I tend to be an outside-the-box sort of person, so when something interests me I tend to look for any way I can advance that thing, whatever it is.
Right now it's miniature making. Mostly my impulse to make miniatures is driven by the desire to have a wide variety of recognizable and usable miniatures for my RPG campaigns. So for a long time quality wasn't really the focus, quantity was. So I have lots of kobolds and goblins I've made that are really pretty sad, but I use them anyway, and they are better than using glass beads or pennies.
Now that I'm getting a bit more serious about miniature making, I'm looking for ways to continue to generate large amounts of minis cheaply. Two things I've done lately have helped a lot with that pursuit, and I'm wondering if anyone else does this sort of thing, or if this is considered to be total rank amateur hour stuff.
First, I drive by a toy supply store every day, and yesterday I stopped in just to see if they had anything I could use for miniature making. Mostly I was looking for something cheap I could use for bases since right now most of my bases are made out of poly clay, which is expensive for that purpose, or punched out foam circles, which I only have a few sizes of circle punchers and they aren't the sturdiest option for mini bases.
But I found a whole bunch of miniature animals and dinosaurs. So on a lark I bought about 40 of them, of various kinds. Some of them are totally usable just as they are, glued to an appropriate sized base. The horses, apes, crocodiles and a few others are just going right into my mini collection. Well, not all of the crocodiles, but that's the next part of this. Several of them are not really usable, but I figured I could cut them up and piece together new and unusual animals. My first effort was to cut swap the slightly larger than medium sized tyrannosaur's head with a crocodile, creating an imposing looking reptilian creature. I filled in the gaps where the cutting and pasting occurred with Apoxy Sculpt and will then base paint and repaint them. They came out looking pretty nice, actually, and obviously don't resemble any living or dead animal. I may do more to them, like replace their tails or add wings... but regardless, for basically $0.50 I have a completely unique and usable miniature that I can spring on my gaming group at any time.
One of the dinosaur minis I bought bore a remakable resemblance to the basilisk in the PF Bestiary, but lacked four legs.... well, I happened to have four unused crocodile legs, so a bit of exacto knifing and glue, some more Apoxy Sculpt, and now I have three nice basilisks. Horned basilisks, in fact. They are not merely usable, they actually came out pretty nice.
The octopuses look remarkably like Mind Flayer tentacles, or could be used to create any sort of tentacled creature. And the tyrannosaur heads and crocodile tails are now scheduled to be used with humanoid bodies to create some lizard-folk minis. And I've really only just begun.
The second thing I've done is to use some Epoxy mold making material I got at Hobby Lobby to mold parts of existing miniatures to add to other miniatures. So far I've only done a mold of the D&D Hippogriff miniature wings and added a cast of them to a horse to create a pretty impressive pegasus. I plan on using those same wings on a lion body with an eagle head I sculped with Apoxy Sculpt to create a griffon. And again, I've only started doing that.
Are these common techniques among miniature makers? Or is this considered to be totally gauche and embarrassing?
I guess I really don't care, I am enjoying the results, but I am curious what other miniature making folk think about these techniques, and if there are similar things I could be doing that other people have tried.
I mean I'm going to end up with about 50 really unique and interesting miniatures for about a $12 investment. How can that be bad?
I have a big box of plastic animals and plastic bugs. I haven't chopped any of them up, mainly because I can always find use for the actual critters in their original shapes, and because I tend to build encounters around the minis or toys I have.
I've also picked up many of the Schleich plastic painted animals, which make great dire animals, and put them on bases for stability and a better sense of their Space. So far I have two crocodiles, two wolves, a turtle, several dinosaurs, and a bear. Cool stuff!
I sometimes plan some encounters around minis I have, but I typically let the story take me where it wants to go, and then I either make miniatures I need, or I use something that is somewhat usable. For example, I might use a devil miniature to represent a demon.
But making minis to fill out encounters is how I ended up with the 150 or so homemade miniatures I have today, which means more and more I tend to have some miniatures I can use, so now, more and more, it's about having EXACTLY the miniature I want. For example I am making several specific NPC minis for my current campaign and am making them according to the descriptions I made up for them when I developed the cast for the story. So that means making about a dozen specific NPC minis with body shape, size, hair color, type of clothing (royalty, commoner, soldier, etc.)
Making these animal Frankenstein monsters is just a fun diversion while relaxing from the more stressful effort of making those specific NPC minis.
The fact that I've added dozens of minis to my collection is just a bonus. The fact that some of them actually match some usable monsters in the bestiary is just gravy on top of the bonus.
I'm looking at three basilisks whose epoxy putty cured overnight and thinking "sweeeet! I've always wanted some basilisk minis!"
I too have done a lot with different plastic animals. I have a herd of dire rothe that started life as MageKnight mounts. The regular rothe were HO scale buffalo.
Several of my young owlbears were cut and paste jobs. As well, I've done driders from Halloween spiders from the dollar store and MageKnight bodies holding the right sort of weapons. I've done snake body medusa from two different D&D figures.
I also use the Schleich brand plastic humans as different sorts of giants. Their native americans make good Hill Giants, and some of the humans in thier tube sets make good looking ogres and Hill Giant children. Basically, if I can cut, glue, pin or build it up with milliput, it's likely to become a mini in my collection.
Heh, I was actually thinking of exactly the same thing, using the larger scale minis for giants. But I don't have that many giants in my campaigns. What I really need are specific monsters, and since I tend to "roll my own" for monsters, there really is no limit to what I can do, except my imagination, and unfortunately, when it comes to mini making, I've discovered that my imagination is somewhat less creative than I thought it was.
I am now considering literally leafing through Bestiary I and II and making monsters that tweak my fancy.
But, I still need those 12 NPCs finished... Well, maybe 9 now, I've done a couple of them. Of course the more minis I make, the more minis I have to paint...
I will be going back to the toy store tomorrow with a better idea of the sorts of animals and dinosaurs I can exploit for more Frankenstein beasts.... Looking at making some demons now....
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You should look into Oyumaru clay. It's a...plastic, I guess, that softens in hot water, then solidifies as it cools but still remains slightly flexible. And it's infinitely reusable; it can be heated and re-molded with ease.
You can use it to make, quick molds of ANYTHING, and pour anything into it. Resin is feasible but sometimes messy, but Greenstuff works great.
I found out about it on /tg/, where it's become popular to dupe 40K bits with it; makes mass conversions much easier. Imagine having as many meltaguns or beakie helmets as you could ever need.
It's also possible to dupe entire models, "bricks" work best, obviously.
I have some clear plastic pellets that become flexible in hot water that might be the same thing, but I didn't think of using it to make molds because I thought the resin casting process would generate enough heat to melt the mold. I think it becomes soft at 125 degrees F, is that hotter than resin casting gets?
If it is the same, I could give that a try. I had actually intended to use that reusable clear plastic stuff to make things, then make a mold to cast copies, then remelt the plastic to make new stuff. I just haven't had time to mess with it yet.
I had to start making minitures for my Legion of Super-Heroes Game I'm creating. What I came up with is EXTREMELY cheap.
1. At a craft store I purchsed small wooden rectangles (which appeared to be used for any generic kind of crafting purpose) and spray painted them black.
2. I bought black plastic miniture bases at the gaming store. A package of many cost only a few dollars. They came in the correct size for mats and other gaming playboards.
3. I scanned pictures of the Legionnaires and villains from my Legion graphic novels as well as downloaded pictures from the internet. I use photo paper but one could easily get by on regular paper. I scanned several images onto one sheet and then cut them out. A single sheet of Photo paper gave me at least 15 minitures as the images were reduced to minature size.
4. I put a small piece of tape on the back of the scanned miniature and applied to the wood. I then took a couple inches of clear tape and wrapped it around the miniature image to protect it from being damaged.
5. The black miniature wooden piece was then inserted into the pre-bought plastic bases, a touch of glue added, and I was done.
Using this method I felt like I had great miniatures as they appeared as a match set. At less than $10.00 I could make scores of minitures taking about 5 minutes each to make.
6. For larger miniature I simply increase the image size and piece of wood (they come in variable sizes at a craft store). The only thing I have to do is extend the base out larger. To do so, I'll have to use a different type of plastic and cut the insert to the appropriate size. One could also use a larger wooden piece for the base and cut an insert of the approriate size.
Minimal Cost, Minimal Labor; Done!
hehe. Read this yesterday so while I was waiting for a prescription this morning, I am not sure how, but I found myself suddenly staring at toys looking for a bag of dinosaurs and bugs to cut and piece :)
hehe. Read this yesterday so while I was waiting for a prescription this morning, I am not sure how, but I found myself suddenly staring at toys looking for a bag of dinosaurs and bugs to cut and piece :)
Welcome to my world. :)
... except in my world I'm looking at dinosaurs, bugs, animals, action figures that might work as golems or giants, etc.
Not to mention looking for anything that would work for terrain, trees, buildings... I've got to where I can't look at a package in a store without thinking how it might provide styrofoam I can use for a temple complex or the box might work as a tavern, and any clear plastic package is potentially a window...
Which reminds me, has anyone seen a cheap item with a package with a sturdy plastic half-dome about twice the size of half a softball? I need a clear plastic dome for the top of my palace. The Lord is an avid astronomer and is tracking the movement of heavenly bodies through the crystal dome on top of the palace...
I have dozens of Actions figures that work as giants and dragons. Many of Todd McFarlane's Dragons line the shelves of my garage. I just picked up three action figures from the upcomming Thor movie to work as frost and fire giants. I also own most of MegaBlox's Dragon figures. They're not as detailed as the McFarlane range, but they're cheaper and still big enough to serve as Huge and Gigantic figures.
As for terrain, there are lots of possibilities, depending on your budget. Model train buildings, especailly some of the O-scale buildings by Plasticville and Lionel work very well. O-scale is actually bigger than 25mm, but since most of the current figures run from 28mm to 32mm isn size, O-scale works fine.
The hills, rocks and mountains that are included in various toy plastic dinosaur and green soldier sets work for everythiung from montains, clumps of rocks, hedges, hills and even volcanos.
Model train trees of various scales work well, but can be expensive. Instead, look for the trees that come out at Christmas time for ceramic villages. They're covered in fake snow, but that can be either be removed with a spray of hot water, or sprayed over with a couple of cans of different colored green spray paint.
I usualy go into high-guage model hunting mode from October through December. Holoween cardboard table decorations can make excellent ruined houses. Thanksgiving decorations have provided me with everything from tables for my action-figure giants to a Type-1 demon made from a cheap (and badle made) turkey figure. Christmas is the real winner. This past year I found a stack of three holiday gift boxes that became three different houses. Christmas ornaments have given me harps, fireballs, crystal chandeliers, angel and solar figures and giant bird nests.
There are several stores that are excellent hunting outlets. Craft stores like Michael's, Jo-Ann's, and Hobby Lobby are good for finding both supplies and ideas. I recently picked up several wooden canoes that I made into long-hual river and lake transports. They also have a line of cardboard houses, barns, and churches. I've takes the bare arboard forms and filled them out with cardbaord shingles, basswood doors, and waud & dabble plasterwork made from spackle.
Those are the things that just came to me here at the computer. I'm sure that if I went into my garage, I'd have other suggestions.
Paper terrain and minis. Just sayin'.
Which reminds me, has anyone seen a cheap item with a package with a sturdy plastic half-dome about twice the size of half a softball? I need a clear plastic dome for the top of my palace. The Lord is an avid astronomer and is tracking the movement of heavenly bodies through the crystal dome on top of the palace...
Not sure if this is the right size for you, but check out the supermarket's produce section. I bought a package of those mini-tomatoes the other day, and they came in a plastic dome-shaped container (actually had ridges like a melon on the dome). You could remove the top label and it had a hole in the dome. might work well for an astronomer (get something for a telescope, perhaps, and toss it in there).
Good luck!
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Paper terrain and minis. Just sayin'.
This. So very much this.
I've found that you can make pretty much anything up to huge size using some heavy weight card stock paper and your printer. Basing is a bit difficult sometimes, but so long as you're careful (and have an x-acto knife) it's easy to crank out a couple custom minis that you might need but otherwise would not have.
I think I have mentioned this before, but I am an intermediate origamist, and I used to make origami minis and glue them to cardboard, but they simply weren't sturdy enough for permanent use. So I started using sculpey clay and that led to my current obsession with sculpting minis out of epoxies.
I still have a lot of origami minis, but I don't use them much anymore. Printed minis don't do much for me either, but they are undoubtedy cheap. Part of my thing is that I like to use my hobbies to constantly learn new skills, and I mastered printing and cutting out paper a long time ago, so it just isn't satisfying enough for me.
But I should look at this for one-shot NPC or monster needs while I continue to fill out my mini collection.
Knowing me though, I would have to make a bunch of clear plastic reusable holders so I could just print, cut and slide into the base when I need one.
Knowing me though, I would have to make a bunch of clear plastic reusable holders so I could just print, cut and slide into the base when I need one.That would be an awesome idea to market and sell.
Edit: Okay, I found these from Litko Aerosystems, but if I am understanding you correctly, you're looking for the little T-shaped hard plastic bases?
Hmmm... those "paper figure counter stands" are pretty close to what I was thinking about... Except I envisioned a hinging system so that you don't have to slide it in, potentially wrinkling it. But in reality, that is probably fine, and would work just fine.
$12.99 for ten though? Not gonna spend that kind of money for stands when I just bought entire sets of 35 or 40 well-sculpted minis for $8.95 each. That means my minis are about a quarter apiece and those stands are $1.30 each. Not seeing the "on the cheap" part of that.
Hmmm... those "paper figure counter stands" are pretty close to what I was thinking about... Except I envisioned a hinging system so that you don't have to slide it in, potentially wrinkling it. But in reality, that is probably fine, and would work just fine.
$12.99 for ten though? Not gonna spend that kind of money for stands when I just bought entire sets of 35 or 40 well-sculpted minis for $8.95 each. That means my minis are about a quarter apiece and those stands are $1.30 each. Not seeing the "on the cheap" part of that.
Yeah, they're not the cheapest around. Let me poke around a bit, I might be able to find something somewhere.
Edit: How about these?Edit the second: Check out Rolco Games.
Those Rolco ones are a bit too big to put several side by side, but these look good too.