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Power to the Plastic ! ( 1/56 figure kit bashes )

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Tracks:
Great work with those figure modifications! They look fantastic.

When it comes to figure modifications, because plastic is an easier material to work with than metal, we sometimes get a lot more options with plastic then we can ever get with metal. That being said, it also depends on the plastic figure boxed set because a bad set is still a bad set.

There are a several reasons why I prefer plastic figures over metal. One of them is variety. With metal figures, you are pretty much stuck with whatever poses the sculptor created, but depending on the the plastic figures, sometimes its very easy to make figure modifications. Especially if the plastic figures have separate arms.

With plastic figures these modifications can be extensive, but they can also be simple and easy. Below is an example of a simple modification. All I did here to make this 28mm US Airborne medic was to add a left arm from the Fallschirmjäger plastic box set. That's it. Note that the cuffs for both arms are the same, so it looks like the part came from the US Airborne plastic set instead of the Fallschirmjäger plastic set.



For this next figure I had to do a little bit more work with some cutting and trimming. To make this 28mm US Airborne I used the grenade throwing arm (part 26) from the US Infantry plastic box set plus parts 19 and 30 from the US Airborne plastic box set. The only bit I wanted from part 19 was the M1 rifle, so I carefully cut it away from the hand and cleaned it up so you could not tell there was a hand on the stock. I then glued the M1 rifle to part 30. This sounds like a lot of work, but actually it was pretty easy. Power to the plastic ;)



The one aspect about plastic figures that some people might not like is the extra time they require to get them ready for the game table. Unlike most metal figures, with plastic figures you first have to remove them from package, sort out all the bits, look at the instructions/parts and decide on how to assemble them, cut out the bits, clean up the bits, and then glue all the little bits together. After the fgures are all assembled, now you are ready to start painting them. Overall, plastic figures take more time to complete than metal figures. With metal figures, you just remove them from package, clean them up, and start painting.

ultravanillasmurf:
Nice conversions.

That medic is such a clever but simple idea.

I have built a lot of plastic figures that have never got as far as undercoating, partly due to something shinier turning up, and partly because it is fun.

The preparation can take some time - about an hour a figure in some cases, but is often easier than dealing with a metal figure if there are any issues with it. Minor mould issues can often be dealt with by the application of a bit of liquid poly,  a lot easier than hacking at white metal.

ripley:
The medic looks great . Fantastic idea to use the German grenade bag arm . Some of the pieces on the sprues really don't jump out and say variety in use . Are you going to use the arm once or have 3 or 4 guys running around  looking funny .Still haven't used the other bag arm with Panzerfaust . I used that arm , minus the bag on my Para holding the mg on his shoulder , only arm I could find that was bent that tight , remove bag , add hand holding mg bi pod . While I like newer sets with arms and weapons together , I still pick up a Russian sprue every once in a while , you  get almost 30 arms . great for kit bashing

ultravanillasmurf:
Interesting point with the Russians (I have three sprues now).

ripley:
Love the Russian plastics , so many variations can be made from 8 body types . The big thing is making sure you don't end up with a regular and quilted arm for upper torso and a tall boot and a short boot with putties on the legs . And yes I have a couple of guys like that ( leg wise ) riding in the back of my Russian half track . Both the Russians and Early / Late War Germans are real easy to convert leg wise , as you cut under the skirt of the tunic , not having to worry about trying to patch the crotch with green  stuff  ( like the British  ::) ). Under the tunic you can just about place the legs any way you want .

Here my half track riders  ,built  with the idea being they have a bent leg / knee on the seat and a standing leg on the floor .So I ended up mostly  using both styles of kneeing Russians ( # 20 & 31 ) with leg swaps . The gunner was the # 25 standing figure with his legs moved closer together .Here's how the look heading into combat . The molded on packs are a bit of a problem space wise , they really only fit in the HT one way , and every time I take them out it takes me about an hour to figure out how to fit them back in , probbly should have gone with 6 in the back

Once you get bitten by the kit bash it's hard to stop . I cast up a bunch of 85mm ammo boxes for my T-34/85 and SU-85s . And I thought why not have a couple of guys standing or seated on them like you see in pictures of Russian armor in Berlin 45 . So with a standing leg added to each kneeling figure I have these guys spotting a sniper from the back of a tank

I decided to glue them to the ammo boxes so I could swap them around , here they are " dismounted "

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