Some conversions for SOBH a.k.a. fun with Sculpey and cheap minis

If you've ever been to EM4 Miniatures website, you have probably explored their cheap 28mm hard plastic miniatures. When I say 'cheap,' I mean it--like $0.35 cheap. There are orcs and dwarves, in three seperate poses per range. And when you open the parcel when your order, you realize, as is so very often the case in the world of miniatures, you get what you pay for:

(click to enlarge)



Well, being a firm believer that one must make the best out of what one has, I proceeded to imagine ways in which I might make these guys a bit more interesting, (though the craptacular face isn't going anywhere).

First I had to do some testing. Testing, you say? Yes, testing. Does the hard plastic that EM4 uses have the capacity to withstand a 260 degree oven? The answer: a resounding yes.

Why, oh why would that little fact need to be ascertained? Because I was going to use Super Sculpey to do some modifications, and it has to cure in the oven. I also did some cutting and gluing, and it turns out that with a little imagination, it's easy to turn these cheap-o plastics into something with a little variety. Here are the results:






These guys are only a 2/3 of the varieties I created. So, if you have a tolerance for cleaning flash (and strange knobular pieces of plastic on the backs of figures (??)) and a little time to do some modification, EM4 offers orcs at an unbeatable price. These guys are bound for Grolltak's Marauders, one of my Song of Blades and Heroes (published by the visionary folks at Ganesha Games) warbands. I hope to put some of my other SOBH figures up here as well, which include some figs that I painted LONG ago when I first started hobbying.

I also turned a pig, similar to this:




into a dire boar!:

Long time away...

Wow. It's been almost a year since I posted here last, and I blame it all on Historicon. I purchased so much lead (and plastic!) there, that I could not get up from the work table to post about it. Then, of course, things like school intervened, and when that intervenes, there's no fighting it.

So, needless to say now, Historicon was awesome. It really was quite an experience, and The Wife and I are returning this year as well. It's a joke around our place that we spend our anniversary at Historicon. You could do much worse, in my opinion.

So, what does my renewed presence mean for you, O faceless mass of the Interwebs? Be prepared for a torrent of posts and pictures, possibly followed by a drought. I will try to post when I finish (or am working on) something that might be of any interest.

To those of you back for the sequel to last summer, enjoy!