On the basis of a well accepted, HMM-based cursive script recognition system, an algorithm which automatically adapts the length of the models representing the letter writing variants is proposed. An average improvement in recognition performance of about 2.72 percent could be obtained. Two initialization methods for the algorithm have been tested, which show quite different behaviors; both prove to be useful in different application areas. To get a deeper insight into the functioning of the algorithm a method for the visualization of letter HMMs is developed. It shows the plausibility of most results, but also the limitations of the proposed method. However, these are mostly due to given restrictions of the training and recognition method of the underlying system.