Kit Bashing Figures – Easy Peasy or a PIA ?
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Well its a bit of both really .Sometimes it just an arm swap from another sprue and sometimes its major surgery . So let’s see some of your kit bashes , if possible let us know where the parts came from to make your unique figure . Mind you , if your like me , you just muck about with pieces from your parts box and end up with a something cool and really don’t know how you got there . And while a sprue of Japanese figures might not appeal if your building a Russian or SS Army , you never know what might come in handy , so keep an eye out for the Warlord sprue sales .
To start off here’s a couple of easy ones . Just an arm replacement , the bugle arm and pole arm pair from the Japanese added to Russian bodies
This ones a little more work , cutting off the Russians legs and replacing them with the legs of plastic civil war cavalry troops , again I used the Japanese bugle arm .
I’ve got a few more kit bashed figures which I’ll share later when I figure what I used to build . So lets see some of yours
I’ll spare you the photo of the 60 infantry I built using DAK and winter Germans using spare SS and panzergrenadier head/arms to make a Volksgrenadier division lol
But the hardest kitbashes I’ve done are the VG lmg team and my Saving Private Ryan squad where I tried to match the on screen kits as close as I could. The LMG team uses parts from winter Germans, DAK, SS, and panzergrenadiers; and the SVP uses Rangers, US GI(newer edition), US Airborne, and panzergrenadiers
Please excuse the lack of paint, I haven’t gotten to them yet, I have about 100 infantry in my backlog 🙂
Nice work on the SPR figures , those will look great when painted . So you build and then paint ? I paint on the sprue then assemble and touch up .Your VI MG team looks like a 3D puzzle , did you also swap legs on the gunner ? I find the flared tunic on the Germans and Russians makes it easier to swap legs , no crotch to worry about like on the US and Brit figures.
I found a use for that MG with the open cover plate from the German weapons sprue . I removed the arm that was molded to the ammo box and found arms that make the figure look like he’s reloading the gun . The empty ammo box had the arm removed as well . My FJ MG team used the hand holding the bipod from early war Germans IRC and the MG is the gun/arm that comes in the 251 halftrack kit . Took a little bit of cutting to get the gunner’s left arm to look right . The loader’s arms were found in the parts box with no changes needed . I used the same body pair for my FJ Panzerscheck team , the US weapons sprue Bazooka was basis for the schreck , with bits trimmed away and then the shield , hand grips and wire shoulder stock added , although they really can’t be seen unless you pick up the figure .
I like to zenithol prime, so I assemble 90% of a model with the exception of arms that could get in the way of painting. I sticky tack those for the priming, then remove during painting, and will glue them in place just before I do shading.
The mg was fiddly to put together, the bipod was particularly difficult to get in a good spot, but I’m satisfied with how it came out. I’ll have to try cutting the legs off sometime, the next batch I want to make are tank riders and that might make it easier to get decent poses. Only thing after that is figuring out how to cut sheet steel small enough to glue to feet or butts for magnetizing
Your models all look like they came out extremely well! I especially like the panzerschreck, I definitely need to build 1 of those sometime. Was that loading mg difficult to put together?
These are some of my early models, first ones I built for the game and some of the first models I ever painted. They’re pretty much just arm swaps but I’m fairly satisfied with how they came out. I gotta snag a buttstock off a German mg for the LMG that’s running at some point. The German’s not the most impressive but I had fun with the paint job making the mg barrel look overheated, I explain it away as he’s run out of barrels and is now having to let it cool the old fashioned way.
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I thought the machine gun came with the top plate as a separate piece ,but I cant find the leaflet with it shown . I thought it was the late war Heer ( Warlords 1st German kit , skinny arms / weapons sprue ) but I only ever ordered them during the sprue sale for parts so got no instructions . Love the sub machine guns / MGs in that set but the riffles are smaller / thinner than later plastic sets & ammo box crap IMO so only bought one weapons sprue .Maybe I did make it as I only have one . Usually stuff I only have one of is stuff I made . . Just use a sharp chisel blade to cut and a thin piece of plastic for the plate , probably best to use a piece of one of the ammo belts from another set ( Panzer Gren / FJ ) as the belt attached to the box would need to be sanded thinner .
Do you kit bash tanks as well ? I’ve got a few of those that I’ve messed about with
For me, I find kit-bashing almost a must sometimes to get that figure you need for your games.
Kit-bashing/conversions can also be fun as well, but while kit-bashing/conversions can be easy for some, it can be a PitA for others. Even the simple ones can be a PitA for some – the latter is more dependent on their level of modelling skill.
Andy Singleton (a good modeller) makes it took easy, and he also has some good ideas worth looking at. You can find out more in one of the articles in the article section:
Another one to take a look at is Paul Sawyer’s stuff:
There might be some more stuff in the articles section, so its worth looking through them.
Some very easy but well thought out kit bashes there . Your right K98 , some can be a real PIA even if you done kit bashing for years . I’ve always liked Troop of Shewe’s conversions . Here’s a couple of his photos I saved from the old Warlord site ( from 2014 IRC ). I’ve tried to cut / bend some Brit troops to make seated figures like these but failed miserably . I did mange to make something similar using the German plastic seated set ,but you have to do a little surgery to remove the lower arm /hands molded on the legs
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I also wanted to mention scratch building. That is, kit-bashing and scratch building.
Of course, some people make it look so easy:
Kit-bashing the figures above would be easy enough for me, but scratch building the MMG looks fun. That is why I have always wanted to try and scratch build an MMG myself just like the one pictured above using all the same bits and techniques. However, I still have three new still in the packages perfectly usable MMGs from Artizan (SWW028) that I really should finish first.
Anyway, for those new to the hobby, not only is kit-bashing a good thing, but don’t overlook the wonders of scratch building as well.
That MG 42 mount looks awesome . I might attempt that in 1/35 but 1/56 is too small with my bad vision and fat fingers .lol Best I can do is kit bash the kit parts with bits and pieces from the parts box . This is the crappy flat looking MG that comes with the Stalin II kit , with added ammo box / ammo , hand grips and balance cylinders , to give it a more 3D look
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@Jim – good improvement on the MG.
Hopefully this thread will encourage those players that would normally just avoid doing something like this. It is easier than most people would think. I know because I use to be one of those that didn’t think it was within my skill level. It is just time consuming, and I think that is what worries some.
Scratch building is sometimes essential. For example, I have held off building my Japanese infantry because there are so little other plastic kits. Things like AT guns and whatnot. But with a little effort, scratch building is a good option. Look at what this guy does:
You can find more information and pics on his blog-site:
http://iagsmgm.blogspot.com/2021/10/scratch-build-usmc-37mm-anti-tank-gun.html
Yes. he makes it look easy, and it’s not, but it can be done even if it takes someone a bit longer. Also, it might take more than one try if scratch building for the first time. That is, getting the hang of the subtleties, but it gets easier and more refined the more you do it.
Those guns look great . For me the hardest part would be getting a good looking gun barrel / breach built . A good “cheat ” would be the extra barrels that you get in the PSC Russian 45mm AT gun kit . I’ve also used GW gun breaches in my tanks to fill up space in turrets with open hatches ( early T34/76 , Pzr III & IV with turret side hatches open ) Wheels could also be a problem , is there any after market 1/56 wheels out there ? I’ve used Tamiya 1/48 wheels from bits I picked up at a hobby show /swap meet . And the Rubicon T-26 kit which shares a sprue with the BA 10 AC gives you 10 ( IRC ) GAZ ( 1930s Ford ) style wheels . The trail legs would be easy using Evergreen plastic pieces as would a flat gun shield . The more intricate shaped shields of late war guns might be a little trickier .And although Rubicon have some AT guns , I do wish someone would release more guns / howitzers in plastic
I have converted (kitbashed) models ever since I started wargaming in the 1960s. In those days there was only Airfix readily available. So if I wanted anything not on the Woolwoths Airfix shelf I had to convert or scratch build it. Fortunately the Airfix magazine had monthly conversion articles.
So even now I convert if I need something. For Bolt Action I carried out the following conversions often just before the actual models were released: Heer flamethrower, sniper and Kz 8cm GrW 42 team, a complete Georgian Legion section, British Assault Pioneers, various specialists and personality figures (including my father). Project Z survivors have become various “Last Defenders of the Reich” I have also modified and detailed Poundland Jeeps, Matchbox Scout cars and Dinky Daimler Armoured Cars into passable wargames models as they all scale out close to 1/56. In addition some die cast light trucks and several toys also fit in for size and, with a bit of work, make passable and useful models.
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