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In my previous article, I mentioned about how to make a miniature figure have a more interesting pose by performing a conversion. I don’t mean by converting into another faith but rather modifying certain a portion of the miniature figure to make it look different and change the mood of the character. Once you have achieved that, your miniature figure now can be used for multiple war gaming scenarios or dioramas.

In this case,  a minor  conversion was done on a 28mm metal miniature of Gandalf from Games Workshop. The original Gandalf figure holds a sword in his right hand. A minor conversion was done to the sword hand to make the miniature figure have 3 different interchangeable hands to suit 3 different moods or scenes.

1. battle mode-a hand with a sword(the original hand)
2. relax mode-a hand holding a pipe
3. intellectual mode-a hand holding a book

Although I say  it’s a minor conversion, I should  highlight that sculpting body parts like a hand is not as simple as it seems however. It requires a basic knowledge of human anatomy and many hours of practice and patience to make it look right. It really helps if you like to play with clay when you are growing up. Sculpting inanimate objects is an easier way to begin with if you ask me.

Green stuff

This  type of epoxy-putty is used for miniature sculpting  and is made up of two different parts-one side yellow and the other side blue.  When you mix and knead the two parts together it turns to green  thus the nickname “Green Stuff”.  In approximately 2 hours or more, it gradually begins to harden into a rubbery plastic material. During this setting period is the time the sculpting process is done.

This epoxy putty is mostly used for sculpting 28mm miniatures by professional miniature sculptors and this is the material that I used for converting the hands of the miniature. Another common name for this epoxy putty is Kneadanite.

Magnetizing

Magnetizing is the newest form of war-gaming  technique to have interchangeable parts for your miniature. The process utilizes rare earth magnets to attach or detach weapons and equipment of your miniature. Another use for the rare earth magnets is to attach your figure onto a diorama base to stabilize the figure from toppling over.

Rare earth magnets are the latest craze in the war-gaming world. In this project I utilize 1/16X1/32 inch rare earth magnets for the interchangeable hands of Gandalf and a 3/16X1/16 inch magnets to attach the miniature to my diorama base.

Please refer to the video below for the conversion process mentioned above.

For more miniature painting and modelling tips, please visit http://2paintminiatures.com