Zero Station
Cobra Polar Base

This is my first attempt at a custom playset. The base is a Playmobil arctic base, which has a really cool translucent dome covering a research facility. Cobra being what they are, their bases need to be out of the way where they can do their evil bidding with minimal interference from those meddling Joes. I used most of the parts of the original base, plus some paint and some Cobra stickers, and then added some additional accessories to make it more of a military set.

I took the .50 calibre machine gun from the Machine Gun Defence Unit and attached it to the tripod that came with the set, and fed an ammo belt from it to a case on the ground to give the Cobras more defensive capability. A spare ammo case fits in the hidden floor compartment near the missile launcher. The missile launcher itself is a harpoon launcher in the original set, but I took the missile launcher from a Polar Sharc Submarine and fit it into the harpoon launcher casing. I took an old Corps accessory I had laying around (I think it's supposed to be a searchlight maybe) and used it as a “fear wave” transmitter, tying the whole thing into issue #2 of the Marvel GI Joe comic (and the later storyline with the Terror Dromes).

To go along with the set, I did upgrades of existing Cobra snow troopers (both versions of the Snow Serpent, and the Ice-Viper), as well as two new custom troopers. Only one would have likely come with the set if it were released as a toy, but possibly two, so we could say both the Snow Comm and the Snow Tech would come with the set.

Base set, flag tower and attachments, missile launcher base, tools and tool box, case, red crystals, tripod, snowmobile – Playmobil Arctic Expedition Headquarters
Missile launcher interior and missile – Polar Sharc Submarine
Machine gun, ammo case – Machine Gun Defence Unit
Ammo belt, “fear wave” transmitter – Lanard The Corps!

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Ice Viper
Cobra Polar Officer

Since I was doing upgraded version of both Snow Serpent figures, I thought I might as well do Cobra's other cold-weather specialists as well. This figure is mostly just a paint update, adding a chrome finish to the helmet's visor and painting many other details as well. I did modify the thighs, however, since the Ice Viper being armed with a pair of sais never made much sense to me. I removed the left thigh's protrusions entirely, and modified the right side so that it holds a Marauder Inc. SOCOM pistol instead.

All parts – Ice Viper

Pistol – Marauder Inc.

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Snow Comm
Cobra Polar Electronics Trooper

For my Cobra Zero Station, I needed an appropriate pack-in figure or two. A custom Snow Serpent would have worked fine, but to go a little further than that I developed an arctic version of the Tele-Viper to fit the station dual role of military installation and research post. The head is a custom-cast piece which adds a Tele-Viper's headset to a Snow Serpent head, and is therefore clearly intended for a figure just like this. I used a Snow Serpent upper body but switched out the legs for the Tele-Viper's which are similar but different enough to create a little more differentiation from Snow Serpents. The accessory pack version of the Tele-Viper backpack and the Snow Serpent snow shoes work really well here, both because they match the parachute pack and they reflect the Tele-Viper's original colouring.

Head – Custom-cast
Arms, torso, waist – Snow Serpent
Legs – Tele-Viper v2

Backpack – Tele-Viper (accessory pack version)
Scanner – Tele-Viper
Parachute pack – Snow Serpent
Snow shoes – Snow Serpent (accessory pack version)

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Snow Sentry
Cobra Polar Marksman

The original Snow Serpent is one of my favourite GI Joe figures of all time, so when it comes to the second version of the trooper, as much as it's a nice sculpt I'm loath to use it as a Snow Serpent. So instead I use it as a specialized subset of the Snow Serpents, the designated marksmen of the unit. The work on the figure itself wasn't too much: I added some camo to the white, put a Cobra sigil on the left arm to match other Snow Serpent, and trimmed away the excess material behind the sidearms.

Most of the work with this figure went into the rifle. As much as I enjoy some sci-fi and fantasy elements in GI Joe, I do like them to be grounded in reality where possible. So I always try to associate a figure's weapon with a real-life firearm in order to have that connection to the real world. Many ARAH weapons were not based on real guns, though, so sometimes this takes some creativity. The original Snow Serpent came with an AKMS rifle, which is entirely appropriate to their role. But the version 2 rifle is clearly fantasy – the magazine is too far forward for the rifle to even make sense. So first I had to decide whether I wanted to modify it into something usable or replace it. Given the size of the magazine, if we assume it's not horribly out of scale it must be something that fires a full-size rifle round (say 7.62 x 51mm) rather than the smaller rounds used in assault rifles (like 5.56 x 45 mm). So we're looking at a battle rifle or a designated marksman rifle, basically. And if we move the magazine back towards the grip, this rifle could pass as something like a Tabuk Sniper Rifle with a folding stock, especially since it's winter-wrapped. So that's what I did – moved the magazine back and trimmed down the grip and the stock a bit, and gave it some paint. I also carved an ejection port out of the wrapping, since that's a pretty important part of a semi-automatic weapon. Now it can pass for a real-world rifle.

All parts – Snow Serpent v4

Rifle – Snow Serpent v2
Backpack – Agent Scarlett
Rocket launcher – Tunnel Rat v3
Snow shoes – Snow Serpent

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Snow Serpent
Cobra Polar Assault

The original Snow Serpent figure is damn near perfect in my estimation. I remember finding the figure to be completely awesome from the first time I saw one in 1985. The sculpt is nicely detailed, the figure design is slick and the multitude of accessories are fantastic. And one of my favourite GI Joe filecard tidbits is that each Snow Serpent is also an Eel, which is probably the one Cobra trooper I like more than Snow Serpents. 1985 was a good year. So this custom is really just a minor paint upgrade, adding a few more painted details and using the same shade of blue I used on my Snow Tech custom so that they work together. I won't say this figure is any better than the original, but it's equally good.

All parts – Snow Serpent

Backpack, rocket launcher, parachute pack, snow shoes – Snow Serpent
Rifle – Snow Serpent v8

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Snow Tech
Cobra Polar Mechanic Trooper

For my Cobra Zero Station, I needed an appropriate pack-in figure or two. A custom Snow Serpent would have worked fine, but to go a little further than that I developed an arctic version of the Techno-Viper to fit the station dual role of military installation and research post. The head is a custom-cast piece which adds a Techno-Viper's helmet to a Snow Serpent mask, and is therefore clearly intended for a figure just like this. I used a Snow Serpent v2 upper body but switched out the legs for the original version's. The accessory pack version of the Snow Serpent snow shoes work really well here, both because they match the blue colours.

Head – Custom-cast
Arms, torso, waist – Snow Serpent v2
Legs – Snow Serpent

Backpack, tools – Techno-Viper (accessory pack version)
Snow shoes – Snow Serpent (accessory pack version)

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really "cool" set

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That looks like it is fun. Nice deatils on the figures too.

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If only Hasbro could have made a set like this...

I should have put a Cobra logo on that thermos. Missed opportunity.

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I keep an eye on what Playmobil releases every year and I have been looking at this base for a while now not knowing how I would use it. Now I know, you did a great job converting it into something Cobra would use. For some reason, the flag just sold me on the whole scene.

I also love all the tweaks and improvements you made on the troops. The comm trooper is especially great.

OB

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Terrific work, it really invites you to go play with it.

Of all the figures, Snow Tech stands out for me. Fantastic arctic version of a Techno-Viper!

Wow! The whole set up is amazing. Seeing your customs reminds me of how cool the RAH figures are.

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Agree. Nice set of figures but the Techno one is special.

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