Tips for Making Minis with Polymer Clay
I spent some time this past weekend working on some more polymer clay miniatures for using in D&D or other tabletop games. After my previous model, I decided I’d try to make one that was a bit smaller – closer to the 28mm used for ‘man-sized’ figures in many RPGs and wargames. I wasn’t sure how much detail I’d be able to get with fimo or sculpey, but I have to say I’m very happy with my progress and the newest figure!
The newest figure, the Phantom Stranger, uses a paperclip armature like the earth elemental figure but is about half the height. It’s also a much more detailed figure. Working on this mini I learned a few new techniques that anyone interested in making smaller miniatures out of polymer clay might find helpful.
I used a small push-pin to work in some extra detail such as distressing the edge of his hood and bottom of his cape. I also used the pin to cut out a skull shape from a flattened circle of sculpey and then gently placed that inside the opening of the hood. Similarly, I created the belt, buckle, tops of the boots, sword and scabbard as separate “flat” pieces that I cut out and carefully added to the figure. This allowed me to get more detail than I think I would have if I were trying to carve the fimo on the model.
Some very fine detail like fingers or the edge of the sword where it joins the hand were done by carving a line onto the miniature with the pin.
Something else I discovered after finishing this minis is that you can fire your clay multiple times! One the biggest challenges was the armature pulling free of the soften clay as I worked with it. This was really limiting in how much I could handle the minis and how much detail I could add. For my next model I’ve made a thin coating of polymer clay on the posed armature and will add a second layer on top of that. This will let me apply some pressure while sculpting without worrying about the “bones” breaking through the model’s skin.
I’ve also found some better tools to work with. Instead of just using my hands and a push-pin I now have some plastic modeling tools (shown) as well as some metal dentist’s tools. I’ve also read that if you keep your hands a bit wet you can avoid leaving fingerprints on the model when you touch it. The pin will also be retired in favor of a scalpel for doing very fine work.
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Excellent dudes. Fits very well with the building from before
I hope we’ll be facing this baddie in future 4E/OD!
Thanks! I kept the Phantom Stranger ambiguously skull-faced so that it might be a mask, or he might be undead.
They’re all things that I’d put in a game – although I have fun making them on their own, so it’s a bit like a parallel hobby too.
I was recently thinking of sculpting using exactly these materials. Great timing!
Your Skeletor rocks
I use to sculpt a lot of figures out of epoxy putty and jewelers wax and I found the best tools to sculpt with were dental tools. You can almost always find some for around 1 dollar each at local swap meets. Or online for a bit more. Great job on the figs! After you bake them, you should try making a mold so you can make more resin copies.
We found our dental tools at an Army Surplus store! I haven’t tried any mold making yet, but I’ve been thinking about giving it a try.
What are the measurements of these characters? I don’t play D&D or any other table top games, so I have no idea where to start looking for this, but I would love to make these types of characters for fun, but I would like them to look “official” when I am finished.
The smaller figure is 28mm scale – the same size as a Games Workshop figure for Warhammer or Warhammer 40K. The larger figure is as big as you want him to be for whatever other figures you have around. I think it works at 25mm, 28mm or just about any size, since most people wouldn’t know the “correct” size for an earth elemental.
Here’s a question (and I guess I need to plunk some money down and answer it myself): what would dice with this stuff be like? I enjoy hobby-and-crafts elements (making your own minis sounds fun; wonder if I can do it though…) so I was thinking of making my own custom dice. Mostly patterned on d6s (remarked as d3s and otherwise specially marked) but who knows. I can print and paste my own stickers or find stickers, but I was thinking about something made-from-scratch…
I think you could make decorative dice with polymer clay… but they wouldn’t be very balanced, and so they wouldn’t be good randomizers. You could probably make something like Maow Miniature’s Monster Dice though, which would be pretty cool.
I made a six-sided die really quick from some polymer (cheap stuff I bought off hand from a craft shop without any research) and it didn’t dissappoint. Although I did a sloppy job so the lettering and shape are rough.
It has potential for my own purposes (custom six-sided dice for my own uses)! The result seems to be rugged enough to be useful. If I ever get time I’ll try to make a nice one and roll it around a lot to see if it seems a honest as other dice.
That’s very cool. I wonder if I could make a d14, d16 and d18 with it. Those aren’t very easy-to-find dice in most hobby shops.
I know what you mean.
One reason I’m looking at this is I wanted a six-sided die marked 0, 0, 6, 6, 12, and 12 (and didn’t want to have to rely on someone else): roll it with a regular d6 and you get 1 to 18. Mark another die with 0, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 30 — roll it with 1d6 and you get 1 to 36. Glue and paper work okay (or stikers), but I wanted purpose-made dice.
Rolling two dice and adding them is clumsy. But, some people talk about playing D&D (for example) using just six-sided dice. Some of them use 2d6 for attack rolls, saves and such, doing various conversions. If they’re rolling and adding two dice, they could make a 0-0-6-6-12-12 die and get a 1 to 18 roll. Which eliminates a lot of the need for conversions. Heck, make a 0-6-12-18-24-30 die and have theif skills and such based on “d36″.
I made four figures last February using premo sculpy. I discovered that by layering and baking then layering again and baking I was able to create fine details. These minis were created for my first D&D 4e campaign (although it did not last, at least the minis did!) I had a blast creating them!. I used floral wire for the basic skeleton than I built muscle leaving the joints bare. I also crafted a simple head with a flat face, than baked it. Then I added clothes and other details, including the face and hair but I baked it quickly 1 to 2 min when I needed a hard surface to build on or to make something permanent. I would love to post the pics but I am not sure how. Anyways happy sculpting. (P.s on very fine details I added a thin coat of super glue it creates a tough finish and works great on spikes tails spines or even hair or capes. )
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