I have shown you all how I chop,hot pin both head and then rider to his trusty steed.So I will not be showing how to do that again on this set of figures...
.So I`m leaving the head on.OK?.....
............It must be said for certain inspite of such cruel treatment at my hands both Horse And Lancer bare me no malice, because in passing they have made mention of it to MayBell & Fred and the Ducks were ear wigging that conversation............ As most know my work now on the Forum unlike the greedy Chap at Halfway House I don`t cut corners.However with this figure and others too,I do cut Swords free of the hand
......I wish to cut the sword free of the hand,but not just lob it off because I need it intact at this point in time.This is a fiddling job that has to be approached with a certain degree of confidence that one can do it with a good sharp pointed Craft Knife.It is not easy to photo shoot in this rather small scale also and Mrs B is out today,so I am sort of juggling it being the case Camera`s are all right handed.
So making a start I cut it very carefully like so.
It now appears so that the Scolptor has put the thumb on the sword,but although not good I will carry on......
At this stage I found it easy to use the edge of my old cutting board and make careful cut`s with the figure this way up.
It is nearly cut free of the hand.
As you see it is now completely removed.I wanted to do it this way so as to use it on the other side of the figure by perhaps just gluing a piece of thin wire to form the handle then paint it using the blade as an add to do this job.Then when all painted cutting it free of the blade and placing it onto the figure where it should be. I have not ever tried to this before,but upon seeing how blucher fixed his by using wire I thought that this way too was a worthwhile thing to do.
Now heres where the real tricky work begins.We all know the formation of a hand and how it grips tight and In this case the sword handle . So using the sharp blade again the new thumb and the fingers must be cut so in able to form the opened hand.
Lucky Me,the thumb is intact. So it needs cutting under it so it will act like a real thumb does.
Working the thumb clear but of course still attached. The work of cutting along and under the finger line begins and applying a little leverage by use of the blade eventually it will look like this or better. Just a word now about how it could be done. I have tried a hot piece of wire to burn a ring hole through the hand but I ruined a few figures trying to do this wonder because dealing with such a small scale hand and my hands not being very steady it was a thing that I could not do.If you melt the plastic away from the hand you have no hand at all,and the fine figure is waisted.so now prefure to do it the way that I have just shown.However by all means have a try and may the work go well for you.
.......Here we have a Lance and I always make them much longer then is needed. Much better to make them so because if they turn out to be to short then all the work creating them is wasted.
It is now become time to bend the arm out into a position where the Lance will be upright or indeed at an angle of ones choice. If there are those who have the question on their minds ,Why did he not bend the arm first before all the cutting? Then this is why. If the angle of the arm is changed it makes it very differcult to cut the sword free and form the hand. I know this because I did just so,but only once.One must always learn from mistakes and in this case forewarn others not to make the same ones as you.
I use my trusty old Plyers to do this job ,but not over gripping them. Just gently holding them and using perhaps the figure as leverage too.Bend it.
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Great job its going well.
There we have a nice new angle,but always it might spring back a little so this needs checking and putting back to where you want it to stay and the hand might well need a gentle twist applied in order to give the Lance the angle of choice.You twist it at the rist just how a real hand works
I think this little Bod will look fine when all the other work is done too.A point I must stress is this ,the hand is left unpainted.All the other paint & stuff one does in painting figures must be done,then the lance can be fixed in place,by a means of choice again. The glue applied in the hand and like a real hand closed hopefully with the thumb where the thumb should be.I am Allergic to solvent Glue,so I use Waterproof PVA GLUE to fix my Lancers to the hand. Using this stuff too create a thumb is easy and helps anchoiur in the Lance.Then when completely dry the last little piece of painting can be done to this hand.I paint the Cuffs to look like Gloves too.As for the Lance it is painted up before fixing and after a couple of coats of paint and the finished colour applied it will look quite good size wise.The Lance in the picture needs cutting to length and complete painting applied to it before fixing.The point is made simply by sqeezing one end with the use of Plyers and then creating a point with a sharp Craft Knife.The pennents I think they are called,well the Flag thing I make from paper and fix it to the Bristle cut from my new Yard Brush then I paint it white both sides then later add the red. When dry these can be twisted to resemble fluttering like real flags giving your model the appearance of movement. OK,guys I think I have well covered this Conversion in detail. There are many ways to convert figures and it is in the end up to the individual to deside upon which roadway to set out upon. If nothing else I hope you have found a certain degree of interest in this my system of conversion.Here are pictures of French Line Lancers as they should look like.......
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As can be well seen I`m no great painter of model figures,but I try my best,and I always have fun.
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Gulp! Did l hear you Gulp? Three boxes is this guy Beano Boy Crazy? Well l am a bit eccentric that l freely admit. Over the years l have developed a system which l call the Leap Frog System.Whereby you butcher two set`s to create another,then butcher another to make one of the sets already butchered into another unobtainable regiment.Then butcher another to create another one butchered into another unique unobtainable regiment,and then butcher another one to create another one butchered into another fine unobtainable regiment,and so on,and so on,and so on. In the end because of this great way of shuffling one onto another in my Leap Frog System the cost of creating new regiments is reduced and only a couple of boxes are waisted in the sense you end up with headless figures and horses which are good for nothing except maybe running riderless loose on a Diorama.When l look back at nearly all my Cavalry Regiments all conversions they cost only the normal cost of just buying a boxed set of figures.What l will say upon the issue of converting figures is this,don`t be like the fellow who buys a piece of wood,and then is frightened to cut it because it cost lots of money. So don`t be afraid to cut up plastic figures. Try two model figures to start with cut the heads off,and fix another one on with a pin. Simple! Well not that simple in this 1/72 scale having a good eye and steady hand at times is required,and an eccentric old fellow like me to explain & show you how to do it. However l have no intention to show you how to paint it. You lot out there are much finer painters then l could ever be. BB
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This is what I expect to see after I`ve cut my model figures off the spree.Yes the Spree! However not with Italeri ,a company that produce Massive Mistakes.
This is what you will end up with from a 17 figure boxed set.Why? That is a very good indirect question,so thank you. The reason Why,is that all the Horse furniture is wrong for Light Cavalry and what we have is a regiment of upgraded troopers all riding Officers Horses.
Here we have waistage beyond belief.11 Horses out of 17 totally useless,and it gets even worse .I have included the Officer carrying the Eagle and the Cornet because if you are doing cavalry on mass and you have them,you don`t need anymore of them.So you buy one box and toss them in the Bin,and no big deal.However in my case I had bought Boxes & Boxes of them.As I recall it was 20 boxes in total and 8 years ago since l bought them.In those days I was not on the Internet.Since then now I am and I always wait for Plastic Soldier Review before buying new model sets. So looking at what I would now be able to use from each other box opened was three figures & three horses. £ 6.98 a box very expensive plastic models indeed because now the Officers were no longer needed.My!Oh My! What was I to do?I decided to give them correct horses because back in the day there were no decent model cavalry set`s on the market,so coversions were the only option.Eventually I found the only avalible correct horses.
Things were looking brighter I could use the horses from Italeri French Hussars. Great! However I now have to buy more Boxed sets of those.
The 11 have nice remounts now.......
So here is the first Regiment de Chasseurs put RIGHT!
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This is what they should look like & not blue like on the Box. So no real work needed to put this set right except money!There is the French cavalry 1st Regiment de Chasseurs which wear helmets so thats another possibility & French Line Lancers too.
So what is now needed to create these regiments is this boxed set and the Italeri French Light Cavalry boxed set too. I will deal with these conversion`s next time.
These are my trusty tools.If you have not got these,then you can not do this conversion...........
Two model figures.The heads are cut off using a new blade in my craft knife.....
Next using the point of the blade,well out the neck & head that is to is being used.....
By making this small well where the pins will go,means they will guide the hot pin,and as it is pushed gently in the plastic melted by the heat will fill up the tiny well.I use my Plyers to hold the pin over the flame of the Gas Cooker...........
Next hot Dress Makers Pins are inserted into each piece........
To see how far the pins have gone in place a pin next to them and you will see just how far.........
The pin in the body is pulled out..........
The pin in the head is cut to the required length and then pushed into the hole in the body......
There is no need to use glue at this stage.He is looking quite cool already......
Next the figure is to be pinned to the saddle.judge where the pin will go and well out the place like the head and neck was....
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I know it brings tears to the eyes......
Push a hot pin into his Butt end as far as a good deep depth .Also push a hot pin into the saddle the deeper the better,but watch out you don`t go right through the body and burn yourself like I have done.....
Pull out the pin in the saddle and cut pin in his Butt end to fit into the hole in the saddle.A good length is needed to make sure this guy is never going to fall off if the horse topples over.....
Now we`re talking COOL,he is well fixed to his steed.He is ready to paint as is his horse.Of course he will be painted separated from the horse....
Not all French Line Lancers were armed with the lance,so this guy is one of those.OK?....
The next one will be converted in the same way,but a Lance will be made and fitted.now a word or two about fitting the heads on.We have seen how the pins work very well.If you want to use a glue also do not put it on the pin because l have found this causes traped air and the pin to behave like a piston and the head will be pushed up and out of position.So place your tiny amount glue on bottom of the head where the pin is,and on top of the neck of the body where the head will touch.l usually use PVA Glue for just doing this sealing job.l leave it to nearly dry apply a tiny amount more and push it into place.This causes it to act like contact glue.If you don`t want to use glue put some paint on it to seal the neck to the body. Really it is the pins that have fixed it .Job done.Next to do is paint him up a wonderful thing I know most of you can do.
The unwanted heads are placed in my state of the arts head box,a thing I`ve used this way for years. These heads can even be used to convert other figures too. This was the little box that held the heads l gave to blucher,and a fine upstanding job of use he made of them.The left over bodies go back into their boxes. .....
There will be more French Line Lancer to make up,but I just want to show you how the leap frog system works. This box of French Dragoons will make it possible to convert the Saxon Cuirassiers into French Cuirassiers using the heads of the Dragoons.However the horse furniture needs trimming into a new look.Yes I know the Saxon Cuirassiers had no back plate fitted,but once the model is painted with the metal look the back plate will look quite normal.All this to come later if you follow along with my quirky idea`s .
Next part,more French Line Lancers. I hope you have found interest in this conversion so far. BB
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.....The next simple one to do compared with the Regiments of Line Lancers that is.Are the French Cuirassiers made from these headless horsemen in the picture. 
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I also thought you might like to see this model figure too.I have given him a fresh remount by using one of the spare horses rather then waste another one. Dead easy to convert this Officer into perhaps the Prince of Orange or indeed Lord Uxbridge or just another Allied Officer that you wish to make up. Head swops are so easy to do.The more model conversions completed the better and quicker it will become to do them for the Modeller wishing to have something special in his collection.I`ve been doing mainly cavalry conversion for the best part of 10 years.The first ones were rather Naff beyond belief and it was the Refferance Books I needed to be able to determine what all these regiments looked like. I began to Haunt the Public Library like some Daytime Ghost,but was never aloud to take the Books out on loan that I was most interested in. I am glad to say that I now own those very Rare Book`s. So I am looking into them so as to create more conversions now for my own use.However I will be pleased to place some here on this Forum and give How To Do details.
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1st Regiment French Cuirassiers. It is the horse furniture that is of interest here and this is what we need to convert slightly these Horses to that similar to these.Remember lot`s of stuff was carried on board the horse when these guys were on campaign.Kit Bags full of this and that . Bags of Oats for old reliable Dobin! Two Pistols with covers over them.Blankets & Coats.Jam Butties even.Perhaps a little Piglet borrowed from somewhere for supper too.
For this conversion I need to cut and trim here.
Also the same on the other side too along with this rope thing to the side of the knife blade. It is quite a simple job to do and is quickly done. Now there are peg holes in these models that need filling in. Next job pick a couple of heads of the French Dragoons and get to hot pinning again. Just the job to warm you up in the cold weather and even more so if you hot pin yourself. These heads are tiny to hold so I hold the horse hair as a handle.
This is the first one done.
I still need to work on plugging up those peg holes. I also need to alter the shape of part of the waterproof cover over the pistols. I will show you this latter hopefully.The pegs on these guys legs have been cut off.It is a real Bind of a job to paint up a nice model horseman and then try to fix him to his horse and have all your paint work ruined by having to push legs into plug holes.Ping! Crack! Ping! All ruined.So I cut E`m off and fill E`m in,and use my favourite The White Hot Pin and you who are laughing just know now where I stick E`m.Yes more tears to ones eyes.
The second one is nearly finished,and it seems totally unfair of them to gang up on this other fellow who`s actually on their side. Lets see if he keeps his head and stays Cool in this situation he finds himself in.Well I think not the Knife and White hot pins are already in my hand.
This is the second Bod and a tiny little drop of PVA Glue well improve his collar.When the back of the figures are painted in metal.( Silver I like ),it will look just as good as if the back plate to the Cuirass had been modelled.A musket will be fixed onto the belt on each of these models.There are no shoulder fringes or tassels if you like on these figures but that is easy to put right with extra red paint to give the right look to these Cuirassiers.
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Just a couple of picture showing my converted figures all pinned .These are photos shot with my oldest Camera. So they not that clear and well defined and where my painting is concerned a good thing.
These Italeri French Dragoons are all ready to receive the heads needed to convert them into ?
Meanwhile the heads lay awaiting fixing to make up Cuirassiers.So I thought you might like to see these like this up close .Mainly to view the fantastic horses that were indeed a certain must for me to save for the next conversion . 
I`m saving this fellow as he is until later when he will get the chop.
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The Boxed set above have fantastic looking horses. 1998 was the year of its release from Italeri....
The de Chasseurs a Cheval have all been pinned to their mount`s.....
1er Regiment de Chasseurs a Cheval because many of them wear the same helmit as the Line Lancers however without the fur trim.....
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I know that this regiment is top on the list to convert. So I will look into converting the Helmet in order to do it.
The Camels are the same in each box,and now it is my aim and clear intention to buy a few boxes of either box,and later work on a few conversions.There are certainly five figure conversions possible which do not have the jacket.
