What was the first miniature you converted?

[getagrip]

First metal figure a Pendraken Mammoth. I remember having a pair of plastic ACW Gatling guns and doing a head swap to make them colonial.... Apart from adding weapons etc...not much else.

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Does bending qualify as a conversion? 

[Maenoferren]

I nearly chopped my finger off sawing this thing into bits... And I would say it looks different from the original...

[Fenton]

No X rated depraved sculpts by Phil. But I did find this

[getagrip]

I nearly chopped my finger off sawing this thing into bits... And I would say it looks different from the original...

   

We've all done that  

Only kidding,  good job.  Better than my first shot  

[Ithoriel]

They looked better after I'd finished with them  .....Especially the one with the whip !!  
Cheers - Phil

I am reminded of Aly's Chaos Nuns (deemed unsuitable for production apparently) and the magician "Sam Fox" whose similarity to the Page 3 model of the same name was mainly down to their states of (un)dress

My first conversions were of the Airfix Robin Hood figures into Goths to fight my Romans.

I do remember converting Airfix figures into French Horse Grenadiers, then painting them with pink jackets, white bearskins and white trousers - not realising the uniform illustration I had was of a trumpeter!!

[mollinary]

The first that I can still remember (well, you know how it is!) fulfilled my need to create some British Napoleonic infantry to match my Airfix Highlanders. Even then, I knew that not all Brits went to war in skirts.   So, the bodies, as any fule kno, could only come from the highlanders themselves. They were then chopped off below the gonads, and Airfix Union and Confederate infantry legs attached. The bonnet was sliced off, and replaced by a bit of sprue with a paper front and a tiny peak.  I did 120 of these Frankenstein's monsters, and thought they were great. They fought nobly, but went to the great skip in the sky many decades ago 

Mollinary

[paulr]

British heavy dragoons converted to King's German Legion heavy dragooons by covering the helmet with the vast fore and aft bicorn in plasticine. Didn't look to bad from a distance, being 6mm figures helped 

[Hertsblue]

As with many others, Airfix US cavalry into French Chasseurs à Cheval by slicing off the hats and replacing them with shakos removed from spare French line infantry. Little paper coat-tails and a fresh paint-job completed the transformation. Sadly, the dark green paint I chose for the new uniforms turned out to be gloss. Oh, and my new light cavalry turned out considerably bulkier than Airfix's own cuirassiers. 

[getagrip]

As with many others, Airfix US cavalry into French Chasseurs à Cheval by slicing off the hats and replacing them with shakos removed from spare French line infantry. Little paper coat-tails and a fresh paint-job completed the transformation. Sadly, the dark green paint I chose for the new uniforms turned out to be gloss. Oh, and my new light cavalry turned out considerably bulkier than Airfix's own cuirassiers. 

Takes me back.  I glossed most of my German infantry and couldn't work out why they looked stupid (paint job aside that is).

Anyone remember these?  I inherited my dad's old paints in Airfix glass bottles:

[fsn]

I do, though I'd forgotten about the glass bottles until I saw the picture!

I still have some Airfix M21, which I bought in bulk to do bases.

[getagrip]

HATE enamel paint!

[Hertsblue]

Takes me back.  I glossed most of my German infantry and couldn't work out why they looked stupid (paint job aside that is).

Anyone remember these?  I inherited my dad's old paints in Airfix glass bottles:

Yes, me too. After a few times of using you'd need a plumber's wrench to get the tops off. And the tins.... don't get me started on the tins!

[getagrip]

Tins...

The tin on the right shows "exactly" why they were cr@p!  Gunk, which meant it never closed properly, which meant it dried out or took on the consistency of paint porridge!

[FierceKitty]

Wasn't cheap, either.

[getagrip]

Wasn't cheap, either.

Flaming well wasn't; which was why, as a young teen, I ended trying to paint with gritty enamels.

I reckon they probably cost (early 80's) the same as they do now, which, when you consider inflation, was outrageous.

[Leman]

I bless the day I discovered acrylics. It was some time in the mid-70s. My first acrylics were Colour Party, bought at a show in Leeds.

[Subedai]

Using Airfix magazine articles on WW I Germans to convert the US Cavalry into lancers and the ACW artillery limber crew into Germans sitting on the front of a converted ACW gun into a 7.7 field gun. I used to heat up a darning needle over a candle and weld the horses hooves to the bases because no glue would work. Still got the needle, clears Vallejo bottle nozzle blockages now.

[Leman]

Gosh! I remember doing exactly the same thing.

[getagrip]

Using Airfix magazine articles on WW I Germans to convert the US Cavalry into lancers and the ACW artillery limber crew into Germans sitting on the front of a converted ACW gun into a 7.7 field gun. I used to heat up a darning needle over a candle and weld the horses hooves to the bases because no glue would work. Still got the needle, clears Vallejo bottle nozzle blockages now.

You're right about those plastics; always had a weird greasy feel and nothing would stick!

[FierceKitty]

Baaaaad old days!