Custom Minimate Resources at the Minimate Factory

The Glue Experiment

August 24, 2010 – 6:10 pm

When I am making custom Minimates, I typically use Loctite Super Glue whenever I need to glue something. It works great on Minimate plastic, and I have used it for years. But sometimes I need to assemble a Minimate accessory that uses a different type of plastic, and Loctite doesn’t always hold things together the way it should.

The most difficult plastic to work with is definitely Lego plastic. I am guessing the plastic is coated with something at the factory, because it is very resilient to super glue. Unfortunately Lego accessories are a fantastic source for customizing parts, so I can’t simply ignore them. Washing the parts in water helps, and scratching the surface also helps, but they are still very difficult to glue.

I decided to run a little experiment and test the performance of a few different glues on some basic Lego pieces:

From left to right they are Loctite Super Glue Control Gel, Gorilla Glue, and Elmer’s High Performance Ultimate Glue.

I took three sets of two black 2×2 Lego blocks, washed them all, and scratched one surface with a hobby knife. I glued each set together, following the application instructions on the backs of the glue bottles (some had you moisten the surface first). Here is a picture of one set before gluing, so you can see the scratches:

After gluing them together, I let the pieces sit for 24 hours. Once the time had passed, I started my test by picking up each set to make sure it didn’t fall apart immediately (none did). Then, I took each set and applied some very light pressure in the middle where it would break apart. Each set held up under light pressure. I kept rotating the sets and applying more and more pressure, trying to find their breaking point.

The first set to drop out of the race was the Elmer’s Ultimate Glue in the 5th round. To be fair, it did withstand a fair amount of pressure. I kept going with the other two sets. During the 8th round, I heard each set start to crack. When the 9th round came along, the Loctite Super Glue set finally broke. It put up a good, long fight, but it couldn’t stand up to the Gorilla. The Gorilla Glue set lasted two more rounds (11 total) before snapping in half.

I realize this was not a very scientific experiment, but I learned exactly what I needed to learn from it. I will be sticking with Loctite glue for most of my Minimate projects, as the applicator is better for Minimate use. But whenever I need to use Legos in a custom, or if I come across some other type of stubborn plastic, I will be reaching for my bottle of Gorilla Glue!

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By Luke314pi | Posted in tools of the trade | Tagged experiments, glue, super glue | Comments (0)

Using a Sharpie to Straighten Your Lines

August 11, 2010 – 10:29 pm

It happens to the best of us – you are trying your best to paint a straight edge, but it ends up being just a tiny bit rough or crooked. So what do you do? Well, it depends on how “off” your edge or line is. You will have to repaint that area in some cases. But if things are only off by a tiny bit, you might be able to fix it with a Sharpie

If you have followed my customs for any period of time, you have likely noticed that I am a big fan of the Ultra Fine Point Sharpie. It makes strong black lines that are only slightly thicker than factory-produced minimate lines. Although the lines are a little too glossy, these Sharpies are the best tool for fine details outside of a tiny paintbrush.

So how can you use them to fix crooked painted edges? Let’s start by looking at the graphic below, which represents a painted minimate area at around 5 times it’s original size.

As you can see, the edge is a little rough. But take a look at the distance between the highest point of the rough edge and the lowest point:

When reduced to minimate size, a straight Sharpie line can be drawn directly in between these two points, thus covering up all rough places along the edge:

But you might say, if I cant paint a straight line, how am I supposed to draw a straight line with a Sharpie? Well, we are more used to using a Sharpie than a brush, since we use pens a heck of a lot more often in our daily routines than we use tiny paint brushes. If you can’t seem to draw straight Sharpie lines, try speeding up the pen stroke. You are more likely to get a straighter line with a faster stroke.

I hope this helps you!

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By Luke314pi | Posted in tools of the trade | Tagged paint, sharpies, tips | Comments (0)

Customizer Spotlight: Bob Harris

July 29, 2010 – 9:19 am

I am launching a new series here at the Factory called Customizer Spotlight. Each entry in this series will focus on the talents of one minimate customizer. The idea for this series came from comments that readers submitted in the Minimate Factory Poll that I held earlier this year.

I knew that the first person I wanted to interview for this series was Bob Harris. His customs are always amazing, and his love for the characters that he creates is evident in his careful attention to detail. Bob posted his first custom at the Minimate Multiverse in December 2008, and he has been posting regular updates ever since.

Bob is unveiling a new custom in this interview, and is even providing a free decal to make this character. Who might it be? Read further into the article to find out!

Luke: I am a big fan of your customs. It seems like you put a lot of time and thought into each one. How long does it take you to finish a custom on average?

Bob: Well, thanks a lot, Luke, I’m honored! It’s pretty hard to say how long a custom takes. It depends on what I am up to, what I have in mind. My choice of characters mostly depends on those I really like at a certain point and I keep them in mind, browsing through the database to find parts I could use. So the part on customizing that takes most of the time is just thinking about it. When it comes to the actual work, it depends on how complex the custom might be. For some, I just needed to get the right parts – which can take an awful lot of time, since you don’t really get minimates in Germany – put them together and do some repainting. That usually takes less than an hour. If I need to design decals, it takes way more, since I’m not used to it enough yet. The most complex customs I did so far also needed sculpted or modified parts. Those might take up to two or three days of consecutive work – if I do have the time straight away.

Luke: What is your favorite custom among the ones you have created?

Bob: Nice question. I’d go with two of the more complex ones. Hellboy on the one hand is a character I wanted to do for a long time, but it took me half a year to get my hands on all the Minimate parts I wanted to use for him. When I got what I needed I did decals for his face and chest and wanted to be as close to Mignola’s style as I could. And then I needed to sculpt his horns. I’m pretty satisfied with him, although I wasn’t able to include his tail(!). The other one is Dr. McNinja. I’m really proud of this custom, since it really looks exactly as I wanted it to look like. The toughest thing to do was his stethoscope, but I needed to include it somehow. So, McNinja and Hellboy are my favs so far.

Luke: You have always been happy to share your recipes for each custom you make, which I’m sure people appreciate. Do you have any general advice for new customizers?

Bob: If you check out my customs you see all I’ve ever done. I never customized any toys since I started collecting Minimates in 2008, so I’m still a newby myself. For that I can encourage everybody to just start doing it, browse through the awesome designs you can find in the Mutliverse’s custom section and see what people are able to do, be totally amazed and get some ideas on how to solve your own difficulties. Customizing somehow is my Zen; I can really relax while I’m painting or sculpting and I guess that’s something you should have in mind. If you can already enjoy working on your customs, you’ll be pretty pleased in the end. If it pisses you off, you should maybe think about gardening instead.

Luke: Do you ever go back to your older customs and make little tweaks? Or is each one finished once you have shared pictures online?

Bob: I’ve never done that, yet. Taking a picture is the last step, and I only do it, when I’m really satisfied with it depending on the parts I was able to use. But what I’m thinking about is maybe doing a completely new, updated version of a custom in case some parts are produced that might offer new possibilities. I don’t have any plans on doing that right now, but I can imagine it.

Luke: I know you are extremely busy at the moment, but do you have any upcoming customs in the works?

Bob: Oh, yes, I sure haven’t the time to do customs right now. But I have some ideas for characters I really, really like to do in the future and I haven’t seen made by others so far. Right now I try to come up with a small line of customs for next custom con and I really hope I’ll finish them in time. I won’t tell you what those will be, but I can say that it’s something at least characterwise I’ve never done before. And it’s fun! Although I love Marvel, I don’t feel like doing regular Marvel customs, since I’m pretty sure, sooner or later we’ll get what we want. So I stick with more or less Indy comics or stuff DST isn’t dealing with in the moment. I have some (Vertigo) comic characters and my first anime custom in mind for whom I’m already collecting possible parts, but I don’t see them made in the next months. On the other hand, there is Abe Lincoln almost finished sitting around here somewhere. He’s currently looking for a nice coat to wear and then he’s ready… to hunt some vampires!

Luke: Wow, Abe looks awesome! Do you like the general direction in which Minimates are heading, with more sculpted parts, body extensions, and tamp detail? Or do you long for the days of simpler Minimates?

Bob: I started collecting ‘mates when Marvel wave 20 came out, so I never had a somewhat emotional connection to the very pure and simple ‘mates of the old days. I really like the sculpted parts DST/AA are producing today and I’m almost a little disappointed when they release a vanilla mate. The biggest problem might be, that newer ones don’t really blend in to the older stuff. Just compare the two Bullseyes as an example, the latest one being one of my favorite ‘mates so far. But sculpted parts are often really useful for customizing. On the other hand, I don’t like the very new characters that are so heavily equipped with sculpted parts and body extensions, that it’s pretty hard to even recognize them as minimates at all, like the Battle Beast promo or the Iron Man 2 drones. They look cool, but not minimate-esque enough for me, while I think Iron Monger for instance still does. There is a thin red line that shouldn’t be crossed in my favor, but I can’t really define that line.

Luke: And finally, if Diamond Select Toys let you choose one 2-pack to be in the next wave of Marvel Minimates, which characters would you choose?

Bob: That should be a Spidey and Wolvie 2-pack! Just kidding. Who I’d really love to see, although I’m not a big fan of Marvel’s cosmic stuff, is an Uatu the Watcher and Beta Ray Bill 2-Pack. They are cool characters, have really nice designs and I’d like to see how DST/AA are handling those.

Thanks for taking the time to chat, and for providing that awesome Abe Lincoln minimate decal!

All decals on the Minimate Factory are for personal use only. They are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works license.

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By Luke314pi | Posted in Customizer Spotlight | Tagged customizer spotlight, customs, decals, interviews | Comments (0)

New Free Decals!

July 13, 2010 – 9:35 pm

It’s time for another free decal update! I have added 9 new decals to my gallery, including Silvermane pictured above, as well as some characters from Aliens, Harry Potter, and Marvel Comics. I have also opened up an entirely new gallery for my friend TENIME_art. One of the great things about his gallery is that most of the decals are available as both a white paper and clear paper option. You can check out his gallery under the Decal menu at the top navigation bar.

When I unveiled my Aliens Decal Kit at the Minimate Multiverse, my friend karamazov80 suggested that I add an alien autopsy decal to the kit. The kit was already finished at that point, so I am releasing it here for free! Here are the decals in the two different alien colors featured in the kit:

I hope you enjoy the new decals! Our next update will include more free decals, but they will be part of a larger article.

One last thing is that I am still in the process of getting the new polyester film (sticker) paper in bulk for the store. Until I am able to do that, if you need some decals printed, and would like to try this new paper, shoot me an email and we can work something out. It really is a nice product!

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By Luke314pi | Posted in tools of the trade | Tagged decals | Comments (0)

BrickArms Blade Pack Review

June 17, 2010 – 4:58 pm

I am a big fan of all the cool weapons and accessories that BrickArms creates. I had high hopes for their Blade Pack which was released last year, and it did not disappoint. The pack includes their 5 blade weapons, the Combat Knife, Machete, Rapier, Dadao, and Damien Blade, in 4 different colors: silver, dark gray, gunmetal, and black. This adds up to a total of 20 weapons, which gives you a ton of options for display.

The quality of the weapons is very high, and they feel just like lego weapons. There are no tooling marks or obtrusive mold seams to be found. The plastic is very strong, and the only sword with a risk of breaking is the thin blade on the Rapier, and that is only if you bend it more than 45°. To make these weapons, BrickArms actually uses an injection molding machine to inject hot ABS plastic (the same plastic used by lego) into the weapon molds with over 90 tons of pressure.

The weapons are designed for lego figures, so the handles are too large for minimates, and need to be trimmed. To do this, I set my hobby knife along the bottom of the sword’s hilt, and I start cutting into the plastic about 1/16” vertically. I keep cutting upwards until I meet the hilt and the piece either falls off neatly, or needs a little horizontal cut to make it come off. I do the same thing on the other side of the sword. Sometimes it takes a few tries to get it the right size for a minimate hand. And sometimes you will leave little white scuffs on the plastic, but these are almost always covered up by the minimate hand. Here is a diagram of this:

In the photos in this post, I tried to pick out existing minimates that would really benefit from these weapons. However, I am mostly interested in them for customs. Just think of the countless sword-wielding characters from comics, movies, and television shows that we don’t have in minimate form! The knives can also be trimmed and modified for specific weapons, like Shatterstar’s sword, which I did not originally make from BrickArms weapons, but if I were to remake him, I definitely would! Also don’t be shy about adding some blood on the blade for certain characters, like I did with Jason Voorhees (also not originally a BrickArms weapon).

Overall I think the Dadao is the most difficult sword to find a use for. It seemed to work alright for Kraven (pictured below), but the Machete would probably be a better fit for him. Perhaps a Prince of Persia custom?

I am not completely unbiased, as I do sell this pack in my store in both the normal version and a special trimmed version for minimates. However, I loved BrickArms weapons long before opening the store, and I really think they make the best mini-weapons out there. The next time you need to track down a sword or a knife for a minimate, why not give them a shot? I am very glad that I did.

Our next update brings a ton of new free decals! Stay tuned!

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By Luke314pi | Posted in recommendations | Tagged brickarms, reviews | Comments (0)