Oh and Gavrael is swarthy, which is to say he's got that dark Mediterranean complexion and dark hair.

As far as I recall the description both says Hide does not come with a helm and that the head is usually left on.

So which is it description?

I'm saying if the head is on there you can wear it as a helm.

I thought keeping it fairly lifelike in appearance would be cool

Of course it would really come with a breastplate, I imagined the croc's stomach but another croc's back would work too. I just wanted to show his black shirt in the picture.

I'll make some changes.

In the original paper copy he now has noticably darker skin than Atrii or Grabthar and curly dark brown hair peeking out from under the croc head.

If we're being art critics then Grabthar is bald on top like in his wiki picture.

yeah, and what kind of dwarf doesn't have a beard down to the waist?

Now that I can't fix.

I like it!

Also, if the description of hide armor says that the head is left on, it could be that it comes down over the shoulder and lays across the breastplate as a sort of decoration.

However, this hide armour couldn't keep the head on it. If it had the head, it would be obvious whether or not it is T'skrang hide.

T'skrang heads come in various reptile shapes.

they would still be distinguishable from that of other reptiles, especially the common ones a man from the swamp would recognize.