Snow Serpent
	Figure & Equipment: Snow Serpent ’98 (hoses replaced w/ plastic-coated paper clips)
	Physical modifications: I filed off all the moulding lines and copyright embossing. I repositioned the figure’s ankles for a more natural stance and then filled in all the joints with modelling putty. Sanding the hardened putty is the most time-consuming aspect of the process. I also cut off part of the neck ball so his head would turn 90 degrees. Then I scratchbuilt the flying scarf ends from a twist tie. I drilled barrel holes in the guns. The straps on the snowboard are lead foil from a tube of toothpaste.
	Painting: First I sprayed everything with a white primer. In figure scale modelling you have to paint in the shadows and highlights, but white is the hardest colour to do this for. The shadows should have been more marked but it wasn’t a huge disaster in so large a scale. I did a lot of different washes and drybrushing on the fur portions for a soft, realistic look. I was drawn to this figure because the equipment (such as the cold-proofed guns) would look wonderful coloured in (especially because the original version’s snowboard and backpack were moulded in purple, for goodness sakes!). For the insignias on the boots, I xeroxed a white Cobra sticker from the Hydrosled vehicle on a black background, then went over it with a red marker.
	Groundwork: I wanted to show the figure in motion leaping over a snowblown precipice, but the base was a spectacular failure. Baking soda worked all right for the powdered snow, but shape of the ground eluded me. I do like the spray of snow on the boots, though.