Sharing the same skeleton

[kubatp]

Hi,
I have a mesh (let's say a warrior with axe) and I would like to create "variations" of this mesh with some differences - instead of axe he would have a sword, different helmet, etc.
What is the best way to do this in OGRE? Should I create new meshes (i.e. clone the existing models)? It seems to be the easiest option, but if I need to to add/change existing animations, I will need to change it in x files instead of one.
Any advices please?

I am using MOGRE (based on OGRE 1.7.4), if it makes any differences.

Thank you

[kubatp]

Noone had similar problem/question?