Monday 25 August 2008

Conversion job - 1

Having come into possession of a heap of Napoleonic French figures some years ago, I've been rather stuck to get rid of them. For the most part they're "minority" figures, i.e in poses or of a type which gamers only need a few of. This has been a real bind and I can't even seem to interest anyone in buying them at the base metal price.
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However, a piece on Adderphue's blog mentions his use of figures from other periods to create a SYW ImagiNation, and this got me thinking. I went through the box once more, and picked out a number of figures with an eye to converting them to SYW-style troops. I was in luck, for the box yielded a range of infantry figures wearing greatcoats. Most are bare-headed, some wear forage caps or bonet de police and all can be converted merely by removing epaulettes and adding tricorns. The command figures have bicorns which can be trimmed and tricorns substituted. A drummer and fifer wear shakos which can be pared down to a basic grenadier mitre shape. Since a greatcoat is a greatcoat whatever the period, I now have a new regiment in the making!
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When I have the funds I might pay someone to create a master figure and a mold from it. And once the remaining figures have been thoroughly picked over, they will be melted down to create new figures.

2 comments:

Fitz-Badger said...

Of course, we shall want pictures, before, during and after. :-)
I recycle, too (most of the metal in the figures I have cast came from old but never used minis I have melted down).

Major Wittering said...

It sounds a great plan - always glad to be of help (assuming you enjoy this sort of thing!)

I've got so excited by all this conversion malarkey that I'm thinking of doing my own sculpting and casting now (in a very small way).

Good luck with the project, and keep us posted.

Noel