GeekDad Daniel Donahoo interviews Kris Buchan on his LEGO mini-fig customizations:
One of the first techniques I applied to customizing from my modeling days was when painting, always use masking tape to mask off areas you don’t want the paint to get to, and it gives you a nice sharp line. I can’t stress highly enough that if you primarily use paint and need a clean straight line, that’s the way to go.
I have also become quite adept at sculpting, using a modeling clay. Lego Purists hate that, but then certain “purists” hate minifigs anyway if they aren’t part of some massive diorama, but to each their own. To sculpt I use a product called “milliput,” it’s available at all modeling shops and it’s a two-part compound. Knead two equals parts together and you get a great modeling clay that you can easily shape, cut, stretch and the best part is it air dries, i.e. does not require it to be baked in an oven like some other types of sculpting clay. After 6–8 hours, it is as solid as concrete and you can file, sand, drill it, etc. It’s great for creating chest bursting effects (as seen in the pic above).
I learnt to not have any fears when it comes to cutting parts up, and a hobby knife is the best tool for that. Also needle files and modeling sand paper to smooth out the cut pieces, to get end results like this guy. You can get these tools quite cheaply from a hobby shop.
Finally after being inspired by such great decal designers such as Jared and Flickr members Roaglan, Triump and others I decided to try and do some custom decals myself. The end results have not been too bad. I’m not as savvy with programs like ‘Photoshop’ and other vector graphic programs, so I tend to use the most basic of all, Microsoft Paint. Yep, that free program that you get with your Windows O/S. The lines can be blocky, but the trick is to do a large version than reduce it in size when doing the print. It then looks perfect to the naked eye once in minifigs scale. Then you simply print away on a color laser or Inkjet printer. Waterslide decal paper is easily ordered from many printer paper supply online shops, just Google “Laser or Inkjet Waterslide decal paper.” A very important tip for decal application is to apply Decal Setting solution to the minifigs surface that you want to apply the decal to, this allows you to move the deal into its correct position and then also helps the adhesion as it starts to dry. Then once applied, use a Decal softening solution, which helps the decal set and is very helpful for when applying to curved areas like the head or arms, and makes the decal look like it’s been printed onto the piece once it’s dried. Again, these types of products can be found at any good hobby shop.