Does anybody know how to modify the poses on figures. I have only done a couple but that is only because I find the poses that most figures are in are just a little off of what I want, they are perfect for what the manufacturer intended (dragon figures in particular) but I really don't want to put the effort into building afvs and a dio and be limited to the cookie cutter poses that that are offered. I think that good figures add scale and life to a dio. So what is the secret ? I have lots of Tamiya figures to practise on lol!
Any advice would be muchley appreciated Thanks

Hi Ryan,

Well I certainly encourage you in your efforts. From my first involvement with the Dragon figure sets some 20 years ago, it was always my hope that modelers would recognize the conversion potential of plastic figures. Alas it doesn't seem to have turned out that way very much.

In any event, i would recommend a recent Squadron book by figure modeler Bill Chilstrom:

http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=SS609

He's done some excellent work converting plastic figures and has shown that it isn't very difficult.

Good luck,
Ron Volstad

Ryan,
My figure painting is about as good as a demented chimpanzee on LSD, so I usually just make the figure as per the instructions!
One of the easiest ways to adjust a pose is to simply swap the figure parts around, but you do have to be careful not to have (e.g) a torso that is supposed to have an arm upraised with an arm that is meant to hang by the figures side it would give the figure an unnatural hunched look on one side.
I've experimented with adjusting the angle of the mating surface of arms (slice a THIN wedge off the top to raise arm slightly or off the bottom to lower the arm slightly thenfill any gaps with putty.
Hope to have helped.
Tom

Hi Ryan,
Got to agree with Ron Volstad, get a couple of books such as the Bill Chilstrom converting plastic figures (which I have got ) and the Osprey book of converting figures as starters. These are excellent & I have converted a few figures now & pleased with the results.So get out your Tamiya figures & start cutting,
Mark

theres a really good article on figure conversion, but you will have to get your hands dirty to get to it. Please fallow these steps:
1. Go to http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/
2. Click "tools n tips" (in the dark blue row right under the site banner)
3. scroll down to "Figures"
4 The article is the second one, by William Tsang. (The other is helpful for painting, too.)

All the best

A book which is an old favourite for most armour/mil. fig./diorama modellers is Shep Paine's "How to Build Dioramas" (in fact it's even been called the "modeller's bible" before).

Bill Horan's Military Modelling Masterclass is also an excellent read if you're thinking of leaning toward historical miniatures later - that said, the techniques are pretty universal.

Unfortunately I'm not really a fan of the early Osprey figure modelling titles (such as the one Mark mentioned - personal preference, but I felt they fell short of my needs), but their more recent ones such as Modelling Waffen-SS Figures by Calvin Tan (my personal favourite) and Modelling Fallschirmjäger Figures by Jaume Ortiz Forns and Daniel Alfonsea Romero are really great. Don't let the titles fool you, simply because the focus is a particular subject doesn't mean the techniques displayed can't be transposed.

I've not read Bill Chilstrom's book yet, but it's on the "want list". That said, I'd seen some of the material in the early days around on the forums and it looked terrific.

In terms of non-printed material, have a browse through Historicus Forma, Kitmaker's figure modelling site. There are plenty of tips to be had there, as well as some great SBS's both in the forums and features.

HTH

Rudi

can definitely vouch for the Calvin Tan book; it is excellent.

Ryan
You are on the right track here. Converting figures is so much fun!
Soon, you will be sculpting your own.

First, you need the right tools and putty. I recommend Aves Apoxy putty.
As for the tools, it's the best to make your own out of brass rods in various thickness.

BTW, awesome silverburst! I have a 61 RI myself!...

Thanks dude It was a toss up between the 61 RI The Angus Young signature and the Silverburst . I liked the ebony fingerboard and the limited run of 400 so I bought it( plus it was about $800 cheaper than the angus young sig lol) I love SG's.

I did a minor fig conversion on a tamiya tank commander by swapping the arms off of a dragon Fallschirmjager. This gives him a more relaxed pose with his hand grabbing the aa rail on his tiger II and the other leaning on the cupola. I am very pleased with the result. I have him primed in Tamiya dark yellow and in about an hour I am going to start on the late war pea pattern cammo.

Just looked at your website Wow ! Those figures kick @$$