Head, chest/back, arms: ARAH Zarana (earrings version)
Waist: ARAH Jinx
Upper legs: ARAH Comic Pack Scarlett
Lower legs: NS Night Creeper (Hiss Driver version)


Zarana
Biker Gang Leader
Dreadnoks
-based on the DiC cartoon appearances-

Design/color:

The Baroness, Lady Jaye, Scarlett (in a cameo), and Zarana appeared in DiC's animated GI Joe series in recolored uniforms based on their original action figures. At the time the DiC cartoon came out, none of these characters still had action figures in stores, so it appears that DiC simply worked out new color sets to update the looks and called it good. To be fair, the new color designs were okay if strange- even Lady Jaye's was interesting. The DiC color set translated particularly well to the parts of the custom made from the '86 Zarana, showing off details that the original factory design obscured.

In addition to recoloring Zarana's uniform and giving her a light complexion, her hair in the DiC run was no longer the sunset color of the figure (plus a yellow spot in Sunbow's run), but pink with a broad white area down the center. Instead of the early 90's white skunk stripe in the cartoon, I gave Zarana more contemporary layered white streaks across the center of the hair. To make the hair look a bit more lively, there is a slight silver wash over both the white and pink areas. This also makes the pink on the head look a bit different than the pink on the shingled arm pads.

Repainting the flesh was necessary here to make the figure look more like the DiC design and to be able to paint the eyes/makeup more effectively. The color change ability is lost, but that doesn't bother me.

The parts here aren't 100% Zarana.

As far as the design, DiC made one big change to Zarana. Instead of the blue jeans and clunky boots of the '86 figure, she now sported full length tights with built-in footwear. The Scarlett upper legs and the Night Creeper lower legs combine to make longer, leaner legs than the original Zarana ones. The ARAH Zarana has a very short chest/back, unusual for a figure of that time- but it created somewhat bad proportions.

The Jinx waist has a lower-riding belt to create the look of a longer torso. The Jinx waist doesn't fix the proportions, but it does camouflage them. This waist and legs created the full length tights, better matching the design seen in Operation: Dragonfire. Giving the longer legs also altered the proportions enough to keep the large ARAH Zarana head, which I had planned on replacing with a smaller one.

Sculpting & Modifying:

The mohawk was removed and replaced with sculpted moppy hair. The elbow rivets and thigh holes have been epoxied smooth for a cleaner look. The knees were reworked.

Thanks for looking.

To teach, improve, share, entertain and showcase the work of the customizing community.