English Civil War Pioneers, Pistol and Axe - Part 1 of 2

The two figures detailed in these two posts are both based on a plastic Warlord Games 'Firelock Storming Party' miniature. Both were actually spares I had standing around (they had been given out free by the nice Warlord chaps at a wargame show).

Original figure - note the length of the axe shaft

Both made to represent pioneers; soldiers who would physically clear the way through obstacles enabling the main force to proceed unhindered. Lightly armed for self defense and speed I've given these figures agricultural implements to help them do their job. 

Simple top tip: if you going to have a go at modifying any figure, remember to place diagonally opposite limbs in the correct position i.e. the right arm and left leg forward or visa-versa. It's surprisingly easy to forget this (I have) and end up with a model that looks distinctly odd but without being immediately obvious why.

The first figure involved taking the parts supplied on the same sprue as the figure. The left hand side was made by trimming away the right hand and arm from the standard firelock supplied with the figure. The left hand was cut off at the sleeve and rotated through approx ninety degrees and glued back onto the arm. The arm was then attached to the body and gap under the arm was filled in with greenstuff.

This figure kept bugging me; it simply didn't look 'right' so I left it standing forlornly to one side for a couple of weeks. I wasn't entirely happy with the way I'd positioned the axe. You would normally carry it nearer the axe head (i.e. nearer the centre of gravity - next time you pick up long handled brush/broom you'll naturally grab it nearer to the head, try it and see for yourself). One night, after a sudden rush of blood to the head, armed with clippers I shortened the end of the handle, removed the axe head and removed a fair chunk of the shaft. I then re-glued the head back onto place. Voila - an actual hatchet job (sorry for the dreadful pun).

All new, improved final version

As the figure isn't carrying a firelock I removed the small belly box on the front of the figure. The right arm with the pistol was a spare taken straight from the Warlord Games ECW cavalry box set.

The figure was fixed to a round base (one penny piece) in order to emphasise that they are special troops and not standard firelock figures.