Advice on using LEGO weapons for conversions

[MoonglowMinis 3107]

Hi all.  I was wondering if anyone here had some experience or advice on using LEGO weapons for mini conversions.  I've got a pirate campaign I'm gearing up to run and there's a lack of proper piratical minis for the non-human characters.  Was trying to think of somewhere to source some flintlock pistols from and remembered a third party manufacturer of more realistic lego weapons.  the scale seems like it'd be close enough.  Just not sure how easy the material would be to work with.

 

Any feedback from personal experience?  Or alternative sources for properly scaled weapons?  Thanks!

 

Flintlock Pistol from BrickArms

[Loim 18411]

https://www.reapermini.com/search/gun/sku-up/14472

[SotF 490]

The Lego scaled weapons don't really scale right for most minis. They're basically set up for the aesthetics of Lego rather than normal with both scale and proportions due to being designed to work with the Lego mini-figs in the first place

[ratsmitglied 5265]

Freebooter miniatures does sets of pistols and 'special' weapons (including long arms) for pirates in their range

 

in fact, pictures already on the forums - https://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/91038-flintlock-pistols-weapons-packs/

Edited April 1 by ratsmitglied

[zemjw 101]

I used a modern pistol designed for 3.5" action figures on a Heresy Ogre conversion. It was ideal for the larger size, but wouldn't have worked with 28mm figures.

 

The plastic took normal primer without any complaints, which was the main thing I was concerned about.

[Maledrakh 12193]

Legos are made of ABS plastic which is hard to cut and needs high heat to soften (much hotter than boiling water) so they can be difficult to work with.

You will need to saw and file if you have to cut them.
 

They work well with Kraggle, erm. superglue. You can prime and paint like any other hard plastic.

Apart from that, note the above comments about the aesthetics are made to fit lego minifigs and not minatures. As long as you do not have a problem with this, go for it!

 

[MoonglowMinis 3107]

Thanks all.  After your advice, I've decided to pick up some weapon sets from Freebooter's Fate and Reaper's Razig weapons pack.  Might try molding and making casts of these to give myself some wiggle room for ruining them.  Just a safety net for experimentation.

[SotF 490]

On 4/2/2021 at 5:57 PM, Maledrakh said:

Legos are made of ABS plastic which is hard to cut and needs high heat to soften (much hotter than boiling water) so they can be difficult to work with.

You will need to saw and file if you have to cut them.
 

They work well with Kraggle, erm. superglue. You can prime and paint like any other hard plastic.

Apart from that, note the above comments about the aesthetics are made to fit lego minifigs and not minatures. As long as you do not have a problem with this, go for it!

 

A lot of them have additional stuff in the plastic and coated on...things to make them easier to clean and less likely to carry anything since a lot of places have them as a general kids toy. It doesn't come off with soap and water or many other things that normally can clean plastic on pieces with a larger amount of it.

 

You can often see it when comparing a lego/duplo with ones made by most other places making the same basic block type. There's one other brand that does a similar thing, but it's one that makes the really big ones.