Conversions from Italy

Dated: April 22, 1998, updated April 28, May 5 1998.

The following are some excellent conversions sent in by a visitor from Italy, Mr. Carlo Ricardi. The contribution was sent in in the form of photographs, one to two figures to a photo. Not only are the photos of excellent quality but some of the subject matter is very interesting also. Additional comments from Mr. Ricardi are added in parentheses or brackets.

The first figure is a II Century A.D. Roman auxilliary, a simple yet elegant conversion. These auxilliaries were 'barbarians' enlisted in the Roman army, and the figure is a combination of ESCI barbarian legs and base with an ESCI Roman trunk. An ESCI barbarian shield is added for extra verisimilitude.
(Photo 1 - Roman auxiliaries. I used an Esci Barbarian and an Esci Roman. I cut the legs from the trunk of the two figures, then I glued (I used simply U-HU extra glue, the glue for hard plastic doesn't work with soft plastic) the Roman trunk to the Barbarian legs. Then I painted over the new figure. It's not a copy in resin. I don't know how make the mold.)


The next scan shows an auxilliary archer in the same vein, ESCI barbarian bottom and ESCI Roman top. Note that a tiny bowstring is added on, not an easy task, painful on the eyes and fingers.
(The rope of the bow is simply a black sewing-threat glue to the bow, always with U-HU extra glue.)


The next figure is a stock ESCI Roman complete with grass and 6 inches of topsoil. The thickness of the pilum is well illustrated here. Miniature lances and pila have always been difficult to do well. If the lance or pilum is too thin, the plastic may not fill all the way in the cavity. Raising the pressure of the plastic will help fill the cavity but that wears out the mold and the plastic injection machine. Metal lances or spears fill with gravity or simple centrifugal pressure only, so the cavity has to be quite open and thick, that's why metal spears or lances are always the thickness of telephone poles.
(Photo 2 - No conversion I just painted over the Esci figure. I like this figure because I found the pose very natural.)


The following two scans are stock Italeri Zouaves. These brainy fellows are Pope's Zouaves (1859).
(Photo 3 - No conversion I changed only the shooting figure: before he seems to shoot to the birds. I boiled the figure in hot water and then I bent the rifle in a horizontal position.)


The following is the ESCI French cuirassier without conversion. ESCI's choice of sets and even poses have been very intriguing throughout the years. This 'man standing next to his horse' pose was definitely influenced by the same Airfix cuirassier pose. Were these little details tributes to Airfix from a nostalgic Italian designer or did ESCI hire foreign help for their line of figures?
(Photo 4 - No conversion, but it's one of my preferred figure.)


The next figure is a 7th regiment volunteer of Garibaldi's Army from the Italian War of Independence. The wars of the unification of Italy which lasted from 1848 to 1870 are less well known to us than many of the other conflicts which happened during that time period, e.g. Crimean War, Indian Mutiny, ACW, A-P War, and F-P War. It has been difficult even finding reference material on it. Garibaldi and his redshirts, however, were well romanticized during their times, and their uniforms were widely copied, in fact, there was a unit of redshirted 'Garibaldi Guards' in the Union Army. This figure is almost a stock Italeri Union infantryman, only the backpack has been removed.
(Photo 5 - Only a paint conversion.)

And here's some historical background on the Italian War of Independence courtesy of Mr. Ricardi:
"- 1st war of indep. (1848-1849) During the year 1848 winds of revolution blew on Europe, and also in Italy, in particulary in Venice and Milan (the 5 days of Milan) the Italian patriots rose against the Austrian domination. the 23 March 1848 Carlo Alberto, King of Sardegna, started the war against the Austrian Empire. After some initial victories (Goito, Pastrengo) the defeat of Novara forced Carlo Alberto to demand an armistice and he abdicated the crown.
- 2nd war of indep. (1859) was fought by Vittorio Emanuele II (son of Carlo Alberto) and Napoleone III against the Austria. The French and Piemontesi forces won in Solferino and San Martino, and the armistice of Villafranca brought the Lombardia in the Kingdom of Sardegna.
-3rd war of indep. (1866) was fought by the Kingdom of Italy (Vittorio Emanuele II, previous King of Sardegna became King of Italy after the 2nd war of independence) against the Austrian Empire. Although the Italian Army was defeated in Custoza, Lissa, the Garibaldi's Volunteers (38.000 men) won a Bezzecca, Ampola and Suello. The end of the war brought the Veneto in the Kingdom of Italy."

The next conversion is a Prussian Jager (1815). Head up from ESCI French Infantry and head down from ESCI Prussian Infantry.
(A Prussian Jager. I cut an head from Esci French infantry and I glued it to a body of an Esci Prussian infantry and then painted the figure.)


We might comment that Mr. Ricardi is a longtime visitor and his last two conversions are "tributes" to conversions that we have posted in the past from Mr. Chris D'Arcy, the original contributor of conversions here. The first is a Russian Hussar with our original conversion to the right.

The last conversion is a Brunswick ensign from the 1st line battalion (1815). It's an ESCI British Line Infantry ensign with a ESCI Russian Grenadier shako. The figure on the right is our original.
(Photo 6 - the flag is a piece of paper (it's a reduced photocopy of the flag published on a Italian book: "The Russian Army 1805/15". Then I paint it with the CITADEL colors. The flag pole is a piece of steel painted (always with Citadel colors).)


Technical information:
All the figures are glued to a wooden support (cm 2 x 3), like shows in the photo 2.
Color used: Humbol and/or Citadel
Brushes size 1 for the basecoat, size 0 - 00 - 000 for the details
For same figures I tried to used the drybrush tech(i.e. the armour of the roman with bow, and the armour and the skin of the roman without conversion)

All the photos are taken in natural light. The figures were based on a table against a white wall. The photographer is a dear friend of mine:
Massimo "Max" Peretti.
The camera is a Nikon f-70
F-stop F4
Speed 1/15 or 1/30
Enlargement 2:1

Many thanks to our contributor, Mr. Ricardi. Any reader wishing to comment on the figures may contact Mr. Ricardi at pballes@tin.it.

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