Crusader Conversion (1 Viewer)

[mestell]

I thought I would try my hand at converting my K&C Crusader MK047, Man-at-Arms w/Dagger to make it look like he was operating the Conte Ballista I have. Basically all it took was cutting away the dagger he was holding, smoothing the cut area with a small file, and some paint. Not a great deal of work, very easy really. Anyway, here are some pics of him in action with the ballista. He'll be added to my "Fall of Acre" diorama.

Mike

 

[marco55]

Great Mike you keep getting better and better at everything you attempt.
Mark

 

[bearybones]

Nice job on the crusader operating the ballista, Mike. He looks great! I see you have decided to give the ballista to the crusaders in your diorama. I look forward to seeing your placement of the ballista in your diorama. I gave my ballista to the Saracens, shooting at the siege tower from one of the ancient city towers. I have converted two saracens to be operating my ballista. The fellow who is actually pulling the trigger mechanism is MK050, from the Gruesom Trophy Set, the Saracen who was originally holding the crusaders' severed head. I cut off the hand holding the head and glued on a hand that was gripping a ladder from one of the crusaders in the MK026 ladder set. Then I worked that arm loose and moved it a bit, so the new hand of the Saracen is gripping the trigger lever. I used Crazy Glue to attach the new hand, etc. I also cut off the axe from that Saracen's right hand and repainted him a bit, so he now looks different from my new Saracen who is still holding the severed head. The other ballista operator is the fellow who was originally holding the flag - the one who is not wounded. I just reworked his one hand, so he is holding the big crank of the ballista. One Saracen is on either side of the ballista. I'll post photographs in the fairly near future. I'm sorry I don't have photographs up yet, to go along with my explanations. Mike, I very much enjoy your frequent posts and photographs of your Acre diorama.

George

 

[theBaron]

Good idea, and nicely done, Mike!

Prost!
Brad

 

[mestell]

Nice job on the crusader operating the ballista, Mike. He looks great! I see you have decided to give the ballista to the crusaders in your diorama. I look forward to seeing your placement of the ballista in your diorama. I gave my ballista to the Saracens, shooting at the siege tower from one of the ancient city towers. I have converted two saracens to be operating my ballista. The fellow who is actually pulling the trigger mechanism is MK050, from the Gruesom Trophy Set, the Saracen who was originally holding the crusaders' severed head. I cut off the hand holding the head and glued on a hand that was gripping a ladder from one of the crusaders in the MK026 ladder set. Then I worked that arm loose and moved it a bit, so the new hand of the Saracen is gripping the trigger lever. I used Crazy Glue to attach the new hand, etc. I also cut off the axe from that Saracen's right hand and repainted him a bit, so he now looks different from my new Saracen who is still holding the severed head. The other ballista operator is the fellow who was originally holding the flag - the one who is not wounded. I just reworked his one hand, so he is holding the big crank of the ballista. One Saracen is on either side of the ballista. I'll post photographs in the fairly near future. I'm sorry I don't have photographs up yet, to go along with my explanations. Mike, I very much enjoy your frequent posts and photographs of your Acre diorama.

George

Thanks for the comments Marc, Brad, and George. Looking forward to the pictures of your collection George and your balista conversion - sounds great. My next conversion attempt will be changing MK020 Man-at-Arms Fighting w/axe to a member of the catapult crew. His hand and arm positions will work nicely pulling on the rope that puts tension on the catapult arm.

Mike

 

[bearybones]

Mike,

MK020 pulling the rope to the catapult sounds like a great idea. I look forward to seeing your conversion. He should blend well with the guy loading the rock.....same man-at-arms uniform. You are probably already aware that the Conte Viking Raid catapult comes with several Viking figures, including one who is pulling a rope from the catapult, in order to release the catapult arm/basket with rock. Your MK020 guy will look better with the King and Country catapult than the guy with the rope, who comes with the Conte Catapult would. In general, the King and Country figures are slightly more realistic and a bit nicer than the Conte figures, in my opinion.

George

 

[bromhead]

well done

 

[mestell]

I totally agree with your observation/comparison George, between K&C and Conte figures. I really believe the catapult could use more crew members, that's why I want to try another conversion with MK020. MK020 and MK047 are not among my favorite Crusader poses so converting them didn't bother me at all. Mike

 

[The Templar]

Hi Mike!

Great idea! It will sure look good in your great dio!

 

[JPB]

Love it

JPB

 

[Jagdpanther]

Looks very good!

 

[Spitfrnd]

I thought I would try my hand at converting my K&C Crusader MK047, Man-at-Arms w/Dagger to make it look like he was operating the Conte Ballista I have. Basically all it took was cutting away the dagger he was holding, smoothing the cut area with a small file, and some paint. Not a great deal of work, very easy really. Anyway, here are some pics of him in action with the ballista. He'll be added to my "Fall of Acre" diorama.

Mike

Very nice Mike; it looks like he was sculpted for that role. I didn't know they were still using Ballistas in the Crusades? I guess the Romans were way ahead of their time with those.

 

[Capitolron]

Mike

I think you are serious about your Crusader Collection !

Loads of great ideas keep coming from you - I wish I had the space to put all of them into my collection. I really enjoy looking at your collection.

I just bought the Dept 56 - Rug Merchant Building and planning a little diorama around that. Pictures soon !

Ron

 

[mestell]

Very nice Mike; it looks like he was sculpted for that role. I didn't know they were still using Ballistas in the Crusades? I guess the Romans were way ahead of their time with those.

The ballista was developed by the Greeks, and super developed by the Romans. After the fall of Rome, materials were scare to produce them in large quantities but they were still in use in the Dark Ages. By the time of the Crusades and the Medieval period, the Trebuchet and the Manganol pretty much replaced the Ballista as a siege weapon. It was downsized into a weapon called an Onager and was used for long distance "sniping". I guess in actuallity, the ballista was used more as a defensive weapon during the Crusades rather than an offensive weapon, but they were certainly on their way out.

Mike