Japs into Federales
Following Scott's comment yes I am considering converting some of these into Mexicans for the early 1900s period. There are a couple of ways you could do it. One is to use the complete Japanese figure. If you want authenticity you would need to fill in the gaiters to make trouser bottoms or you could cut down the gaiters to represent bare skin and add a little putty to represent rolled up trousers. Ideally you would also cut down the majority of shoes to resemble sandals.
Another approach would involve many decapitations. Swap the heads with the Spaniards from the AIP or BMC sets. I am leading towards this solution. The BMC would work very well with their bandoleers - just have to check that the head size fits. An advantage of this is to make use of all those spare officers' heads.
The Japanese could then be given new heads. If they are given slouch hats they'd work as Brits and colonials for the Boer War as the pith helmet was increasingly abandoned in favour of the brimmed hats. I'm looking for other ideas so let me know your thoughts.
Another idea is Greeks and Italian volunteers in the Balkan War. They had either trousered legs or puttees. You could put the Jap heads on either British colonials with puttees or the Spanish bodies. You then can paint them in the olive green uniform or red jacket for the Italian volunteers - see the Osprey book on the Balkan Wars. Then you can decide what to do with the spare pith helmets. Actually, they could be used on the Japanese figures for more Brits but with gaiters. You can also put the heads on more Spanish figures as pith helmets were used by some Federales, although mainly artillerymen. You can also use the Spaniards as Mexicans - unchanged or use them as Boers!
American marines in Mexico also wore these caps. See the Osprey book on the Mexican Revolution.
One more thing. Herge's Tintin included some fictional South American countries with uniforms very similar, although the caps were more like British WW1 caps. You could paint the uniforms khaki and use them for Japs or other nationalities by changing the flag. By the way, some of the figures are marketed as WW1 but puttees were then worn rather than gaiters. You could always do head swaps with British figures in puttees.
Here are the first Japanese which I am presently selling on E-bay. My second unit with white trousers is also nearing completion.
Here is a Mexican Federale officer. I added a hand guard on the sword, made from putty and just painted him in a typical Mexican light khaki shade of uniform. He could just as easily be a Japanese in the khaki uniforms they later wore.
Another approach would involve many decapitations. Swap the heads with the Spaniards from the AIP or BMC sets. I am leading towards this solution. The BMC would work very well with their bandoleers - just have to check that the head size fits. An advantage of this is to make use of all those spare officers' heads.
The Japanese could then be given new heads. If they are given slouch hats they'd work as Brits and colonials for the Boer War as the pith helmet was increasingly abandoned in favour of the brimmed hats. I'm looking for other ideas so let me know your thoughts.
Another idea is Greeks and Italian volunteers in the Balkan War. They had either trousered legs or puttees. You could put the Jap heads on either British colonials with puttees or the Spanish bodies. You then can paint them in the olive green uniform or red jacket for the Italian volunteers - see the Osprey book on the Balkan Wars. Then you can decide what to do with the spare pith helmets. Actually, they could be used on the Japanese figures for more Brits but with gaiters. You can also put the heads on more Spanish figures as pith helmets were used by some Federales, although mainly artillerymen. You can also use the Spaniards as Mexicans - unchanged or use them as Boers!
American marines in Mexico also wore these caps. See the Osprey book on the Mexican Revolution.
One more thing. Herge's Tintin included some fictional South American countries with uniforms very similar, although the caps were more like British WW1 caps. You could paint the uniforms khaki and use them for Japs or other nationalities by changing the flag. By the way, some of the figures are marketed as WW1 but puttees were then worn rather than gaiters. You could always do head swaps with British figures in puttees.
Here are the first Japanese which I am presently selling on E-bay. My second unit with white trousers is also nearing completion.
Here is a Mexican Federale officer. I added a hand guard on the sword, made from putty and just painted him in a typical Mexican light khaki shade of uniform. He could just as easily be a Japanese in the khaki uniforms they later wore.
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