Post by PitYak Studios on Jan 27, 2005 14:17:16 GMT 12
While I think of some more specific tips and advice, I thought I would share some general thoughts on conversions.
Every figure I have ever painted for myself has had some sort of conversion. I started off on military miniatures, mainly 1/35s because that was all a young lad in Northumberland could get hold of. I would get these kits and "convert them" by simply ignoring whatever surface detail was on them and painting on any old uniform accessories. I wasn't a particularly good painter either, but I had a huge collection of WWII Germans painted up as all sorts of things. I had read every book in my local library about modeling (I think there was about four) and one of them was an Airfix annual, showing a conversion of one of their Afrika Korps Multipose figures into a Northern Europe theatre Waffen SS soldier. It was pretty basic, not much involved, but I had a box of those figures so gave it a go. I even the followed the instructions for the diorama base. In a flash of inspiration I made my man carry his cap in his spare hand instead wearing it just to be even better, and left his head bald so he looked more mean (or maybe I just didn't know how to put hair on him.) The finished figure was a masterpiece; his flesh was all one flat orangey sort of shade, and his leopard spot camo was painted in a mixture of matt and gloss enamels, in colours none too close to the real thing. Still, it was a giant leap form what I'd been doing before, so I was pretty chuffed.
I next decided to tackle Judge Dredd. Another Afrika Korps volunteer went under the knife. This time I had no instructions, but if I knew anything it was what Judge Dredd looked like. You wouldn't have thought so if you saw the finished result. He never got painted, so he was a white figure, with all his uniform really crudely hacked off. I had stuck bits of plastic tubing on him here and there for shoulder pads and kneepads and the same for his helmet. I know I didn't even attempt anything like detail on these, and didn't even bother trying to do his badge or eagle. His belt wasn't too bad, I just used the ammo pouches from the kit.
Next up was a topical set of football hooligans made from Airfix ho/oo plastic commandos and riot police from WWII Japanese (swords badly melted to look like batons, and drawing pins stuck in their chests to look like shields, not painted)
Anyway, if I could see any of these now, it would make me either laugh or cry, but I was only about 8 and I thought they rocked.
The point of all this rambling is that any conversion you do from the slightest mod to a major resculpt should be about creating something different and personal that you are happy with; don't worry what anyone else thinks, if you think you have done what you set out to achieve, in my book that's all that matters.
Most figures will benefit from sort of modification, however slight. A good example of this would be improving on limitations of the moulding process. For example, a lot of 28mm guns have no or very slight bores down the barrel. If you can open this up with a pin or small drill, you will immediately make that gun look more realistic. With Warhammer 40k flamers I drill out the barrel, then also drill out the holes in the end of the muzzle. Single piece figures in a pose such as aiming a rifle will sometimes be a solid lump of chest, arms and gun. Carving out the excess material and reshaping will again improve your figure. Just look over your figure and see what looks unreal or could be improved.
Next to think about is swapping parts. Plastics are perfect for this, but don't limit yourself to using one box, mix and match. Stick a berserker's head on a sci-fi body for a battle-hardened veteran. Throw modern weapons or accessories on a fantasy figure for a post holocaust mad max type. And think out of scale too. Most 28mm figures are in that cartoony style with exaggerated features and oversize weapons, so use this to your advantage. Compare a typical 28mm pistol with a 1/35 pistol. The 28mm one will usually be about 4 times bigger. So why not use 1:35 weapons? There are plenty of sets available from people like Tamiya, and many will fit in well with 28mms. Even if you can't use a whole weapon, a barrel from a heavy machine gun say, could be lopped off and stuck on your mini. Heads and helmets are usually too big, but ammo pouches, bags and other accessories can be used. Bits of other kits can be used, bits of tanks and planes, anything you can find that looks like it could be made into something else. I'm always on the look out for small miniguns from helicopter kits, because they look pretty cool on a mini. Old electrical components can be used for magazines, radios and other bits of tech. Replace plastic and metal aerials with pins, wire or stretched sprue. Look at anything you can get your hands on, try and imagine what it could be used for.
Try my philosophy, convert every figure you paint. It doesn't have to be much, but as long as you know about it and you think it's an improvement, you will have greater value in your figure. And you can bore everyone who comes round pointing out all the details
Every figure I have ever painted for myself has had some sort of conversion. I started off on military miniatures, mainly 1/35s because that was all a young lad in Northumberland could get hold of. I would get these kits and "convert them" by simply ignoring whatever surface detail was on them and painting on any old uniform accessories. I wasn't a particularly good painter either, but I had a huge collection of WWII Germans painted up as all sorts of things. I had read every book in my local library about modeling (I think there was about four) and one of them was an Airfix annual, showing a conversion of one of their Afrika Korps Multipose figures into a Northern Europe theatre Waffen SS soldier. It was pretty basic, not much involved, but I had a box of those figures so gave it a go. I even the followed the instructions for the diorama base. In a flash of inspiration I made my man carry his cap in his spare hand instead wearing it just to be even better, and left his head bald so he looked more mean (or maybe I just didn't know how to put hair on him.) The finished figure was a masterpiece; his flesh was all one flat orangey sort of shade, and his leopard spot camo was painted in a mixture of matt and gloss enamels, in colours none too close to the real thing. Still, it was a giant leap form what I'd been doing before, so I was pretty chuffed.
I next decided to tackle Judge Dredd. Another Afrika Korps volunteer went under the knife. This time I had no instructions, but if I knew anything it was what Judge Dredd looked like. You wouldn't have thought so if you saw the finished result. He never got painted, so he was a white figure, with all his uniform really crudely hacked off. I had stuck bits of plastic tubing on him here and there for shoulder pads and kneepads and the same for his helmet. I know I didn't even attempt anything like detail on these, and didn't even bother trying to do his badge or eagle. His belt wasn't too bad, I just used the ammo pouches from the kit.
Next up was a topical set of football hooligans made from Airfix ho/oo plastic commandos and riot police from WWII Japanese (swords badly melted to look like batons, and drawing pins stuck in their chests to look like shields, not painted)
Anyway, if I could see any of these now, it would make me either laugh or cry, but I was only about 8 and I thought they rocked.
The point of all this rambling is that any conversion you do from the slightest mod to a major resculpt should be about creating something different and personal that you are happy with; don't worry what anyone else thinks, if you think you have done what you set out to achieve, in my book that's all that matters.
Most figures will benefit from sort of modification, however slight. A good example of this would be improving on limitations of the moulding process. For example, a lot of 28mm guns have no or very slight bores down the barrel. If you can open this up with a pin or small drill, you will immediately make that gun look more realistic. With Warhammer 40k flamers I drill out the barrel, then also drill out the holes in the end of the muzzle. Single piece figures in a pose such as aiming a rifle will sometimes be a solid lump of chest, arms and gun. Carving out the excess material and reshaping will again improve your figure. Just look over your figure and see what looks unreal or could be improved.
Next to think about is swapping parts. Plastics are perfect for this, but don't limit yourself to using one box, mix and match. Stick a berserker's head on a sci-fi body for a battle-hardened veteran. Throw modern weapons or accessories on a fantasy figure for a post holocaust mad max type. And think out of scale too. Most 28mm figures are in that cartoony style with exaggerated features and oversize weapons, so use this to your advantage. Compare a typical 28mm pistol with a 1/35 pistol. The 28mm one will usually be about 4 times bigger. So why not use 1:35 weapons? There are plenty of sets available from people like Tamiya, and many will fit in well with 28mms. Even if you can't use a whole weapon, a barrel from a heavy machine gun say, could be lopped off and stuck on your mini. Heads and helmets are usually too big, but ammo pouches, bags and other accessories can be used. Bits of other kits can be used, bits of tanks and planes, anything you can find that looks like it could be made into something else. I'm always on the look out for small miniguns from helicopter kits, because they look pretty cool on a mini. Old electrical components can be used for magazines, radios and other bits of tech. Replace plastic and metal aerials with pins, wire or stretched sprue. Look at anything you can get your hands on, try and imagine what it could be used for.
Try my philosophy, convert every figure you paint. It doesn't have to be much, but as long as you know about it and you think it's an improvement, you will have greater value in your figure. And you can bore everyone who comes round pointing out all the details
