Source of figures - Airfix U.S.Cavalry. With a razor blade trim off rolled sleeves, water bottle and open neck of shirt. With a hot knife smooth away unwanted folds etc., smooth boot tops into trousers ridged front of cartridge belt. Make pelisse from plasticene also Shako. Stick a pin into shako top on the front edge through the plasticene into figure's he d, this can be used as a plume and also help hold the shako on to figure's head. Cut off sword scabbard and re-position lower on figure's leg under a sabertache made from thin card. The blanket roll is cut from horses back and a plasticene shabraque is laid over the saddle. The figure is pressed into the plasticene which is then pricked all over with a sharp point to represent sheepskin. A new valise is made from plasticene and re-positioned behind the mounted figure. All plasticene is covered with clear nail varnish. If desired a carbine, made from an A.C.W. crawling figure or crawling cowboy figure saytcan be positioned at bottom of cartridge belt. If busby is desired substitute busby for shako. If desired officers or O/RS boots and trousers can be left unaltered but painted to represent Hungarian tassled boots and Austrian Knots on thighs and braid down breeches seams. For a touch of added realism artificial grass sprayed on to wet paint-when dry re-painted can be used to represent fur on pelisse. The shape of pelisse as follows: This resultant figure can be painted to represent almost any nation with the various National idiosyncrasies added i.e. Monumental plume of the Russians, oak leaf of the Austrians, etc. As before the whole secret of conversions lies with the painting. Back to Table of Contents -- Wargamer's Newsletter # 101 To Wargamer's Newsletter List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1970 by Donald Featherstone. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com