With two versions of Rise of Cobra Scarlett, and them being very different, I really wanted to try and give her a proper treatment in any customs.  Plus, let’s face it, there aren’t that many girls in this toyline and I had an extra of each Scarlett, so I wanted to give it a go.

The hardest part was trying to find a way to keep her feminine while still ‘bulked up’ with the Arctic cold-weather gear.  I could have just taken the Arctic Snake Eyes and did a headswap, like I did with Ripcord (and lots of plastic-weldiness) but that would have still made her just pretty androgenous.  I wanted sleek and sexy, like she in in the other ROC incarnations (even though the City Strike one has some neck issues) but I wanted her padded-out to protect against the cold weather.

This took some doin’.

Basically, I had to find body parts that were smooth-ish (not too wrinkly, armoured, geared-up) so as to look like arctic gear, and I had to find
ones that weren’t too big in the first place.  Smaller, more effeminate males were needed, and they needed to not have too much of a differential between shoulder to wrist and hip to ankle (to give that smooth, one-piece sleeve-to-cuff look).  I’d find a great hip, only to have it billow out with big, bulky kneepad and huge feet (Retaliation Snake Eyes) or a great bicep that had a tiny wrist (ROC Breaker).

Eventually, I ended up piecing together just about everything I could find.  I nearly went with ROC Cobra Commander’s arms and legs, because they would’ve been about perfect except for the vertical grooves that are in the sculpt. Oh, and that weird circuity thing on his bicep, which I would’ve Xacto’ed off anyway.

So, here’s the recipe:

• Head – ROC City Strike Scarlett
• Torso – ROC Scarlett, Impact Armour
• Upper Arm – ROC Breaker
• Lower Arm – ROC Snake Eyes, Paris Pursuit
• Hood – ROC Snake Eyes, Paris Pursuit (plastic-welded to…)
• Jacket – ROC Duke, Desert Battle (plastic-welding rocks)
• Hands – ROC Scarlett, Impact Armour
• Holster – ROC Scarlett, Impact Armour (with crossbow, in pieces)
• Upper Leg – HOH Firefly, with holster Xacto’ed off
• Lower Leg – ROC Storm Shadow, Paris Pursuit
• Feet – HOH Firefly

I may or may not try and get her ponytail to do something different, or even clean up the holster where I got white paint on it, or even her neck with the black hickeys that she got in her life before I got her in a Huge Lot on eBay. But for now, this is her, and I’m pretty damn pleased.

Straight from the movie, beeches!

Except, did you ever wonder a few things about that Arctic scene? Like, does Snake Eyes keep an extra eye visor in his coat, a black one, or is it like ultra-violet activated and turns black in the shade?

When the missiles first launch, why is Snake Eyes the only one that thinks of grabbing a snowmobile and shooting them? Why doesn’t he try to shoot the others? Why do Scarlett and Ripcord stand there and watch? Why is Ripcord the only aircraft in the sky from the Arctic to Washington DC? Were we somehow unable to scramble a couple of F-14s in the 2 hours it would’ve taken him to get to the lower 48?

All valid questions. All showing some serious Shatness of the ROC movie. Yet still, somehow, I frickin’ LOVE this toyline, and am SO GODDAM HAPPY that I’ve pretty much got my Arctic line complete. Except the Polar Sharc pilot, what’s his name. Anybody got an extra one of those?