"Separate heads (18th C. / 28mm) for conversions? " Topic

A recent thread on the Old School Wargaming Yahoo Group link was devoted to the practical possibilities to convert 28mm minis from other periods to the "Lace Wars" by headswapping (or 'hatswapping'). Actually the same process could also be used to convert commercially available mid-18th C. minis to types no manufacturers bothers to produce.

Such conversions are generally envisaged by Imagi-Nations creators (a few examples quoted e.g. there: TMP link ), but sometimes also by 'historical' gamers -re. a recent thread here about 'AWI German troops in bearskin' TMP link ; older threads mentioned headswapping as a way to obtain some AWI Legions not commercially available. Other 'historical' possibilities:
- French infantryman + British mitre -> Royal-Ecossais grenadier,
- French infantryman + Highlander bonnet -> Royal-Ecossais in Scotland (indeed other Jacobite types wore the bonnet with a 'normal' uniform for "IFF" purpose),
- Prussian infantryman + bearskin and Austrian infantryman + mitre -> grenadier types that actually appeared in the Reicharmee…

To sacrifice a whole mini just to isolate its head is dreadfully expensive , and anyway may feel 'wrong'. Then, how many manufacturers of mid-18th C. figurines offer separate heads?
As for 'cheating' with commercial molds in order to cast only the head (or bust), even if possible (?), known ranges are semi-flats, and in other scales.

A possibility could be sprues of heads (such exist for 'gothic' Sci-Fi miniatures): the possibility to start such a project through the WF 'Liberty and Union League' was envisaged here: TMP link . Any news? Of course the same could be attempted with the Eureka100 Club.

Anyway such projects, if ever launched, will take years to really 'take off'. So perhaps private commissions could give a more immediate solution. Several wargamers -some mid-18th C. players, experienced with tricorns and mirlitons, among them- sculpt and cast their own minis. Maybe one of them would accept such a private, non-commercial commission? As long as each head is less expensive than a whole, even 'cheap', commercial miniature, he / she would find 'patrons'.

Just to start the discussion…

This will probably only work if someone sculpts them for free.

I am having a go at this very idea at the moment for Napoleonics. The various plastic miniatures around now suply a useful basic dolly for a head sculpt andchopping off extraneous detail is easy with plastic. How to cast up such a small item is the area I am unclear about. Probably possible drop-casting aloy or using resin?

Why not approach someone like Pig Iron? I mean one head is pretty much the same as the next with some of the details changed. A basic tricorn/bicorne/mitre/bearskin is all that would be required.

Back in the 1970's, when we had limited access to good figures, I used to make two-piece molds in plaster of Paris to make French infantry heads with plumes and cords. If you have the face into the plaster, it is realtively easy with no undercuts. In profile, the "raquettes" on the side of the shako would be a lump! Stadden made only Grenadiers of the Guard with bearskins, and these heads could help us convert the originals to Fusiliers of the Guard, or line grenadiers with shakos – voltigeurs of the line.

Plaster is very "iffy." I once got 60 castings from such a mold, and 3 from another before it broke. The detail of the casting was really poor, however.

Plaster worked, oddly, very well for 30mm flats. I once took a rather poor casting of a French grenadier in shako advancing, loading, in long overalls. The shako was too small, plume too thin. I cut away the arm raised loading. Cut the overalls down to tight breeches and gaiters. I took a musket from another figure and epoxied it into the right hand (arm had to be scratched into the plaster)and then onto the hand held forward holding the original musket being loaded. It gave me a fine Voltigeur of the Guard, advancing low port, and with better-shaped shako with tall plume, "hair brush" epaulettes.

I also used to saw 30mm round lead horses in half down the center line, then cast each half in plaster of Paris. It was possible to take the right half of horse A and match to the left half of Horse B to make horse C. The head halves rarely match, so it was necessary to de-capitate, and match original halves. I had only 4 great horses to start with, and could make 8 passable from them.

I have always enjoyed conversions, far more than painting!

Maybe this should be on a horror or sci-fi fantasy thread!

GdeP

With modern prices, many of us still have limited access to good figures.

Less difficulties with 25mm: many 1/72 plastics sets include some minis in 'camp scenes' poses. Resented as a wastage when using the figurines 'as they are' to build tabletop regiments, but a precious source of cheap heads with suitable headgear when conversions are required: for instance the 'tricorned' heads of 'non-fighting' components of the Airfix AWI 'Washington's Army' set moved these Airfix Waterloo French Cuirassiers some 65 years back in time link
Unfortunately no similar source of cheap heads seems available when it comes to 28-30mm?

An echo of this thread on 'Emperor vs Elector' got this interesting comment: "Making hats, by using an existing model and creating a green-stuff mould is the easiest, but time consuming. Then again, 'time-consuming' doesnt really count, does it?
Massed produced hats can also be made using breakfast cereal packet cardboard, with a coating of poly-type filler and finish of PVA type glue. It's a fiddly method, but works – which is what you want."
Any experience of these to share?

Jean-Louis;

If Wargames Factory ever get around to releasing the planned (and I believe fully-subscribed now) sets of "Generic WSS Infantry" and "Generic WSS Cavalry" from their "Liberty & Union League", then the problem should be solved. There will probably be some extra heads on at least some of these sprues, and (once the masters are done), it probably wouldn't be too difficult to get them to do a separate head sprue for converters.

In the meantime (or if the above never transpires), creating a new head with appropriate headgear isn't that difficult; re-creating it X number of times can be.

First, molds:

Many in the hobby, in days past, have resorted to plaster molds. These have the advantage of giving good service for a limited number of castings with low-temp alloys and can be cheaply replaced if you carefully store your master. However, they will not support any type of undercutting, which tricornes by their very nature feature if molded correctly. What you end up with is a somewhat "abstract" tricorne with the "voids" inside the folds only "suggested" rather than actually cast correctly. Also, being gravity-cast molds, they will require multiple vents, usually cut by trial and error unless you're very experienced, before clean castings come out. The good news; if you're patient, you just throw the bad castings back in the pot and keep trying. The same caveats would apply to any rigid medium used for molds, like Green Stuff.

Today we have many alternatives for silicon and RTV compunds to make molds, for either low-temp alloy or resin. The material is usually quite a bit more expensive than plaster, so you want to get it right pretty quickly. These molds will support some undercutting. How much depends on the particular compound you use and the casting medium. Again, since this is gravity casting, you will end up needing some vents cut and this will be mostly trial and error, but not difficult in the rubber mold.

There are Yahoo Groups dedicated to home casting, as well as E-Bob's excellent web site and a couple of blogs that describe the mold-making process and preparation of masters pretty well. A Google or Yahoo search on home casting miniaures will yield many excellent sources.

Second, casting medium:

Since this project will involve home hobbyists, then almost all will be using gravity-pour molds. This creates problems with regard to anything approaching fine detail. With metal you can vary your alloy mix and temperature to get as fine-flowing a mixture as possible, which will help with this. And, if you get a bad casting, you simply chuck it back in the pot and pour another one. But, and this is very important if our hobbyist hasn't done this before, metal smelting and casting can be very dangerous to people and destructive to furniture. It should be an "outdoor" activity, or at least the garage or workshop. You never under any circumstances want any form of moisture to get into your molten metal, so no drinks near the pot and keep a towel or rag handy to mop up perspiration. One healthy drop of any type of liquid in molten metal can create a very dangerous situation for the caster. I still carry a couple of small scars from my time working in Heritage Models casting shop in the late 70's, but they were a constant reminder when I started home casting. You also want a well-ventilated area because there will be fumes.

With resins, you lose the luxury of "do-overs", you can't re-melt the bad castings and re-use the material. There are resins designed for more detailed castings and that pour "thinner". These take longer to cure, however, and trapped air can become a problem. Almost all resin manufacturers recommend the use of a vacuum chamber for casting what they consider to be a very small, highly detailed part, which our 28mm heads would be. And if you're not satisfied with the result, you're out the resin and must mix another batch and throw the bad casting(s) away. I do think resins have great potential for this type of thing, but much trial and error may be required before you get an end product that you're satisfied with.

Third, masters:

These can obviously take many forms, from a completely "free sculpted" original to a modification of an existing head "dolly" to simply "pirating" a head from a desired figure. The latter is discouraged, for both legal and ethical reasons; although Lord knows it has been done countless times going back at least to Tony Bath's famous Ancients flats cast in plaster molds. For the novice or simply "average" hobbyist, I would recommend purchasing some of E-Bob's excellent 28mm dollies, add detail to the head with green stuff, and start making molds. Others, who may have some sculpting experience, might want to just try their hand at free-sculpting the whole thing. The material isn't that expensive so trial and error only costs your time. Whichever method you choose, remember to exaggerate some fine detail as you will experience some shrinkage in your mold and subsequent casts.

Fourth, conversion methods:

When replacing a head, there are many workable methods, but the best will involve reinforcing your join in some manner. If you're just doing a few figures, this can be as simple as drilling a hole in the head and the torso and inserting a length of pin or fine wire before final adhesion. This works especially well on figures that have any exposed neck detail or do not have a high, standing collar. For figures with a collar, IMO, the "best" method is to either cast your new heads with an artificial neck, about 1/8th inch in diameter (or .125), or drill out your cut-off heads and insert a piece of plastic rod of this diameter. Then you carefully remove your figure's existing head (unless its a plastic multi-part without one attached) and drill a corresponding hole in the center of the collar. This allows some variation in positioning the new head and provides a very stable join as well. If your positioning leaves any slight gaps, these are easily taken care of with filler. I'm sure that others will have methods that work best for them, and I've tried most of them. This one just gives me the most satisfying results.

Fifth, consider commercial options:

Virtually every maker, or at least every local hobby shop, will run a close-out from time to time, often at close to the raw metal cost if they are quitting business or dropping a line. I always check these sales out looking for useful bits. Back in 1976, when Minifigs was phasing out their old-style figures and re-doing all their masters, I was able to pick up hundreds of WSS 25mm figures for next to nothing. There were few good AWI ranges available at the time, and little variety within those ranges. I used the WSS Minifigs as a source of heads and other bits and converted most of my AWI armies; American and Loyalist Militia, French at Yorktown and various Southern Legion troops in sometimes exotic uniforms. I've done the same in Ancients, Medieval (Flodden-era Scots before they were available), Pike & Shot and Horse & Musket. My most recent project has been French from 1650 to 1680 in 18mm. I took advantage of a close-out and bought pounds of lead in TYW, ECW and LoA ranges just for the "bits" or the horses. For this scale I use a 1/16th inch plastic "neck". I have Irregular Miniatures with Museum and Essex heads, Donnington with the same, and Old Glory with all of the above.

Sixth, consider a commercial sculptor:

I have a friend in the UK who sculpts for several makers and is interested in the same period that I am. All commercial sculptors have an arrangement with their customers (the makers) to make special, low-run, dolly molds when they do a new range. In addition to full bodies, these molds will often contain items that are commonly re-used on many masters, such as muskets or hats or packs or drums. I have talked my friend into sculpting a few completely original heads for this project that are specifically proportioned to work with Museum, OG, Irregular and Donnington and feature my desired 1/16th inch "neck". He will then get one of his customers to throw these into a dolly mold and I will be charged something close to a raw metal cost for sprues of these heads. They will be professionally spin-cast with excellent detail and should do the trick for me. Even if you don't have a friend who commercially sculpts, there are many well-known sculptors out there who might entertain such a project for you at a reasonable cost. This is especially true if they already sculpt an 18th century range, as they may already have bits they can work from.

Worst-case Scenario:

Take the route that Frank Hammond has with his Minden range; get a scupltor to make the head masters, get someone like Griffin Moulds to make your molds and cast up a quantity. Then, while you are working on your own army, start a blog with a well-illustrated tutorial on how to use them, and begin to sell some to other hobbyists to recover your costs. With the ever-increasing interest in ImagiNations, as well as those historical gamers looking to create a poorly-represented historical troop type, there would be a market for these. You do have to make a decision up front though; do you want your heads to be compatible with the slighter, anatomically-correct Staddens, RSM's or Mindens or do you want the larger, more exaggerated Front Rank, TAG, Reiver, Dixon, Copplestone style? You will need to let prospective customers know this up front and you will want to produce heads that most people will be able to use. You might want to pick a mid-ground, say Perry/Foundry style. A slightly smaller or larger head won't look out place on a full battalion of figures that is part of a larger army.

Sorry for the length of the post, but I wanted to fully-address your questions and explore/explain the various options. And I still haven't covered all of the alternatives. As described in another post, one can obviously do actual hat conversions for small units or one-off pieces. We are talking about the hobbyist's own time and standards of appearance here, and that is a significant variable.

Bill
Sir William the Aged
warsoflouisxiv.blogspot.com

Warmest thanks, bulesonbill: a definitive, exhaustive scholary talk of university level!

Firing Line miniatures (available from Bicorne) do some seperate heads in their French and Indian wars range including a tricorne:
link
The website isn't the easiest to navigate, but they also do some excellent bareheads, bandaged types in the Generic heads range and the Napoleonic and/or ACW ranges. The Napoleonics obviously do a lot of shako'd types, but also lots of Bicornes which might be of some use. There are also so Wurtemburg Grenadier hats which might be useful. Check them out.
I use them a lot.
Also, if you want cheap bareheads there are tons available in the Victrix and Perry Plastic Napoleonic sets. I have loads I don't want.

What a pleasant surprise as I read into the Minatures Page on this cold, Texas Saturday! May thanks, Bulesonbill! Very helpful.

GdeP

Christot;

Thank you very much for the link, they do look quite useful! With me being more involved in 15/18mm metal and 1/72nd plastics, can you tell me a bit about the Firing Line range? Are they 28mm, and if so, the larger "heroic" style or the naturally-proportioned style like Minden or RSM? Or are they closer to true 25mm, like Perry/Foundry or, better yet, the older Hinchcliffe, Garrison, RAFM or Citadel?

Bill

Bill,
any news from M'Uedail, dear Sir William?

you are welcome Bill, I would say they are what you refer to as natural 28mm with a leaning to the smaller side! I use them mainly with Connoissuer/Elite figures. I've got no comparison pics but I have a few shots of them applied to figures.
This is a bandaged head type on a Connoisseur Napoleonic Cuiraissier:
picture

ALL of the heads (bare/Bicorne/colpack/Shako) on the following Hussars are Firing Line, put onto Connoissur bodies. Not too applicable to 18C but hopefully with give you some idea of the size.
link

I think they would be too big for 1/72nd.
cheers
chris

Jean-Louis;

I fear that the Duchy is so far on the back burner as to appear cryogenically frozen. The truth is that the last half of the 17th Century has always been my own first love with the 18th coming in 2nd. I still own the core of the armies, but have packed them away for another time to focus my full attention on my French, 1650 to 1690, in 18mm.

I may, at some point down the road, create a blog dedicated to these armies, I don't know yet. At the moment I am enjoying participating in Ralphus' "Wars of Louis Quatorze" blog immensely. Much of the critical research for this period is still in foreign sources only, and much of that is conflicting or anecdotal. And so, I find myself participating in wonderful "temporary alliances" with Gentlemen such as Stephané Thion, Curt Johnson, Dan Schorr, Daniel Skaberg, Ralphus Himself, and many others from other realms, to try and uncover some of the mysteries of the latter half of the 17th Century and the rise of the Sun King's army.

As you may recall, a couple of years ago I had some serious health concerns arise, which made me re-prioritize my varied interests. In short, the Dashing Sir William became Sir William the Aged. Several projects were shelved in various states of completion, and I do return to them from time to time just to keep my hand in. No doubt, if I'm allowed, I will eventually complete my projects and M'Uedail will once again rise, much like the Phoenix of legend.

In the meantime, as I've solved most of my immediate figure needs and need for "bits" here and there, I continue to follow the developments in the 18th Century and in alternative scales and materials to the mainstream, particularly 1/72nd plastics. When I am able, I try to add posts like mine above to the mix, sharing whatever knowledge and trivia that I may have accumulated since beginning figure collecting in the early-60's and non-solo gaming in 1973. I am now well within sight of my 50th anniversary of my beginning with early "kit-bashing" of plastic 40mm Elastolins and 54mm Britains with my late Father, and then the discovery of Rose, Stadden, Imrie-Risley, Historex and Airfix (the latter in both 54mm and 1/72nd army men). This was followed by 30mm German flats, then Willie and Staddens in quantity, then finally by the products of Minifigs, Scruby, Hinchcliffe and others.

And so, time passes and new technologies make their impact felt, and the "wheel" does indeed improve. But, as newcomers join our fraternity and the new technologies are sorted out, I still find that many of the solutions of our earlier days apply, albeit with some changes and improvements. While I still have the faculties to do so, I simply try and test and chronicle these and share what information that I can. Telle est la vie, mon bon ami.

Bill
Sir William the Aged
warsoflouisxiv.blogspot.com

Christot;

Marvelous work, full of period panache! You are truly a Man after my own heart. It has always been my ambition, regardless of period or scale, to differentiate between my own armies and those of anyone I meet. Call it a vanity if you will (some have), but I have always considered a factory-produced figure to be a starting point for individual initiative and creativity.

I knew Peter Gilder briefly, and he would have been thrilled with those hussars. His own armies (not unlike the Bros. Perry) always featured some "one-off" figures unique to that army. May their banners always wave proudly and bon chance, mon ami!

Bill

Thanks to a recent post on another TMP 18th C. message board TMP link , a striking example of *historical* uniform that can be obtained in miniature only by headswapping: a hussar lancer with a 'Napoleonic Carabinier' caterpillar helmet.
A mere headswapping would give the helmet to a hussar standard-bearer and voila! a Carabinero-lancero Husar, Guardia de Virrey del Peru, 1815 picture link .

Will an Imagi-Nation creator dare to field a regiment in such extraordinary uniform?
Look on the face of any commentator muttering 'This time you went too far!', when he learns that the uniform is historical…

On a parallel thread on the Old School Wargaming Yahoo group,
'Mike' of Black Hat minis alluded to the availability of separate heads in tricornes; link which already raised some interest there link

A single 'spare' tricorn in the Black Scorpion Pirates weapons sprue: link ; 'directly', of use only to give a 18th C. 'look' to a single character: link

(Great modelling site and blog btw link
link
with what appears to be a kind of 'Morheim by the 18th C.' project).