I am curious if anyone has ever had a custom mini done just for them and if so what did you have done.
I have two characters I have yet to find a mini that matched what I imagine they would look like. Over time, I have just accepted that. But it does make me curious.
Reaper Miniatures
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We have an entire department dedicated to custom work.
How much it costs depends on how much work you want us to do.
steps needed:
Concept Art
Scultping
Mastering
Moldmaking
Production Molding
Casting
Each step we do adds to the cost, but as I said, we do this a lot.
I have myself commissioned sculpts, some of which have been then sold to reaper, and others are still just a sculpt I own.
if you wish more detailed information, send me a PM, I do not want to use the Paizo forum to do business, it's their yard.
You can also do a lot without contacting Reaper/me. many of our sculptors are on facebook, and as freelance sculptors, are free to accept commissions from individuals or other companies.
Thank You Bryan.
As for the others who might read this thread: I am still interested in hearing your story/input.
Daniel, I am one of those people blessed or cursed (it's hard to say which it is) with the fundamental belief that I can do just about anything myself if I put my mind to it. So I create my own miniatures for most of my PCs. Now it is true that I am not a phenomenal artist, and that the results would probably not win any miniature sculpting award, but one thing I can absolutely say about my miniatures is that they are exact representations of my actual characters, down to the most excruciating detail I care to put into them. In some cases as my character has grown I have created new minis for that same character. I am on my third mini for my 9th level female druid.
When I can't make, or don't feel like making, a miniature from scratch, I will frequently mod an existing miniature. I needed a half-orc wielding a spiked chain, but the closest miniature I could find was a human. So I used some epoxy putty to put some points on the ears, some fangs on the mouth and some bulk on the arms, legs and torso, then painted it. Presto! Half-orc wielding a spiked chain.
If you simply have no interest in "do-it-yourself" miniatures, I recommend that you ask your local gaming store if they know of any miniature sculptors who specialize in customizing miniatures for players. I know some folks who help fund their hobby in that manner and I typically prefer to help that sort of person out more than going to a big company like Reaper. Not that I have anything against Reaper, I love their stuff. I just like giving the local dude a chance when I can.
I find that Reaper has sooooo many sculpts, that it is rare that I cannot find one that matches my character. Occasionally, there are only 1 or 2 details that are off... usually the weapon. Their weapon packs are pretty good at having my desired weapon and its not too hard to swap out the weapon... but for best results you need a Dremel drill, a fine drill bit, and a thin rod of metal for pinning. (The bit and pin you can buy at most any hobby shop).
If you haven't already, make sure you click through all of Reaper's lines (Dark Haven / Warlord / etc), as all combined there is a huge amount minis to view. I generally try not to use their mini finder, as often the mini I am looking for is not picked up by the search parameters. (Of course, these means you now need to spend 30 minutes clicking through all their galleries).
I have often found the exact mini I was looking for, but just in a different race. It usually doesn't take too much effort to change the race of a mini -- unless of course you are trying to change a halfling into a half-orc or something silly like that :)
I've never had a custom miniature made from scratch, but I convert and alter my minis all the time. About half the minis on my work table right now have greenstuff parts or weapons glued in from another source.
For example, I'm took this guy, cut the dagger he's holding behind him off, and am sculpting a fireball into his hand, for a half-orc fighter-wizard character in our current campaign.
(This is not the first time I've tried something like this, but hopefully I've gotten better with practice. The picture on the bottom is what I'm talking about. The one on the top was an attempt to sculpt a model a new arm.)
For an old villain project, I've took this chick and am adding a cloak and other details to make her look like a savage high priest than a mid rank melee cleric.
And so on.
I agree that kit-bashing something together is probably your best bet. All you need is a knife, some glue, maybe a bit of "green stuff", and a bit of courage and imagination. It also helps to have a pile of stuff that you're willing to sacrifice parts of to make a greater whole. Here are a few examples of what somebody with moderate (barely) hand skills can accomplish:
swashbucker
Shoanti thunder and fang figher
Sandpoint devil
Plastic is WAY easier to work with. Old hero-clix figures, left-over Warhammer bits, and the toy section at the dollar store are all great sources of material. Also, keep those bits that you cut off to be replaced... some day you might want that sword, shield, or hose that ran to a bio-gun of some sort.
"But Andrew, I would never be able to do something like that!" Trust me, if I can do it, so can you. The biggest hurdle is getting over the fear that you'll ruin something. Beat that fear by using cheap materials. Make clean cuts to that you can glue things back together if you need to. Finally, a fresh coat of paint will make all the difference. A unpainted frankenstein looks pretty bad, but I find that even a coat of primer lets me see past the ugliness.
Thanks for the input all of you. The figures all look good and I will need to look into what I might be able to do myself.
Andrew, well done on that Sandpoint Devil. I really like how that one turned out.
Thanks danielc, I was pretty pleased with it too. I should mention though, that despite me going on and on about using cheap materials, I actually went out and bought some sort of Warhammer cavalry mini for the horse part. So yeah, there's no guarantee that you can do this sort of thing for pennies, but even when you can't it's still WAY cheaper than a custom sculpt.
I find that Reaper has sooooo many sculpts, that it is rare that I cannot find one that matches my character. Occasionally, there are only 1 or 2 details that are off... usually the weapon. Their weapon packs are pretty good at having my desired weapon and its not too hard to swap out the weapon... but for best results you need a Dremel drill, a fine drill bit, and a thin rod of metal for pinning. (The bit and pin you can buy at most any hobby shop).
If you don't want to invest in a Dremel, you can also just buy a manual pin vise (available also at hobby shops and small tool specialists). The Dremel is faster, but I prefer the pin vise because with my luck, I am much less likely to drill a hole into my own finger.