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Post by leswhite on Jun 24, 2019 14:30:34 GMT
I've been gathering together some conversions I started to create units for Early World War One 1914 in Western Europe and the areas of the world that did not have trench warfare. Using AIP sets as the starting point, due to easy availability and the fact that they have a good starting range.
The idea is to create a master conversion, to see if it is practical to produce a unit within a reasonable amount of time, not too complicated but give the 'look' I'm after.
In most cases the head is the main element that needs to be worked on , pre helmet style. The French needed Kepis , British in Peaked caps, etc.
Starting with the FRENCH since the AIP Foreign Legion are pretty much there except for the kepi Havelock. Here is the 'Mobilisation Dress 1914' and variations that can be produced. These are all in the standard infantry uniform of course but the variants are easy to spot including the Naval brigade. I plan on creating some Zouaves, Tirralluers and Chassuers Alpine from different starting figures.
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Post by Mike Lewis on Jun 24, 2019 14:35:08 GMT
Looks like a great start
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Post by leswhite on Jun 24, 2019 14:36:47 GMT
Next I looked at the BRITISH. Well The highlanders are fine as they are without the Lewis gunner, but the Infantry need a bit of extra work. The helmet head has to go and the gas mask container on the front, which was a little awkward to remove, but once I decided to re-build on the missing '08 webbing it became less of a chore. I created a peaked cap head and duplicated it to speed up the process, which is working to some extent with a bit of trimming. I will have to convert the prone Lewis gunner into a rifle man and change out the walking Lewis gunner but these are not too difficult conversions. Here are the first tests of style and paint.
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Post by jimmn on Jun 24, 2019 14:38:21 GMT
You are using a system for your conversion plan instead of making random changes. This is something i can understand. Its great.
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Post by leswhite on Jun 24, 2019 14:43:11 GMT
Now for the GERMANS. Like the Highlanders the Early War German Infantry are ready to go with a decent paint job but what else to do with them, the obvious extra unit is JAEGERS. I liked the idea of these but where to get the shako I converted a head to my satisfaction and made a mould which worked out quite well. Since it is covered it didn't need too much detail and I think it fit pretty well on the neck line.
I painted the JAEGER uniform in a more green shade than the infantry which really isn't too noticeable in these pics.
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Post by leswhite on Jun 24, 2019 14:51:57 GMT
Now for something a little different, which occurred while doing some picture research on another subject. 'Brave Little BELGIUM' took on a lot of action in the early weeks and months and could create some action filled scenarios once the troop types are produced. The Belgian uniform was quite close to the French one so AIP FFL are the starting point once again. The Belgian Army had Infantry, Grenadiers and Carabiniers. I chose to start with the Carabiniers for two reasons firstly Green Coat to be distinguished from the French on the table and the unique hat , converted from the head of a AIP ACW Iron Brigade figure trimmed slightly.
I think that the 'look' is fine although I may adapt some equipment when I do a unit of them to add some pack differences as they seemed to have lots of extras hanging off them in real life !
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Post by leswhite on Jun 24, 2019 15:07:13 GMT
That's the starting point for my Western Front Infantry, I'm looking at the Cavalry soon and will probably end up with British, German, Belgian and French Lancers and Dragoons which can be produced from AIP WW1 sets already out there. More on these in future posts.
Now lets move to another part of the world, AFRICA, this element of WW1 has always been of interest but figures are few and far between so the only way to fill this part of the collection is to make my own. So these conversion are a little more complicated but not overly so, anyone can do them with a little practice and steady hand
I started with GERMAN ASKARI the basic field force of the GERMAN ARMY. Checking out the uniforms for the various colonies - EAST AFRICA, CAMEROON and TOGO I discovered that it is really only the head that alters in the size/shape of the tarboosh or fez. I identified quite quickly that the Boer War British body is ideal for many troop types in many conflicts in many time zones, so all conversions shown are from that base figure. ALL the poses are useful within the three British Sets - SUDAN, NWF and BOER war as they are all basic rifle armed men so they will be very useful for loads of units. Other ASKARI units can be produced in a similar manner for different countries - BRITISH, BELGIAN, etc. as can be seen here with the British East African.
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Post by leswhite on Jun 24, 2019 15:18:04 GMT
Adding onto the GERMAN contingent I decided I wanted SHUTZTRUPPE, as I can do horse and Camel mounted versions and dismounted ones too. The problem with this unit is the very unique uniform and especially the overly wide 'sudewester hat', I had to create a new head and make a mould but it looked fine so I duplicated it right away to see if I could create the three types of bodies, it didn't quite work out that way and I've only finished the foot version so far but I'll get there in the end The basis for this guy is the EGYPTIAN infantry and other nice generic uniform set from AIP and useful source of fez heads and colonial type bodies.
The uniform is the 'cord waffenrock' but they also used a home service dress of a blue grey colour which looks good so I may do the camel corps contingent in this colour to make them easy to identify on the table and give me two units for the earlier 'HERERO CONFLICT'.
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Post by leswhite on Jun 24, 2019 15:29:09 GMT
I now needed to look at the BRITISH in hot weather dress, these guys always look sweltering hot so I wanted them to look 'steamed'. Where to get a source of baggy shorts was the first issue, took a bit of thought but decided on using a highlander and trimming the kilt down to the British Army baggy style shorts and cut down the tunic to the rolled up sleeved shirt. The helmet gave me some issues in trying to get the brim to come out of a mould, so I initially used a commercial metal casting, don't know the brand as I picked up a load of spare metal heads years ago when attending all those London Toy soldier shows, accumulated quite a few different types. I'll end up making a new head and mould with a wider brim for that Wolseley helmet shape.
I went a different way with the officers shorts , building them on because their pattern was different from the men and seemed to be more close fitting
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Post by tradgardmastre on Jun 24, 2019 18:06:00 GMT
Great work, thanks for sharing it with us.
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Post by leswhite on Jun 24, 2019 18:17:13 GMT
Thanks guys for your comments.
I'm adding this one here as it will still fit in with the WW1 theme although I was aiming for 'Back of Beyond' interwar, they still work .
Actually the peaked cap British will also work between the wars for action in NWF, INDIA and CHINA
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Post by leswhite on Jun 25, 2019 10:34:02 GMT
Just finished off my first 10 German JAEGER poses and decided to give them a solid colour spray finish to get them to a more complete stage to finish painting when I get the time. Jut need dry brushing and some detail. I am planning 10 men, 1 Sergeant and the Officer, so the latter two will be unique to this group by pose to stand out as leaders.
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Post by leswhite on Jun 25, 2019 10:37:04 GMT
Here are the Highlanders undercoated and ready to be finished off. I did a couple of conversions to remove the Lewis gunner and have some more 'normal' poses. As with all the units I plan 10 men , 1 sergeant and an officer, so still to do them for the Scots. I'm using the coloured spray undercoat from Games Workshop and find the coverage very good and the adhesion to the plastic works well.
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Post by leswhite on Jun 25, 2019 10:47:02 GMT
And we are off to the MIDDLE EAST. Decided that another enemy force was required so the TURKISH ARMY seemed the obvious choice. Here I have used the AIP Late World War steel helmet Germans with new Turkish cloth helmet heads, the uniform is close enough to work without alteration but just to make them different I removed some equipment. I converted a head and made a mould which will give me the standard headgear for all the poses. I will probably do an officer pose with the fur colpack hat just to make him stand out more. I'm splitting up the poses into the Infantry and Assault troops, to give two distinct units. The Assault troops will have the Machine Guns and Grenades.
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Post by chrisj on Aug 29, 2019 3:04:31 GMT
What do you guys do about Machine Guns & Gunners for the Germans and Brits? Awhile ago on TMP someone gave me a link to a British firm, but they wanted $15 per figure (and for the gun); $45 for a 2-man crew and MG is just a tad beyond my budget, especially since I would have to get one for each side!
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