Larry Hama (again, I'm assuming):



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Right of the bat, I can think of some improvements over the original figure. Now, we obviously haven't got a lot of source material for reference (nor are we getting any in the future), but the decision to go with a white Storm Shadow ninja mask seem strange. We can only see a pair of eyes under the cloak, so we don't know if he's wearing a mask, so painting that mask black would do the trick (and really, if you're gonna do any painting at all, then painting something black is the easiest).

I'm not sure if I would go with a Storm Shadow head at all. I might go with an Undertow head instead (either version) and paint it black (although I'm also thinking about an alternative version with a Snake Eyes v3 head with the visor painted black, just seems cooler to me).

The cloak - I guess the 25th Storm Shadow cloak is the only way to go, and I do have it, but the red/crimson/whatever one I have seems to be more vibrant than the one in the pic - maybe that one is painted? Also, the 25th SS cloak seems to be longer than the cloak in the concept art, but not sure if it's worth the hassle to shaorten it.

I will definitely have to paint it though, one way or the other. Now, the beige/brown/whatever cloak is just the artist's unofficial interpretation of what the color of the cloak would have been like, but IMHO even Hama's sketch suggests it's not black. I might go with dark brown or maybe even olive drab or black (seems fitting for a commando). Anybody have any ideas for how to paint that 25th SS cloak, please?

Got no problem with the torso (it's just a Cross-Country painted torso) or the arms; I'm gonna have to get a battle Force Outback and paint the "bandages" white. I'm more worried about having to paint skin tone for the hands, though. Any ideas for that?

Not sure what the creator of the custom fig in the pic was going for with the boots, though. I think they should all be painted one color. I'm almost defo gonna use v1 Lady Jaye for the crotch/legs.

Any thoughts on this? Suggestions? Feedback is greatly appreciated.