I'll probably keep updating my Bones II post throughout the month. For now, this:
I mentioned these heads in an
earlier post. They are made by
CP Models for 15mm scifi miniature conversions, but I had a hunch that they'd work well for 1/72 scale. I think I was right!
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| Sorry for the blurry photo and indirect poses. From left to right are a walrus head, a gas mask, a cyclops, a bug head, a reptile head (which looks more pig-like than saurian to me), a squid head, and a daemon. I'm missing the amphibian and chimp heads. The cyclops looks a little small, but all the other heads are about the size of Sven's. |
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| Conversion time! I set pins in my styrofoam blocks, with little bits of Sticky Tac to hold the heads in place. I then put Superglue on the pinheads and positioned the heads, then allowed to dry. The heads have little niches that are just a little smaller than the pins I used. Next time I may try a smaller pinhead, or just clip the pinheads off entirely. |
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| The permanently mounted heads. You can see there are little bits of metal flash, but I wasn't prepared to deal with them until they were more securely glued to their new bodies. |
For the rest, I more or less following the steps I described for my
zombie conversions: I drilled a fairly deep hole in the neck, trimmed the pin so it wasn't too long, added glue to the hole, and pushed the remainder of the pin until the new heads were flush with their bodies. Pushing on the head with a folded piece of paper towel ensures you have enough force without damaging the fine metal details on the heads. I then used a needle file to remove the bits of flash remaining on the heads.
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| The completed mods: A Caesar Miniatures knight and Hat druid become a demon legionnaire and a mind flayer. |
Pros to the CP heads: Great detail, lots of variety and character available, most work perfectly for 20mm/1-72 scale conversions. Cons: some flash, conversions aren't easy with the pins I use, though paper clips or piano wire of the right gauge would work just fine. They are also just a little expensive: I paid about 50 cents a head, which puts me over my ideal budget of 50 cents a figure when you add the cost of the bodies. The random assortments are a little cheaper, with the tradeoff that you don't know what you'll get.
All in all I recommend these heads for the cheap fantasy miniaturist looking for a little variety in his collection. I bought a bunch of the daemon heads with the idea of putting together a demonic legion. But that will be a later post.
I've found that a large majority of 15mm heads look really good on 1/72 figures.
ReplyDeleteI usually put the pin into the body first, then cut off the top, leaving enough (or a little more) to attach the head.
After drilling a hole in the head, I test to see if the pin is too long, adjust as needed, and glue the head into place.
It's a little more work to drill the hole, but I think the head is more secure that way.
From what I can tell, 15mm figures tend to have squatter, more "heroic" proportions, while 20mm figures tend to be more realistically proportioned, which I suppose is why 15mm heads and 20mm heads are about the same size.
DeleteGood suggestions for future pinning. What you suggest is more or less what I do for plastic heads. I guess I was trying to see if I could put the pinheads in the little recesses in the metal heads, so my technique changed a bit. I'll probably try something more like what you suggest for the future.
These heads were a good find, I especially like the squid head. Mainly as it gives me hope of creating some 1/72 mer people. Are you aware of any mermaid/mermen/sea people etc in 1/72? Would like some to create an army for a Poseidon I have. I already have large sea monsters and some 1/72 dolphins/sharks/rays for riders if I can make some, but actual mer type people seem to be hard to find or too large. Thanks
DeleteDepends on what you mean: these fishmen from Elhiem Miniatures are ostensibly 20mm, though they're apparently on the stumpy side. I also like the murloc figures (on the right) from the WoW board game, though you may have trouble finding them (I got lucky and found an incomplete set of the board game on eBay for cheap).
DeleteFor mermaids, there's this 15mm model from Rebel Miniatures, or these HO scale figures from Preiser. Both may be a little small, and either would be kind of an expensive way to make an army. I also think these snake women figures (discussed in this post) could make for good conversion possibilities.
You could go the other way: find some tails from some fish minis that are about the right size (these Safari Ltd. critters, possibly?) and swap them with the legs of some suitable 1/72 soldiers. Ironically, these "Sea Peoples" figures might fit the bill.
Thanks, I'll take look at those links. Had thought about finding fish tails and doing the swaps, but it was a last resort kind of thing. To be fair though, I was just looking for mermaids/men and any figure that looked kind of fishy for the main army. I've got a few larger creatures etc, so hopefully get something sorted. Thanks again
ReplyDeleteJust an update for anyone who is looking for these, they've redone their site, and the new URL for the 15mm heads is: http://www.cpmodels.co.uk/CP%20MODELS%2015mm%20HEADS.htm
ReplyDelete