Figure modding

It’s been a long time coming. Today I’ll be briefly going through the process of modding a Konami Mecha Musume trading figure. In an earlier post I went into details on another Mecha Musume, the T-34, so for a more in depth tutorial, go there since this post is mainly just an overview.

So, let’s get started!

The goal of this modding? To turn this German Sturmgeschütz III Ausf.G Mecha Musume:

The original figure

To a Finnish “Sturmi”. The differences between the two are quite large so I had to see what could be done to the trading figure to give it the same look.

The Tools

Before we actually begin, we’ll take a look at the tools and materials which I used.

• Putty – Mulliput Standard
• Acrylic Paints – Tamiya Color
• Wooden Stick – approx 2-3mm thick
• Strip of brass/metal – approx 5-6mm wide
• Wire – approx 1mm thick
• Hand Drill
• Hobby Cement – Tamiya Cement
• Cutter – small
• Sandpaper – high grit
• Cotton buds
• Acrylic Paint Thinner – Tamiya

Milliput Standard

An assortment of Tamiya Color

An arm to show the scale

The wire and hand drill

Preparation

First thing to do was to take apart the figure. It was a little hard since some parts were glued together, but nothing a little tug would fix…

Looking like a garage kit

Next up, the individual parts would need clean up before we can start anything. Using a high grit sandpaper, I gently sanded off the paint off flat surfaces while using the cotton buds soaked with paint thinner to strip off the paint off more curved surfaces like the arms.

Legs

One of the main changes is the side skirt armour that the German StuGs have, the ones in Finnish service didn’t have any so they had to go.

Legs without the side skirt (left) and without the mounting pegs (right)

Basically, I used some cutters to snip off the skirt armour and the mounting pegs, then sand down the paint. Next is to prepare the logs and the holders before we paint and glue it.

Before painting

Cannon

The cannon is also another area where significant modding was needed. To make clean up and painting easier, the cannon was split into three parts.

Ready for modding

This is where the wire and drill come in handy. Use the drill to well, drill a hole into both sides of the connecting faces of the cannon. This will allow the wire to slip in and keep both pieces steady when glue is applied.

Ready for glue when needed

Putty

Now that we have got the parts ready, it’s time for putty! The Milliput putty comes in two sticks which are mixed together in equal parts before the colours completely blend. The result is:

Ball-o-putty!

Two areas of the figure which will get the treatment are the cannon and the legs. The cannon will try and mimic the turret cement re-enforcement and the legs will have zimmerited sides to closely replicate the Finnish Sturmi.

Puttied up areas

Paint

The final step before putting the parts together is painting! I tried to mix the paints to get as close as the green used for the Finnish Sturmi, but I have no idea on the exact formula.

Before painting

Painted legs with logs glued on

Before getting the logs attached and any weathering

Final painted and weathered Finnish Sturmi

So there you have it, a conversion of a Mecha Musume trading figure.
Sorry for the sloppy write up, but I hope you enjoyed looking at how it was done.
There are still areas which I left out such as decals, but I haven’t found any Finnish armour decals anywhere, perhaps I’ll need to print my own…

Any questions feel free to ask and I’ll do my best to fill in the details.