Industrial Figures
When I started modelling in Gn15 I decided that I would try to get away from the sources of figures that most layouts in this scale were using - mainly the SLM figures. After looking at what was available I discovered the Schleich range of plastic toys, which can be hacked about or warmed and bent into the required pose. These have become my standard starting point, although I have used some others. These are my efforts so far:
[I had shown links to the Gnatterbox, the Gn15 Forum, where many of these builds were detailed, but the Forum is no longer available and the links don't work.]
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My first attempt at modifying a Schleich figure wasn't terribly adventurous. I took the sitting driver and just altered the sit of his arms, head and legs, and repainted him:
This photo shows him before and after I'd done my worst, and the full details can be found here http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=3678
All the drivers have punning names based around the surname Ekerslyke - this is Willie, and he drives Gnot-a-Gnat.
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Next victim on the operating table was a little more ambitious. The lady in question started out as a Schleich standing figure carrying a bucket, but ended up as a driver:
Again, the before and after. This figure required repositioning of the legs with major surgery, and the details are here http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=3678
This lady is Dorothy Desiree Ekerslyke (Didi to her friends), and she drives Wot the Deutz.
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My surgical experiments were getting ever more extreme - my next effort involved joining parts of two figures as well as repositioning limbs. The subjects were a Preiser figure of 1990s vintage - a workman shovelling - and a farming figure from the Early Learning Centre.
The top of the former, with left arm adjusted, was grafted onto the adjusted legs of the latter, and details are to be found here http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=6233
This chap is Abdulaziz Ekerslyke - his mum was Egyptian - known as Azzi to his friends. He is the driver of Welsh Ernie, and looks remarkably calm for a man with an electric motor stuffed up his fundament.
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The next candidate for alteration was another Schleich figure - a young man wielding a large shovel.
His left leg was almost perfectly positioned for a sitting figure, so I limited my surgery to repositioning his right leg, replacing his hands, and a repaint. Details are reported here http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=512 page 2.
This gent is Willie's and Didi's American cousin, Woodrow Ekerslyke - known as Woody to his friends. He drives Ernieplex.
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I was now getting into full Doctor Frankenstein mode. The next project was a double-bill, using a Schleich lady pushing a broom, and an ELC large child from a farm set.
The young lady's top half was married to the bottom half of the Schleich driver - like the one I used in my first conversion. A slight repositioning of head and right arm, and a repaint, and she was done. She is Isabelle Ekerslyke, known to all as Izzy, and she drives Gmeinder Gap.
Having got Izzy seperated, the top half of the ELC child was grafted onto her bottom half, the legs of which had been surgically re-posed into a sitting position. His arms and head were moved a little, the wellies are his own attached to the new legs, and the gloved hands come from another Schleich figure.
This fellow is called Cuthbert Ekerslyke. Didi was heard to say that she could really give him a cuddle, so he's known as Cuddy to the rest of the chaps. He drives Diema-like.
The full story of these two conversions can be found here http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=6920
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The next conversion involved much less surgery, and involved the Schleich lady wheeling a rather over-large wheelbarrow.
In this case, the legs were cut off and repositioned to a seated pose, with a large lump of Green Stuff required to reshape her seat. The arms were replaced with ones from a Italeri truck driver.
The resultant lady driver is Shona Diane Ekerslyke, known as Shuddie to her friends. She drives the Eimco compressed air loco.
The story of her conversion is here http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=8350
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A figure that has no build story behind it started life as one of the 1990-vintage Prieser figures - a workman holding a pneumatic drill.
The initial conversion just consisted of replacing the arms with ones from an ELC farmyard figure. After he had been standing around the layout for a while I decided that he was a bit stunted, so 4mm of plasticard was inserted in his midriff, since when he has been getting a bit above himself.
He is called Den the Driver, but he drives the Unimog truck that receives the skip-loads off the tipping dock. He first appears here http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=5506 but manages to get himself into pictures taken on the photo base.
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I found one of those strange fantasy figures in an Oxfam shop for £1.99, so bought it to see what could be done with it.
The joints were all articulated, so I chose the pose and fixed it, then modelled his clothes with Green Stuff as required. Finally, he was repainted.
The figure is called Ben Dover - he is, after all, an alien and not an Ekerslyke - and he drives Ernie-with-a-Skip. The story is here - http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=8350
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After I posted the details of Ben's construction on the GnAtterbox it was suggested that I should try to make a body from scratch, and use plastic heads, hands and feet. I got hold of a box of Super Sculpey, and this is the result.
His head and boots are from a Schleich figure, and his right hand, complete with radio, is from a figure that came with a toy car. This chap is called Alf Measures, and his genesis is detailed here - http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=8516
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As my project to earn my Junior Frankenstein badge I created a standing man from parts of four different figures.
In this figure the head came from yet another ELC farmyard character, the torso from a resin Back 2 Bay 6 figure, the legs from the Schleich man with axe, and the boots from the Schelich vet.
He is called Pete Moss, and the full horror of his construction can be found here http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=7990
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As a complete change from hacking and sticking figures together, this one is straight from the packet - well, almost. He is yet another 1990s Prieser figure, and was originally sitting on a suitcase. The case was whipped away while he wasn't looking, and he's had a repaint, but otherwise is untouched.
He is called Mo Peters, known as Slim to his mates, and he appears in the same thread as Pete.
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Just to complete the cast so far - this is Pete's dog Ralph - he came in a Christmas cracker some years ago and just needed a repaint. I'm not sure what breed he's supposed to be ....
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On a fashion note - the hard-hats most of my figures are wearing were supplied by Steve Bennett at Pepper 7. The only exception is Den the Driver, whose hard-hat was provided by Preiser.
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The new layout 'Watt's Yawsis Mine' has required a new set of figures, so the spirit of Frankenstein has been invoked again to produce these monsters.
I wanted a couple of standing miners to complete the scene, and came up with these two:
Made from Schleich parts of several figures, their genesis is detailed here: http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=9879
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I also wanted a figure sitting on the edge of the spoil tip, enjoying a fag break after pushing a skip out of the mine. The result is very relaxed:
Once more, Schleich provided the necessary parts, and the details are found at the beginning of this thread: http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=9761
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Next up was a pair of figures of surface workers, to tend the power supply and direct the flow of tubs in and out of the mine.
Just for once the figures aren't based on Schleich products, but a ELC Farmer and a figure from a friction-drive vehicle set. The gory details are on the same thread as the sitting figure - http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=9761
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Having built a man-rider car to bring miners up to the mine I felt I had to provide some miners to sit in it - which proved more difficult than I expected, as what I produced aren't as flexible as real people to fit into the tight spaces. Still, they got there in the end:
These figures are real bitsa creations, with parts from Chinese-made Preiser rip-offs, ELC figures, Schleich figures, Italeri figures, and anything else I could find. The full story is towards the end of this thread: http://forum.gn15.info/viewtopic.php?t=8990&highlight=manrider
Page created 4 Oct 2012 Last edited 3 Mar 2023