One of my favorite aspects of the game is customizing miniatures to reflect the force posibilities. What you see is what you get in tournament rules. So, Convert your way to victory.

These comical fellows are milliput men - the first generation. They are (from left to right) Dark legion Candy Man attempt 1, re-built cartel man putty blob guy, wireframe man 2.0, and action wireframe man 1.0. Now that introductions are complete I'll go through some very practicle advise that I learned as I went along. Hopefully it will help, or at least ammuse you.

WireFrame men are the skeletons to Milliput Men. I make my wire frame men from florists wire which is firm enough to keep its shape, but flexible enough to bend with pliers (or with a bit of effort by hand). Wire frames do the following things:

• they act as skeletons
  • providing support to soft putty as it hardens.
  • strengthing the entire miniature.
  • Helping to 'pin' or hold attachments like weapons on.
• they can also be used to hold up or action-pose objects.
• and wire is cheaper than putty. More wire=less putty needed.

The difference between wireframe man 1.0 and 2.0 is mainly scale... while 1.0 may appear closer to a real miniature in scale, it is just a wire frame and after putty is added, the miniature will be too large to fit in (unless you were going for an overly large figure in the first place). When making a wireframe man I measured the scale of the miniatures I had and found they were quite cartoonish (as if we didn't allready know that). The scale can very easily be reduced to lengths of 1/2 a centimeter. My current frame template (wireframe man 2.0) measures as follows:

• 1 CM from heel to knee.
• 1 CM from knee to belt buckle.
• 1 CM from belt buckle to shoulder.
• 1 CM from Shoulder to shoulder.
• (the head is then 1/2 a cm from each shoulder, the miniatures never really have necks, and the jaw to top of head is 1/2 a CM - hats increase this. Also, a finished head is normally 1/2 CM wide at the eyes.)
• 1/2 a CM from shoulder to elbow.
• 1/2 a CM from elbow to wrist.
• 1/2 a CM from wrist to fist.
• (I say fist because the finished fist itself is always disporportionately large being 1/2 a cm long and nearly as wide and tall. Also, other than the occasional extended pointer finger and some kitbashed extended middle fingers I rigged up, all miniatures seem to have closed fists for hands - they are obviously easier to make closed than open, are less fragile ect...).
• Finished feet, or boots, are nearly 1 CM long, though this is the sole and the actual boot is generally smaller than the tread).

For starters... Why Milliput? you may have asked. Milliput is similar to the 'green stuff' (or 'grey stuff') sold at Games Workshop stores, but is WAY less expensive. Personally, I also find milliput bonds better, can be worked easier, and used in a larger variety of ways. Milliput may be dampened with water to change its consistancy and allows itself to be worked for a longer timeframe that way, but will still harden rock solid, even underwater. As You work with the milliput you find some things are better sculpted at differing consistencies for the best possible results. Some people find green stuff / grey stuff is nicer for details like faces. I tried both and found I prefer Milliput, but might as well try both youself at least once and see which you prefer.

Weapons and atachments (or anything that sticks out a lot on its own) is best done with Milliput allowed to partially harden. Fully and partially hardened milliput may be carved, drilled or sanded, so you can always get the finish you want.

GOT THAT MAD TECH SKILL

some common skills and problem solving advise. First is what I like to call the 'rule of sausages'. Almost everything you make can be fleshed out or detailed in using the rule of sausages... that is - all shapes begin as a sausage, a ball, or a sheet. Sausages provide a basic form for ropes, belts, pouches, straps, buckles, ect... this is because if you want to, a sausage can be gently impressed or flattened to make a squareish shape instead of staying a sausage. The basic ball and sausage shapes are also the easiest to cut and apply.

I do all my sculpts with just 2 tools... a pointy round thing (like a toothpick only mine is metal) and a small exacto knife. Some water is on the side to lube things up and help smooth surfaces as needed, and I have a flat dry surface for rolling nice even sausages and balls on.

Work SLOWLY! I can't stress that enough, you HAVE to let a fine detail completely harden in place (about 8 hrs) before you handle it while sculpting more of the mini. Bases make this easier, as you can handle the base instead of the miniature and have less chance of accidently ruining details. I've squished many skulls and straps to nothing by handling them too soon, and I learned the hard way that swords bend and are impossibly hard to get consistent if you try to make them attached.

Small details are sometimes best made seperately, then attached to the miniature, or a small blob of putty attached and sculpted down instead of up. It's easier, horribly easier, to sculpt details down or out of something rather than adding mor putty and more putty to make fine details. Also, it's best to mix only enough putty for what you need to detail or flesh out. I have found myself moving down continually as I sculpt. Initially, I start with 1/2 of a thin slice of putty (about 1/4 of a cm thick). This initial start sausages out limbs and the body of the miniature wire frame which has been placed in a pose allready. Then I work in 1/4 of a thin slice or even 1/8 of a slice of putty and still usually end up with some extra bits that have hardened too quickly to be used or just can't be added without wrecking fine detail I just added.

Currently, that's about all I know on sculpting, though I believe my sculpts are good quality and fit right in with the existing figures as well as being good representavie copies of the moody artwork in the game. If you would like to employ me as a sculptor please contact me, I'll gladly work for minimum wage on the staff list for any gaming company. Please use my e-mail to contact me if you're hiring!