Many of the figures you buy for fantasy gaming are not quite in the
position you want them. As you go further into miniature modelling, this
will be more and more irksome. Without being able to change your
figures, you may have to paint up miniatures that aren’t the way you
want them.

Actually, minor alterations are fairly easily done. This article will
discuss basic, simple reanimations that can add to the variety of your
miniature set, and require no special tools. It will do so in the context of
the skeletal undead.

Skeletons used to be a bit scary to me. Going to museums and
seeing the bones of great mastodons and reptiles was spooky, even
though I knew they couldn’t hurt me. Human skeletons were even
spookier; they always seemed a bit threatening. Skulls were especially
weird, with their dark, empty eye sockets and eternal grins.

But in order to get to the bare bones of things, you have to understand
skeletons. Their bones are the basic structure on which all else is
hung. Bones give support to the muscles and flesh, and determine
balance and proportion.

My own mistrust of skeletons evaporated in a physical anthropology
class. There I met a fellow who believed that beauty is much more than
skin deep. He thought that Marilyn Monroe must have had a particularly
beautiful skeleton. After I stopped laughing, I had to admit that perhaps
he was right. After all, every beautiful woman I have ever known had a
skeleton inside her. So do you.

All art students who wish to draw people must first learn about the
skeleton, and medical students agonize over the Latin names for your
bones. A miniature painter needs only to know that “de head bone’s
connected to de neck bone,” but a little more knowledge in this area is
essential to being able to modify miniatures. Skeletal figures will be
extremely useful in D&D in their own right, since skeletons are fun to
have around to throw at adventurers that do not have Clerics with them.
All the best families have skeletons in their closets, and you should have
a few in your fantasy miniature collection.

The reason behind needing to know skeletons is that any miniature
will look ill-proportioned if it doesn’t have its arms, legs, and head in the
tight place, at a reasonable angle, and of properly proportionate length.
If you know “dem bones,” you’ll never make mistakes by proportioning
miniatures wrong. This article will use a particular set of miniatures as an
example: Grenadier set #W-51, “Skeleton Warriors.” <x>

When I first looked at this pack of figures, I was a little disappointed.
There they were: six figures exactly alike. The minor anatomical problems
could be easily overlooked—after all, these were fantasy miniatures
and were less than 1” tall. But how could anyone live with
regimented undead? ‘Tenshut! Forward, Stagger! (Rattle, shuffle,
rattle, rattle, rattle)” Those skeletons were much too orderly! They
probably didn’t have a brain in their head.

Yet the Grenadier figures are close to ideal for alteration. Because of
their construction of soft metal, and the fact that there was no clothing or
flesh to give problems, the figures are easily altered. The basic skeleton is
illustrated on the accompanying instruction page-hand to side, sword
raised, jaw open. Not a pretty prospect, but even worse when there are
six all alike. You only need your hands to modify these guys-but
possibly a small metal ruler or pliers will come in handy to increase your
leverage. You’ll want to leave at least one piece in its initial pose so you
can show it to admiring friends and say: “See, they all looked like this
when I started.”

Don’t clean off the flash before modifying: it will give a bit of extra
strength to the areas you are bending and can be removed later. A lucky
bit of flash could give you the opportunity of making a dagger if you
wish. Start off by filing or sanding the bases flat. This will allow you to
stand them up easily during the process to come. When the bases are
flat, you can start bending the figures. This is called reanimation.

Remember that although the metal casting will try to bend in a
curve, a bone would not bend that way, so you’ll have to take care. The
arms are the most important part to bend. By putting arms in a different
position, you can radically alter the visual impact of a skeleton. Some
possible reanimations which affect only the area above the hip bones
are illustrated. In order to assure a clean, straight bend, put a brace at the
bend point. Almost anything that is small and strong, such as a small
steel ruler, will do. You could also use your small pliers to do this—and
have a much easier time of it.

Don’t push too hard on the arms, especially if you begin to feel metal
fatigue. When the metal begins to bend really easily it has become
fatigued and will snap. Oops! Too much? Well, read on, and Ye
Fantasysmith will tell you how to fix it right up.

Torsos and heads can be bent around to give a new position; just
incline them as you wish, and swivel them a bit Watch out for that metal
fatigue, though. It’s deadly to undead miniatures.

If you’re careful enough, you’ll hardly ever need the repair tips that
follow. But you still should know them. In one case, a casting from my
set of figures simply did not have a left arm. This is the same circumstance
that occurs when you snap off an arm. To save the casting, glue a
cardboard shield to the stump that remains, and hopefully no one will
be the wiser. Use a simple rectangular shield. This is not only easier to
cut out, but matches the Roman short sword the skeletons carry.

If there hadn’t been a stump big enough for attaching the shield,
you’d need more tools to save the casting. Take a small twist drill and
put a hole into the ribcage right about where the arm socket would
have been. Then get a small piece of copper or other soft wire ready to
glue into the hole. Shape the wire and flatten the “forearm” with a file
before gluing the shield on. Shaping means that you will not have to put
any pressure on the glue joint. The flattening means that you’ll have
more surface to attach the shield to and, because the wire is roughed up,
the glue will adhere better. Now glue the shield onto the wire, let it dry,
then glue the whole thing into the arm socket you drilled previously.

If the right arm (which holds the weapon) breaks off, you’ll have to
modify around the breakage. Right arms are not too hard a problem,
and require much the same method as the left arm. You start off by
gluing the forearm and weapon to the wire instead of a shield. This is a
bit trickier and will require more skill; a method is illustrated on the
instruction page. Human forearms have two bones so that the hand can
swivel about 270 degrees. The hand and weapon are on the end of the
forearm. This makes for a complicated shape, so it is always easier to
save the broken piece and use it rather than trying to build the arm from
scratch. If you get a casting without a right arm, you can always make
that skeleton into a left-hander—it’s easier than fabricating the arm.

Any skeleton with a trick back needs all the help it can get Start by
gluing a support between torso and hip bone. The flat end of a toothpick
will do nicely. Use epoxy cement to attach the toothpick to the torso.
After that has dried, glue the entire thing to the hip bones. With this kind
of support, it is best to have the skeleton facing directly forward so as to
get the maximum area for the glue to hold. After “de back bone
connected to de hip bone” again, you have the same problem that
Richard Nixon had with his skeletons—coverup. Really now, you
wouldn’t your skeleton to develop an inferiority complex when all its
buddies called it “toothpick back,” would you? Get over this problem
by improvising a ragged cape.

Take some very light cardboard or heavy paper, the thickness of an
old Dragon cover, to make the cape. Cut out the paper in a rough cape
shape with ragged edges. Weaken this a bit by rolling it on a pencil and
make folds for the neck and shoulders where the cloth would naturally
fall over the bones. Working the cape will make it fall into a drape
shape—now keep it in shape by strengthening the entire cape with glue.
Moisten the cape and skeleton’s back thoroughly with your favorite
quick-drying cement and hold it in place until it sets up. Presto! a
skeleton with some shreds of dignity.

Now you’re ready to paint. Here are a few hints. Bones normally
bleach white, but would usually have darker parts. Use a light flesh color
to indicate these parts by giving areas like the rib cage, forearm, and
lower leg a base coat of flesh color or darker shade first. Then dry brush
some white over the bones. The skull is all white, of course, but shading
is necessary around the temples and jaw. Eye sockets, nose and mouth
cavities are often painted black, but a dark brown will be more effective.
An interesting effect is created by putting a tiny dot of red directly in the
middle of the eye cavity. If this proves to be too difficult for you, though,
forget it.

Swords, of course, will be nicked, dull, and rusty. A quick shot with
knife or file can nick the swords quite convincingly. If you do not have a
dull silver or “gunmetal” color, put a black wash over your normal silver
paint after it dries. This will do nicely. As a last detail, a small bit of red
orange color on the blade with indicate rust Any capes you have added
will have to look old as well as tattered, so mix grey with any color you
choose, and give it a wash of lighter grey as a finisher. You can paint in
the smallest tatters, holes, and frayed edges with black if you wish.

The ‘degrees of difficulty’ and what they mean

This article is an introduction to alteration of miniatures, and covers reanimation and adaptations. The alterations below are defined as they will be used in future columns. They have not been defined exactly this way before. This series of definitions was needed to differentiate a progressive increase in complication of operations, and increasing use of tools and skill. The definitions do not include “putting together” kits, but only changing some aspects of a standard one piece miniature. CONVERSION: Use of one figure to represent another type of figure. This is normally accomplished by simply painting a figure differently after scraping or filing off some figure details. For example, a head of hair can be filed down and painted silver to produce a helmeted figure. REANIMATION: Minor alteration of a figure’s appearance by bending arms, legs, or equipment into a new position. Minor additions of equipment also fall into this category. Shields, capes, weapozns, or other equipment may be easily glued onto the figure without use of complicated operations. ADAPTATION: Minor additions and changes to a figure made with putty, filler, or solder. Substitution of a head or weapon from another figure that requires drilling and filing also is  included. The repairs recommended in the article are similar to adaptations. MODIFICATION: Major alteration of figure requiring considerable cutting, filing, and grinding. Figures are also modified by cutting off limbs and substituting different ones-often from another figure. This method is sometimes accomplished with an assist from a power tool, or with specialized hand tools, vises, or jigs. The finished figure will be unique, with those items of the original casting that are still visible being overshadowed by modified parts. SCRATCHBUILT: Rather than an alteration of a figure, this is actually the production of a completely new figure from basic materials. Although some commercially available pieces may be included, the major segments of the figure are constructed by the modeller. Clay, wax, putty, wood, plastic, paper, metal, or other materials are formed and assembled to make a piece specifically for the purposes of the modeller. Scratchbuilding is most often used for a special display piece or a diorama. This is the most demanding type of modeling and the most advanced. It is included here for comparison with alterations, and will be covered in some detail in a later issue of The Dragon. <link>