Converting weapons advice ?

[silverbirdx]

I'm planning to remove a pistol and add a new gun. How would I be best going about this?
Thanks in advance

[Spinal Tap]

I'm planning to remove a pistol and add a new gun. How would I be best going about this?
Thanks in advance

Personally I remove at least the hand with the weapon, preferably the whole arm if my replacement  matches- the bigger the join the better for me.

I have pinned joints but I'm not very good at it.

[Cat]

If the stock of the new weapon is going to nestle along the arm and/or torso, that will give multiple glue points for strength.  In that case, you can remove the upper part of the pistol above the hand. 

If the new weapon has a pistol type grip, remove that and glue the weapon into place.  Otherwise, you can scoop out the hand to make an opening to cradle the new weapon.

[BeneathALeadMountain]

As Spinal and Cat have said it’ll depend on the weapon/pose and material the parts are made of. Plastic to plastic is the easiest as you can use plastic putty or glue and sprue (nasty - needs ventilation) to do any gap filling. If the two parts are new, clean plastic then a good bond with poly cement will potentially serve.

Does the replacement weapon have a suitable hand attached still? If so cut off old hand at wrist, use a small pin vice and drill both the old wrist and new hand so you can pin the join when you glue it - even a few mm of pin on each side of the join will massively strengthen the bond (it doesn’t have to be brass rod - old paperclips are great for this). To get the holes to line up drill and pin the wrist, pop a tiny dot of paint on the head of the pin then push the hand lightly in the correct position against it and it will mark where the corresponding hole should go in the hand.

If it’s a particularly difficult swap (damaged/no suitable hand/original hand to big or small) I will often remove the old hand, pin the new gun into the wrist at the right angle and sculpt a new hand. If the new pistol/weapon has a large magazine that protrudes from the bottom of the grip then pin it to the underside of the hand (or drill and pin the top and bottom through the hand so they line up) with a tiny gap, then fill this with green stuff or plastic putty to neaten the join as they’ll rarely sit well if just stuck on (you may get lucky though) and can be easily damaged by rough handling by others.

As it may be obvious I am a fan of pinning (having grown up in the era of big metal models that needed to be fully pinned to assemble them) and this has stood me in good stead through the years. It’s even easier/better on plastic but you have to be much more careful as a simple slip can do irreparable damage to a delicate part.

Apologies for the overly lengthy reply,

Looking forwards to seeing what you’re doing,
Good luck,

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[Harry Faversham]

Applying rhe KISS Principle to yer question...
wot's said figure made from, lead or plastic?

    

[ced1106]

Post a pic of the original miniature.

If you haven't bought the miniature, there's always HeroForge, where you can make a 3D render (free?) and they or you can 3D print it.