With all the new sets released recently the need for conversions has been greatly reduced, but there are still many reasons for converting standard figures, not least because is fun!
So here is a little project I'm working on at the moment which I hope may be of interest: a Celt-iberian warrior.
HAT "Carthaginian Allies" set (8058) has two very nice Celt-iberian figures, problem is that I play DBA/DBM, and these troops are classed either Irr Ax(S) or Irr Wb(F), which means they are supposed to have three figures per base.
Of course you can use two of the same type, but I wanted three different ones, mainly for aesthetic reasons but also to stress the "irregular" grade of the element.
While I was at it I also added shield bosses to these figures with a little bit of PVA... :)
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Hat has chosen to portray them with large Celtic shields and helmets but wearing spanish cloaks and tunics. A very sensible choice but unfortunately there are few figures from other sets that meet these criteria. There are of course a couple of figures with a cloak in the dear old airfix set, but I've got several of those in my Gallic army and I wanted something different for this.
I've chosen a figure from the Italeri "Gaul Warriors" set (6022) mainly because the figures in this set are of excellent quality but comes in very few poses, I like variety, so this was a good excuse to press another one into service... :)
This is the converted figure, the helmet plume is made with a fuse wire armour pinned into the helmet, bent to shape, chopped to size and then built up with PVA. The cloak is sculpted with milliput. I've given him a large Celtic shield from Hat "Roman Command" set (8051) which is much more similar in size and shape to the other two figures than the original one. He still wears trousers, not a tunic, but I think that's still pretty acceptable. I will fill the hole in the shield with PVA before priming.
Finally, this is the finished element, ready to take his place with the rest of the army!
Diodorus say of Celtiberians:"They wear rough black cloaks made of wool similar to goat's."..."cover their legs with furs, their heads with bronze helms topped by purpureal plumes (crests?). The have double edged swords of iron of excellent quality, and also daggers a palm long..." The Hat figures follows accurately this description, and so I've followed it also in the color scheme.
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Now I just need to get my hands on some of that HAT Spanish cavalry... :)
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