Talking Heads

Okay so it's not the group from way back when.

But I'm talking about head swaps.

So I bought a set of Police Officers from Rebel Minis  http://www.rebelminis.com/index.html some time ago, which is great if you want a lot of just plain police officers but, NOoo not me I want a mix of law enforcement officers, other then just city types of police, I wanted a sheriff and some deputies and most of all some State Police or State Troopers as well,  I just don't want to fight off zombies in the city but options of doing so in a country setting as well, so after a long hunt I found some heads to swap out with.

Rebel Minis Police.

Peter Pig http://www.peterpig.co.uk/ has a whole section of mostly just heads, under "Heads and Odds", I ordered a few different sets, I bought a set of WWI Dough Boy with the campaign hats which will make up my state police. I also bought a set of ACW confederate wide brim hats, a little rework to the hats and they will make up for my sheriff and deputies.

WWI Dough Boys

First I have to remove the head off the figure that will be converted, I carefully removed the head, I scored along the neck with razor knife or Hobby knife then I use a large nail clipper to finish the job the score marks along the collar gave a place the the clippers cutting edges to rest in to make the cut.

Once the head is removed next I drilled a hole to receive the post of the new head,
I dry fit the new head to make sure it will fit, once I was happy with the new look I glued it in place, using Super Glue Gel.

And now I have a State Trooper.

Heck I could paint a couple as Game Wardens or Park Rangers as well.

Here is a look of both my Police Officer and State trooper side by side the head looks a little small in the side by side but I'm sure once the are all painted on the table on wouldn't notice that much of a change.

So I have a few more to go and paint job to boot then I will work on my Deputy Sheriff.

I have some cars that will get a State Trooper car paint job as well.

I hope this will help with giving one ideas to add to their games.

Basing Mass Figures.

Okay so I have a lot of figures that need their bases finished, in a earlier post I showed you how I like to use Milliputty for some of my figures and that process takes time.

So how do you do it fast and get more figures done, I use wood glue around the base.

 The only tool you will need would be a handful of toothpicks.

Now this is going to take a couple of applications but I think the look is great.

Like I have explained in an earlier post on my thoughts on basing figures, that I don't  like flocking or clumps of grass all around my figures feet for most part in my game play is mostly around urban build up areas or cave and dungeons, but hay  to each  their  own .

I like mounting my figures on 1/4 inch washers the size to me looks right for the figures, sure it cost more but again it just looks right to me.

So now here is the figure after the first application of good old Elmers wood glue after it had dried.

And here is the second application after it had dried as well.

Okay so here is a side by side comparison of each stage. You cans see it builds up nicely to like a Pitcher's mound. You can also see that I had a gap problem with the trailing foot on all three of these figures  and the glue filled in the gap.

Here is a comparison shot of the wood glue base along with the Milliputty base. You can see a much cleaner looking base using the wood glue.

I am able to apply a single application to about 70 figures in an hour. Which is far better use of one's time the wood glue method is far faster and cost far less as well then the Milliputty and I think it make the figures look great. I let each application set over night before adding the next and let the next application set as well over night, now they are ready for painting.

Well I hope this helps one to choose the right look for their figure and that basing large amount of figures don't seem such a large task

Engineering Clutter

Here again playing in the plumbing department some of the same part used in my earlier post for engines can also be used for storage tanks for on your ship as well.

Okay so these are 1/2 inch, 3/4 inch, 1 inch  and a couple of 2 inch plumbing parts, these are all threaded parts that have the raise ridges of a better look.

One could also use them for other areas. Dress them up with some wire as piping and plumbing, some small panels here and there and I think they would look great.

Here I'm using them with the engines for a large looking engine room.

Engineering Room.

Now the parts in the upper right corner can also be used and a small engine as well for a small shuttle or something and seen below.

Now there are some other items added for more clutter.

The blue thing is a wall anchor.

Cap from a toothpaste style chalking tube.

House hold electrical connector.

Cat 5 electrical connector as a computer. 

A whole bank of computers.

You can get a pack of 25 for about $10

Here is just shot from different angles of would be engineering room.

I hope this has given you lots of ideas. Many of these items can be used for other terrain ideas as scattered items at a spaceport, crash site or other parts of your ship.

When these things are all dressed up with wire and plastic card for panels and other bits and bobs they are going to look great when all painted.

I know I have enjoyed sharing these ideas.