Zarana (Dreadnok)

This is the second Zarana figure I've done. It's not that I didn't like my first version, because I still do. But I wanted to do a classic version of the character that would fit in better with my other Dreadnoks. In scouting around for fodder ideas, I stumbled upon the Zarana and Zandar kits made by Mad Joe Customizer. I picked up both while he had them on sale and got right to work...

Parts: Head, Upper Torso & Lower Torso (Mad Joe Customizer's Zarana Kit), Arms (25th Anniversary Zartan), Gloves (25th Anniversary Comic Pack Scarlett), Upper Legs (RoC Tunnel Rat), Knees & Lower Legs (25th Anniversary Cobra Viper), Backpack (ARAH Zarana), Weapon (ARAH Zarana).

Supplies: X-acto knife, Super Sculpey, super glue, sandpaper, paintbrushes, Testors paints, Polly Scale paints and Testors Dull-Cote.

References: Photographs of the vintage ARAH Zarana figure.

The kit by Mad Joe provides you with the upper torso, the lower torso and a choice of two heads, one with really tall punk-a-billy hair and the other with a hairstyle closer to the classic look. Because these parts are mass-produced, I needed to do some minor sanding and filling with the Super Sculpey (which happened to match the color of the plastic almost perfectly). A few of the parts needed to be painted prior to assembly due to the difficulty of getting a brush into some of the tighter areas later. Once the paint was dry, I applied a bit of Testors Dull-Cote and then assembled everything. The hardest thing for me has always been painting the eyes on a figure and this one was no exception! I had to start over three times after epeatedly screwing up the eyelashes, but I'm happy with the final results. I ended up painting with the tip of my X-acto knife. The backpack (thanks, Joel!) was modified to fit the newer style of backpack hole. I simply cut off the older style peg and replaced it with a short piece of Plastrux rod (thanks, Gene!). I then painted the sculpted details on the backpack (the fact that they never did this in the ARAH line always bothered me). I gave her the same wicked-looking cutting tool that the ARAH figure came with (thanks, Paul!). A little more Dull-Cote after all was complete and she was ready to join my other Dreadnoks! Seriously, I cannot say enough about the kit I used to make this figure. If you're a fan of Zarana or the Dreadnoks, this kit is a must!