Spanish Civil War: Minairons Progress

The Revolutionary Militia need more figures!  

Of course, opinions differ on this...

 

Another great thing about this period: Spanish Civil War propaganda art is better than American Civil War or English Civil War propaganda art!

From the Minairons Website [CLICK], the below packs provide alternative figures, poses, and with head swaps additional variety in what is already a generously varied figure line. I previously reviewed the line in some depth [HERE]. 

BLUF: I HIGHLY RECOMMEND these figures!

I have been very happy with the price point [$1.25 a fig +/-] and visual impact of these figures. 20mm makes them large enough for easy visual identification on the tabletop and rewards additional figure details like rank and medals which are also easier to paint than in 15mm. 

Despite the substantially larger bulk compared to 15mm, the figures still have a modest footprint and the vehicles / houses are substantially smaller, allowing for more "space" on even a smaller table. While 25-28mm is great for infantry battles, the use of vehicles - usually tanks - ends up pushing the scale distortion v. table space ratio into difficult places. As far as I am concerned, if you want all branches of the service on the table, then 20mm would be my new "ideal scale". Depending on the rule set, you can play small skirmishers easily on a 4x4' or even 3x3' table, but go all out 6x4' or 8x5' and still identify figures 6' away. Rant over!

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In this post, I worked with the below revolutionary militia a d Republican figures to create more interesting poses and situations, both as figures and as game markers; unit status, victory point locations, etc. For example, the below wounded female militia figures could indicate that a unit is pinned, or be used in a small diorama as an aid station that doubles as an objective marker.

Got two packs, 8 figs total. I dislike duplication in skirmish games and skirmishing units. There are no male casualties [oddly] so I will convert some using head swaps to get rid of the main female indicator on the sculpts, the longer hair.

These gals are realistically proportioned to be a bit smaller.  However, the substitute heads are also a bit small, so didn't really look that out of place on them. Also, according to George Orwell, the militia had a lot of teenage boys in it, who ended up serving as a means to keep them out of trouble and also fed. Their smaller stature fits the female sculpts nicely. Side note: unlike lots of female historical and - especially - fantasy figs, these women do not have grossly exaggerated body parts and are _not_ pinups - thank you Angel Terol!

The below pack is for large artillery pieces, which is why the figs are standing poses. I like the rangefinder sculpt. It appears the officer is sculpted to peer through it, which will make for a nice independent base. The artillerists are a bit blandly posed, IMHO, and I'd have liked to seen them more in an "action stance" in various firing positions.  But maybe I'll change a pose or two...

Not only will these add some flavor to a command post, but they will provide a visual mechanic to transmit orders or a victory condition [help the dispatcher leave the board].  The big metal bases seem like a waste of metal / cost, and I'd have done them in plastic personally. Might've afforded another rider in the pack...

Various heads. The Pasamontana Cap heads below are a bit too small - would make good heads for young / small soldiers.

The woolen caps [favorite knits in cold weather, and can go under a helmet - we do the same thing today] are a bit bulkier, and there's a bearded fellow also.

THE Spanish cap of the war, still used today [heck, WE still use it today, without any tassles of course], Isabellinos are inexpensive but can carry a jaunty air when tilted.

Both tassled and non-tassled are provided, which makes for easier Nationalist v. Republican distinctions.

In general, the heads are a little small for men, and a little big for women, and none have a neck - the sculptor should take a cue from others and put a larger ball underneath the head. I made do, as explained below.

So, how did customizing these figures go?  Quite well, overall.

Below, the hobby weapons of construction used for most of the work - only thing not shown is the Dremel tool: X-Acto blade knife, pin vise, forceps [medical clamp], small hack saw, AKA a jeweler's saw.

Above, an artillerist loses his head - I wanted a helmet, and more diversity with the artillerists. Besides, since they are behind the lines, I figured they'd be going for comfort and a cap! The jewelers saw blade is very delicate and breaks easily [or I'm doing something wrong] but with a light hand, I was finally able to cut off all the heads I needed and the blade survived. 

I wonder if I bought the wrong blades for this thing....? There's definitely a ratio of tooth size and strength, I may have too fine a blade for the weight of the saw itself.  It did work in the end, however, and gave a very clean cut.

I started a little hole in the torso / neck with the X-Acto, then used the pin vise with a drill bit to get a good start, then finished it off in a couple seconds with the Dremel tool and a larger drill bit that matched the stem of the heads. NOTE: The Dremel really goes too fast for this type of work, I wish I had something else that had a much lower RPM.  Still, it only takes a minute or so for the entire process.  

Below, female casualty has lost her head!  Doctor is attempting repairs with a pin vise!   Where did he study medicine, anyway - on line???

Below, final product. Isabellino cap [US Army garrison cap] head instead of the woman's head with splayed out hair. This casualty now has some options...

Another replacement, this is the artillerists head with - I believe - a "Trubia" helmet, a domestic Spanish helmet similar to the German coal-scuttle helmet.  Also similar to the Czech helmet, far as I can tell.  While it looks large on the female's body, I'm OK with that as the helmet's are probably "one size fits none" or if there were size options then they would have been badly organized by Republicans anyway!

Sometimes there isn't a neck on the figure due to sculpting and cutting. The heads as pictured above, do not have necks. So what I did was attach it a bit "high" as though there was a neck there...

...which does look a bit 'pencil-necked' from certain angles...

...then I put a big drop of "extra-thick Maxi-Cure" on it [the viscous super-glue].

Final result: Three artillerists, two with changed heads - an Isabellino and a wool knit cap. 

I ended up re-positioning an arm on the left fellow, who is the stiffest of the bunch - I think he'll be yanking the lanyard. 

"Female" casualties with Adrien [French] helmet and wool knit cap.

Their hight makes them useful for picking up, hmmm....

Same, with Isabellino and wool knit caps.

Same, Trubia helmet and Isabellino.

What will these eight casualties do?  Well, perhaps objective markers, perhaps "pinned" markers, etc.  I'm not 100% certain yet.  It'd be more money and work, but it'd be nice to have a wounded fig as pinned markers for each infantry unit.

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As for the dispatch riders...these are good sculpts, one is actively riding [a bit upright in posture] the other is standing and waiting. 

After some thought, I decided to assemble them completely, and paint them assembled. It's a constant debate with people, but it saves needless painting and cyanoacrylate glue holds better on bare metal anyway. 

I used the slo-zap glue for the rider's seat.

Their hands had no indentation for the grips, so I filed a groove into each hand...

...which will both look better and hold better with the glue.

Yeah, the handlebars need to be re-shaped. I ended up cutting out the center, and doing some bending which wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.

Hands fit pretty well now!

Final result, a solid, natural pose.

Being a [former - I decided I like my body parts attached] motorcyclist, I thought the pose on the box of the standing dispatcher was unnatural - hard to relax on a bike like that as the bike tips. I find it easier to sit astride the bike when standing around. 

Fig fit nicely like this, also, I might add...

...with both feet and seat nicely settled and glued in.

Also had to move his arm over a bit.

I think he looks natural enough - just waiting for the next message to be sent!

This all took a couple of hours of work. I enjoy doing some converting and either refreshing my skills or learning new ones. These figures will give some character and satisfaction to my project, so I'm very happy with the result.

Feel free to ask any question clarifying how I did the work.