15mm Headswop Tutorial

.
Here's a quick tutorial to encourage those of you who may have fancied doing headswops in 15mm but put off by the thought of it being fiddly or needing tools/materials that are costly or not easily available.

That was me. I read a lot of tutorials espousing pinvice drills, pinning with brass rod etc and you come away wondering if a) you have the skills and b) whether the effort/cost is worth it.

In this tutorial I will show you that you don't need any special tools or materials beyond what's already in your model toolbox and will have a model you will be proud of in only 5 minutes.

I love GZG's new separate heads (SG15-XH1 & XH2) and thoroughly recommend them - you'll see a lot of conversions using them on Dropship Horizon over the next month. For the purpose of this exercise I will use separate heads from Peter Pig's Heads & Odds range.

In Sci Fi terms, my favourite heads from P.Pig are L-R below: No.45 French Beret FFL Modern, No.49 Tank Commander IDF and No.46 German WW2 Combat Cap.

Peter Pig 15mm Heads and Odds

A word of caution. Peter Pig heads are 'small' that is, they are designed to fit Peter Pig models which are closer to 15mm than most Sci Fi/Modern ranges on the market. However, they work surprisingly well with most but not all of the 15mm Sci Fi figures.

Having said that. Whilst you may not be able to get away with the Peter Pig heads on the same base with other miniatures that have bare heads/open helmets, but as individual minis or elsewhere within the battleforce - they'll be fine. I tend to use the Pig separate heads in circumstances where the rest of the force are wearing closed faced/full visored helmets such as GZG's New Israelis, FSE etc.

The GZG heads are larger as they are designed to fit the 'larger' GZG figs - but as a result they have far more character in their faces. Used judiciously they fit well on many other manufacturers miniatures including Peter Pig/Rebel Minis etc. See my previous 'Arnie' figure.

Before we begin, a note on hobby knives - if you follow this tutorial you will kill your expensive X-acto knife blades in short order. I bought a blister pack of 8 'snap' blade knives from Poundland - for a pound. Fantastic - they are used all the time.

STEP 1

• - Inspect the miniature carefully to determine the best line of attack. Use a quick wash of GW Badaab Black or similar round the neckline to see the details clearly.

• - Clean the chosen miniature and separate head (especially the head) of flash and any mould seams before going any further.

• - If I want to keep the original miniature's head to use again, I cut round the neck with the point of my knife, then try to twist the head off. If this doesn't work I'll use firm but limited downward angled cuts. Carefully trying to avoid any detail I want to keep, though not always possible.

GZG 15mm FSE miniature

• - Sometimes, you just have to get the snips out and cut the head off in chunks, using a knife to pare down the remaining metal.

• - TAKE CARE at all times! Cut away from you and if using snips, point the head away from you/family/pets.

• - Now clean up the neck and surrounding area, but don't expend a lot of effort at this stage.

STEP 2

• - Once again take a good look at the miniature to determine where you will be attaching the neck spigot, the angle of the head etc.

• - Cut the neck spigot of the separate head to 2-3mm in length and use Blu-tack to attach the head at various angles/attitudes so you know what works best for the mini and looks good to you.
  

• - Now make a small pilot hole using the tip of your knife. This will help prevent the knife slipping. When ready 'Drill' downwards using a circular motion. Make sure you apply pressure downwards to avoid injury. NOTE: The miniature is on the cutting mat for demonstration purposes - you will need to hold it firmly, keeping fingers away from the blade.

• - You will be surprised how quick and easy it is to create a perfect dip for the spigot. Keep the angle of the knife high otherwise you will have a wide but shallow pit, perhaps unintentionally destroying detail that you wanted to keep. This is what you are aiming for:

• - Clean off any excess metal round the rim with the edge of the knife/file, leaving a clean edge (above).

STEP 3

• - Try the fit of the head/spigot at the angle you're aiming for. Cut the spigot/make the hole deeper as required.

• - To give yourself greater control when attaching the head, plus preventing yourself from gluing your fingers together - to the miniature - to the head - et al, stick the head to a coffee stirrer using Blu-tack (see below).
  

• 

• - Happy? Drop a blob of your preferred brand of superglue into the hole. I use a GEL superglue for greater application control.

• - Attach the head and hold it steady. In my experience GEL superglue takes that little longer to set, maybe up to a minute. Don't rush this bit!

STEP 4

• - Revel in your brilliantness! You have just created a unique miniature in 15mm!

• 

• - If you just want to 'make sure' the head stays on - a collar of epoxy resin or Miliput/Greenstuff will provide the extra resilience you are looking for and also repair any small details on the miniature. You'll be surprised what you can get away with once the figure is painted though, including globs of errant epoxy! So don't sweat it.

DONE!

Seriously, it only takes 5 minutes once you get the hang of it. That's a Sci Fi platoon in an hour.

But what if the head comes from another miniature and doesn't have a spigot? No probs - a quarter of the headswops I've done over the past 5 years or more have been heads taken from other figures. All I do is make a hole in the bottom of the head so that the glue has something to purchase. I also make extra effort to create a small dip on the miniature just under the jaw so that the head rests more firmly on the miniature.

I've not lost one head from one of my headswops over the years, so I know this works. Go on, have a go - it's easy and fun. I garuantee you'll be looking at every miniature now for potential beyond it's nominally intended role - and will even reconsider miniatures that you passed up or discarded in the past.

If you have tips or tricks of your own about headswops in 15mm - feel free to share in the Comments section below.

Cheers
Mark
.

"Oh my God. Ze Gas Mask Bandits!"

.
Told you I was having fun! Peter Pig WW2 Pack 285: Russians in greatcoat with SMG given that retro Sov-Block 'Kolony' Rebel look with a GZG gasmask separate head.


Just a rough 5 minute job to see if it works. Peter Pig 15mm are exactly what they say on the tin - mostly that is - a few ranges, such as the modern USMC are bigger. This means that side by side with Rebel Minis, GZG, Critical Mass Games, these P.Pig Soviets are noticably smaller, though not at all when a couple of inches away from each other on the tabletop.

The new GZG separate heads though , are not surprisingly on the larger side, so they won't work in every instance - but the gasmask heads do! And, because they ARE just that bit larger than the P.Pig figure, the whole distopian effect is enhanced.

Peter Pig also offer a range of WW2 Germans in greatcoat which includes MP44 assault rifles, Panzerfausts, Soviet SMGs. Many of these and some of the Germans in 'Zeltbahn', could be potentials for the 'Kolony' treatment.



Cheers
Mark
.

Another Day Another Head Swop

.
Ever since Jon sent me the first samples of the remastered New Israelis, I felt compelled to turn the the superb squad leader miniature in pack SG15-Z7 into a character along the lines of Sergeant Major Avery Johnson from HALO or Sgt. A. Apone from Aliens.

Another Glorious Day in the Corps

This mini took about half an hour. I used clippers to take the helmeted head off then carefully paired down the remaining metal - think of Paulie preparing the garlic in Goodfellas.

The character head I chose was from the original sprue of character heads Jon sent me. Too late, I found that the spigot attached to this head under the chin and not the neck. I'd already removed it from the sprue by this time and because the head is too small to hold and safely cut the remaining spigot away, I had to use a rat-tail file to trim it back sufficiently.

The head still sat too proud of the neckline - a common error in this type of conversion, so I used a semi-round rat-tail file to create a dip that would allow the head to sit more realistically. The finished figure will have a suitable collar round his neck created from Greenstuff, to tidy up the join and provide additional strength to the head.

Hope you like it. I'm seriously chuffed with how 'Sgt Major Johnson' has turned out and think it makes a very powerful miniature that will add character to the whole unit. Next New Israeli figure I fancy converting in this manner is the advancing Sniper from pack SG15-Z10. I think he'd look really mean with the separate head wearing vision enhancing goggles.

Cheers
Mark
.

Are You My Mummy? - GZG Headswops

.
Started playing around with GZG's latest 15mm Sci Fi separate heads in tonight and having fun!

I had a couple of figures left over in a duplicate pack of SG15-X04A Free Trader Crew and thought that I'd begin by trying out the heads on the 'Captain' wearing a dustcoat.

First up, "Are you my mummy?" Took about 5 minutes to carefully remove the existing head leaving as little damage to the figure and head as possible. I managed this by carefully carving round the head using a downward cut, before snapping the head off with my fingers.


Not bad, though I think the head with a Mohican and smaller mouth/nose mask would create a more interesting character without any further work. But, continuing with this full face 'gasmask' head - turn that pistol into a Glock or machine-pistol, place a machete or shotgun in his left hand, obligatory post-apocalypse keffiyeh/shemagh cowl round his neck - you have a bona fide post Nuclear/Pandemic/Zombie/Alien holocaust survivor.


Of course you might just want a 'Bad Ass' character, heavy or crime boss. This bald head with visor shades and cigar oozes Samuel L Jackson attitude!

The separate heads with visor/goggles alone will provide five good potential conversions in the G15-X04B Free Trader Crew and Passengers pack before I even get to the Ravagers, Armed Civilians/Colonists and various military types.

Cheers
Mark
.

New 15mm GZG Heads Up!

.
Back in November Jon at GZG took up some of my ideas here on Dropship Horizon for 15mm separate Character Heads (click here). He consequently produced some brilliant 15mm heads for those of us who wanted to give our miniatures a bit more individual character. We had fun building upon the theme of these original heads and the fallout of this is that Jon's had several additional sprues sculpted, two of which are illustrated below:

GZG 15mm Separate Heads
Top: Shades/Visors & Goggles/Vision Enhancers
Bottom: Gasmasks and Breathers

A closeup of the Shades/Visors & Goggles/Vision Enhancers

My photos simply don't do these heads justice. They are magnificent. I take my hat off to Chromecat of the D.C.2150 blog, Joe Dragovich and their ilk for their fine conversion work (click here), and these heads present a real bonus to those of us who find we lack the patience (my particular malaise) or the skill to do this sort of thing for ourselves.

The possibilities are now endless for creating new miniatures using Jon's new separate heads - colourful military personnel, Mercs, Insertion teams, Cyber-Punks, Post-Apoc survivors/gangs, wasteland warriors, industrial world militia, RPG characters. A whole new realm of life can also be given to existing miniatures beyond paint conversions.

Next up from GZG - a 30mm tall human infantry Walker. First of several variants from Jon's workbench.

GZG 15mm Sci Fi Power Armoured Trooper

The Walker is 30mm tall and comes with moulded power/jump pack and separate arms. These arms have a ball joint that attaches to a socket at the shoulders which gives you plenty of scope for posing them individually. The detail includes integral smoke or anti-personnel grenade dischargers.


It's a really substantial miniature that has a very real world design about it. I'll pop up a few more photos over the coming weekend once I have the arms attached. If you have suggestions for additional variants/weapon types post your ideas below.

But that's not all from GZG. Jon has also scuplted some additonal support weapons for the New Israelis - a MILAN style missile launcher - I've seen it and am very impressed, together with a HAMR gunner that is still being worked on.

Finally....a new range of Sci Fi troopers are coming from GZG! You are going to love them! Stick with Dropship Horizon to find out more in my first entry of 2010!

Cheers
Mark
.

GZG 15mm Character Heads

.
Jon at GZG has earned a BIG cigar for listening to my rant about the need for 15mm character heads just over a week ago here on Dropship Horizon.


I was absolutely gobsmacked when these unexpectedly dropped through the letterbox today. We'd chatted about the possibility and various head/sprue options last weekend. I hadn't expected anything before the new year!

What we have here in this release is a sprue of true character heads. These heads will allow you to personalise your WW2, Pulp, Modern and Sci Fi figures for 1-2-1 character skirmish games, RPGs, guncrawls etc with unique miniatures. There's a head compin on a cigar, snarling with crew cut, a Mohican and bandana. C'mon! You've got to have a least one SAW or Plasma gunner wearing a bandana on your guncrawl!


I felt the head chompin on cigar deserved to be seen in more detail. This serving USMC Colonel is a dead ringer for Sergeant Major Avery Johnson (HALO), and as you can see one of Jon's new 15mm character heads has caught the expression perfectly!

These character heads will not only personalise and breathe life into your 15mm figures. They will both create greater variation amongst the miniatures of your military units and extend the use of existing GZG or similar 'character' packs through a simple headswop, giving you distinctly different figures.

Thanks Jon!

Available soon from:

GROUNDZEROGAMES.NET

Cheers
Mark
.