I just wanted to try a not-too-serious conversion to make a figure that resembles Snake from the Metal Gear game series.

here's the game artwork:

http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-02/mgs-solid-snake.html
http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-02/mgs-misc02.html

Are there any existing figure sets by Tamiya or Dragon that look somewhat similar, that wouldn't need too much conversion? My sculpting is reasonably competent, I just don't want to reinvent the wheel if I can use a base figure that already has some similar areas.

And while we're at this, are there any figures by any manufacturer that resemble Meryl as well?

http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-02/mgs-meryl-silverburgh.html

Here's a link to Bronze Age Miniatures-Generic 54mm Females and there's about 15 different poses.

The scale (54mm) is equal to 1/32 and may be a little big for 1/35, unless she's an amazon.

Check the "Male" generics too for the "Snake" guy.
It's a cool site with some cool stuff.
Hope I've helped,
Cuhail