Copyright 2007 T. Sheil & A. Sheil All Rights Reserved
Many homecasters are familiar with the Series 1 molds by Castings Inc. These single-cavity molds produce figures for the American Revolution, War of 1812 and Civil War. Series 1 molds have been around for a very long time. The figures are crude, by modern standards. Most look to be copies of Holger Eriksson's figures. Crude or not, they are a lot of fun to cast and paint.
We took mold #9, described as a soldier of the 3rd Georgia Regiment. He is a pretty standard Civil War type, and can represent a soldier of the War's later years or an "irregular". The figure can be painted as Union or Confederate.
About 50% of castings from the mold come out full. The usual problem is a short rifle. These are usually melted down, but one got past me. I could have used a replacement weapon, but saw an opportunity for something better. Maybe it was the shape of the short rifle, maybe the cut of the uniform. Something gave me the idea to convert the Confederate to a Soviet soldier of World War II. The basics were there: shoulder bag, bedroll, high boots. All he needed was a few extras to make the switch.
The first problem was the headgear. Two things became obvious. First, the hat needed to be replaced. Second, few Soviet soldiers had beards. That meant the easiest route would be a complete head switch. The problem was finding a head that had headgear fitting for a Russian circa 1943 - 1945.
Second ,the weapon was all wrong. I could not easily convert the percussion rifle to a Soviet type. It would need to become something else, or be replaced.
I removed the head, drilled into the neck, and trimmed the rifle. It looked as if I could make a PPsH. This required trimming the stock back. The original trigger guard was filed away. A more realistic one would have to be just forward of the other. I drilled a hole into the stock. A 20 gauge wire was bent to make a trigger guard. One half was slightly longer than the other. The long end went into the hole. It was then glued into place with JB Weld.
The solution to the head came on the next casting session. A couple of mis-cast World War II G.I. had their heads removed prior to remelting. The US helmet is similar to the Soviet helmet. A hole was drilled into one of the necks. A wire was glued in, then then the wire and head were glued to the figure. Holes and pins make a more secure grip when glue is applied. To make a Soviet helmet, the back rim of the US helmet was filed slightly.
The drum magazine was made from a piece of dowel cut about 1/8 inch thick. A notch was cut unto it to fit below the barrel.
Before gluing, primer was scraped away. We wanted our pieces to be glued to bare metal.
Everything was allowed to dry overnight. We use JB Magic Weld. When dry, it can be filed like putty. The next day, we field and then applied primer.
Our soldier was painted a green similar to Forest Green. His trousers were a slightly different shade. Boots were black. The belt and one pouch were painted brown. The other pouch was light olive, and the bedroll was khaki tan with brown tiedowns. The helmet was a dark "teal" color, more like dark green with a tinge of blue.
I added a yellow shoulder board with a red stripe, and red collar tabs. The belt buckle was bronze with a red dot in the center.
Firearm was a medium brown with gunmetal and black air holes on the barrel. Russian gunstocks tend toward a brighter "redder" brown than a grayer shade of brown.
It is crude and cheap, but it is a good example of what you can do with a less-than-perfect figure.
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Here's our potential Russian beside the original Confederate. You can see the GI head in place, and the hole drilled for the trigger guard. |
Here you can see the trigger guard, helmet and drum magazine in place. |
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Another view of the weapon with magazine. |
Another view |
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Rear view of original Confederate soldier and Soviet man. |
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Front view |
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