Right well as I said last week I’ve decided to put the painting on hold for a couple of weeks and have a bit of a start at a new project. This idea came to me while I was looking through
my collection of sci-fi guns in search of some rifles to cut down to add to the 10mm hover tanks a few weeks back, in amongst the various GW and WSD items there were four old rifles that were originally for use with some Imperial Guard “knock offs” that I bought from a company called “Mayhem Miniatures” lord know how long ago. To cut a long story short I didn’t use these rifles but used GW ones instead, however they put me in mind of Sci-fi Winchester’s (don’t ask me why!), and it all sort of grew out of that. Now I’m thinking of using my old faithful of the £2.50 plastic “Gangers” from EM-4 to make the cowboys from (got to buy some more first though) and as I only have four of these rifles I’m going to save them for these, so I needed figures with reasonably compatible weapons for my other factions. “Myles” has some spare “Kroot” figures that I’m thinking will make rather good “Red Indian” type natives (without 
much modification!), but to get me started I thought I’d dig out the Orlock figures from the Necromunder box that supplied the Goliath figures that became my superhero “Gamma Boys” a while ago, and these have fairly antiquated looking rifles so these were prime candidates to become my “Mexican Bandito’s”, anyway enough rambling lets get to hacking!!
Now the first job was to pick out five unpainted figures (I’m looking at five figures for each faction) and carefully snap off their glued on arms as it is much easier to trim away any
unnecessary bits such as their rather naff waistcoats and “Greenstuff” them without arms on. Then taking the one with the revolver and knife I decided to thin down his legs a little at the front so I could re-do his trousers with tassels out to the sides, the top of his head was cut off and a sombrero was added, then I added a dangling cloth at the rear to match the one between his legs at the front, I gave him rolled up shirt sleeves, and finally sculpted a waistcoat to replace the skull encrusted item he came with and he was finished.
The next two I never managed to finish, but I’ll describe where I’m up to, the first chap I decided to thin down the bottom of his legs then added flared trouser bottoms, then after thinning down his arms sculpted a new long baggy shirt which is belted at the waist and I added a small pack at the rear of the belt. Then I glued his arm back on, and built up his baggy sleeve over his now skinny arm. I still need top add his other sleeve and some long hair to finish him off. The third one I decided I’d change the pose on so it was back into the “Necromunda” box to find another of the hand gun figures (they are completely different from the rifle toting ones), after chopping both of his arms off I added the front portion of his “poncho” and
stuck a rifle from one of the other figures on “cross body” into the soft greenstuff (I had cut away the right arm that was moulded onto this piece first, but left both hands that are also moulded on in place) then it was simply a case of running wires of the right length from the shoulders to the back of the hands and building up the sleeves over this. Next I added a handkerchief mask and finally this week another sombrero. He still needs the back of his poncho adding to complete him. I hope get these two and the final two members of my Mexican bandit gang complete by next week, but we’ll see, as its nights again this week, so I really need to break the back of this project by Monday night to have a good chance of getting them done.
Now just before I go I’d like to mention that a friend and fellow “blogger” Blaxcleric, has started a new blog dedicated to the rather fine comic strips he also produces along with the excellent figures he paints, check out his comic strips at… http://mooretoons.blogspot.co.uk/ and his painting blog here…. http://fantorical.blogspot.co.uk/
Cheers Roger.
Rantings from under the Wargames table 
Oh this looks very good indeed Roger. Absolutely love the greenstuff sculpting, especially the masked one. He looks mega-mean 🙂 Apart form the Zorro minis I’ve just bought I’ve not done wild west but this could tempt me. Any rules in mind? Fingers crossed you can get the rest of the gang assembled for the next posting. I’m just finishing off a load of my own minis so I get some posts out myself but work is getting in the way.
Speaking of which, many thanks for the big shout out to my blogs. Very much appreciated.
Hi Simon, glad you like the fig’s I’ve just been looking at them as it happens and I realised I hadn’t put the big “tash” on the one with the pistol that I’d meant to, you can’t have bandito’s without facial hair! as for rules I hadn’t really thought that far ahead, but I might actually had a look at the “Necromunda” rules and see if they would work, or I keep looking at EM-4’s combat zone rules, or I have got a set of cowboy rules copied out of a “Wargames illustrated” called “The rules with no name” that would probably work or I may cobble somethimg together as and when.
We were discussing wargaming at work the other day and I said somthing that I heard a while back that has always struck me as very true. “Some people have the figures to play the games” and “Some people play the games to have the figures”. Myles falls into the first catagorie and I’m very much in the second. Look forward to seening what you’ve been painting (but beware I can comment on them now!).
No problem with the shout out, credit where it’s due I always say.
Cheers Roger.
I am most definitely in the “some people have the figures to play the games” arena, although I’d add “rules, special dice, cards and templates” to it and I still never play the game!! Most of the time I have to buy both armies and usually get to the stage of having one force assembled, partially painted but playable and then find some new shiny has come out to replace either my friends, mine or both’s interest. Kickstarter is a superb example of this mentality. I’ve just received my first models from the “All Quiet On The Martian Front” KS. I was a massive fan when the KS started this time last year, even repeatedly listening to Richard Burton’s superb audio etc. A year later though, the minis are all boxed and in the loft as I’m just not interested anymore. Very sad,,,
I know what you mean, I went through a phase years ago playing with my (now) brother in-law where we would each buy a faction for some game or other and we rarely actually played the game (or both got the fig’s painted up), full thrust and flintloque were exceptions to this however (but funnily enough cowboys did fall into this catagory,as mine are still in the loft never to have slung a gun!).
But don’t get me started on unfinnished projects, I’ve lost count!! I’ve never done a kickstarter, but I can see how it might be fustrating as you have all this pent up excitment for a project when you first start it and by the time the stuff starts coming out you’ve lost i terest in it and are off onto somthing else (Wargamers are by the very nature a fickle lot!), I used to play with a guy years ago who wouldn’t even buy mini’s mail order as if he wanted somthing he wanted it now and couldn’t wait, so would only commit to a new period of game a couple of days before a show.
Talking of which Myles is desperate to go to a show (havent been to one this year) so it looks like we will be making a pilgrimage to fiasco the end of next month, so probably won’t send for any new figs till I see what takes my eye there. I think Irregular go (they used to but now sure if they still do), we’ll see.
Cheers Roger.
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