Paper Miniature and Figure Modifying

Methods for Modifying Paper Miniatures

If you are not artistic but have access to computer graphic software, an alternative to drawing and coloring your figures is to modify them instead. Find art that is already available for personal non-commercial use and make changes to it, to create new figure designs that you are interested in. Make sure you are not infringing on the original authors copyrights. You should contact them and get permission and their requirements for using their work. Especially if you plan on reposting it or distributing it elsewhere.

You will need to have access to a graphic/paint program or software. One that allows for working with or manipulating multiple layers and is capable of working with Jpg, Bmp and Png graphic file formats.

There is one artist (Patrick Crusiau) that creates a variety of figures for gaming that are exactly the style and design that I like to work with. He allows free non-commercial use of his figures for your own personal use. You are not authorized to sell this work in any form or repost any of his original work. Redistribution or reposting of modified work to any other locations must be approved by him via email prior to posting. I have adopted the same policy for any original work or modifications that I create as well. His work can be found at Patrick's site . He has graciously extended the use of his three original figure designs for this tutorial alone.

I will be working with his figures from his SFRregulars.zip file under the - Figures for SF Gaming - category. I have decided to do some modification of his work into unique futuristic fighters I like to call Spam.

Happy Modifying!

How To Modify Figures

All text will be in reference to the photo/picture that precedes it in the tutorial.

These three original figures will be what we start with. We will have created a new, never seen before, modified version by the time we’re through.

Figure 2A

Figure 2B

Figure 2C

First we split them into individual files (2A, 2B and 2C) and using a polygon/rope selection tool we will break each one into several separate significant parts. We will erase the green background base for the moment. You can add in any other type of base you might prefer in the final stages.

We like the stance and completeness of 2C so we will copy and paste that to a new file.

We want to change the color of the belt and leggings to black. Using the polygon/rope selection tool we select those areas and change the color/hue to gray and then darken it to black.

We must now fix the upper torso. The 2A figure has the best defined upper torso, so we copy that and paste it to a new layer on our figure. Then we erase any areas where color does not match and use the draw/paint program to fill in and clean up the image. You can now merge these layers.

We want to select the arm that will be in the front/foreground. We choose the arm from figure 2B and copy and paste that to a new layer above the other layer on our figure. We want to make the arm and glove areas match the belt and leggings. Using the polygon/rope selection tool we select those areas and change the color/hue to gray and then darken it to black.

Using existing art we modify body parts or create our own art to be intermixed with the existing art. In this case we created a new head, shoulder pad and weapon. See Drawing and Coloring for more info. You do not have to add new art, you an use art from other originals or modified versions you have already made. However creating your own small pieces of art is a good way to start learning how to make your own complete original figures.

Depending on the number of parts, you will need to create new layers for each one. Paste each part into each of those layers. We create a duplicate of the shoulder pad and then flip the orientation to give us two shoulder pads. Depending on your pose, both shoulder pads can be on the same layer. The head is then placed on a layer above the shoulder pads. You may need to tilt/rotate or reposition the part to get the best look/fit.

Then we place the weapon on a layer above the shoulder pads as well. You will notice that when we do that, we loose the image of the left hand (on a layer below) that should be supporting the weapon.

Go back to that layer and using the polygon/rope selection tool, select and copy the left hand. Paste and adjust the position of the copied hand to the layer above the weapon.

Now is the time to do touch up drawing or painting to correct blemishes. Just remember to place them on the appropriate layer or they may not be viewable.

If you desire to have a colored background base, this would be the time to add it. Since these figures will be used in a variety of game boards (IE space ship interiors or alien landscapes) we will leave the background base off.

Once you are satisfied with the final product you can merge all the layers and save it to a new file. Always retain your unmerged copy so you can mix and match it with new figures you modify. It will help greatly if you have a graphic art viewing program/software that displays thumbnails of JPG, PNG or GIF formatted art so you can easily find any/all of these parts/components for later use.

Using the merged file, increase the canvas/page height just slightly. Then select the whole image and move it up, leaving a larger open space below the figure. Into this space select a rectangular area and then color/paint/fill it black. Using your rectangular selection tool select a small area from the top of the blackened rectangle and then delete/erase it. This will leave you with a horizontal bracket.

There are several more things to consider before the character is ready to print.

First and foremost is the decision to do actual back art for the reverse image side of the figure. Unfortunately, that choice requires you to create all new art work. If you are not yet experienced enough to do that, we recommend you just duplicate the image and reverse the front side to be the back side as well. You should have noticed by now that all of the figures are drawn facing to the left or right. This helps to determine the front and back of the character during game play. You could also blacken out or place the text word -back- on the reverse side of the figure to define the miniatures game play facing. See Designing for more info.

You must also take into consideration the final size you want your figure. You can resize the figure to be smaller or larger, though in most cases you will loose some detail. In either case, you should save the original sized files now, then rename and save the newer resized files. I recommend adding the letters sz to the end of the original file name. This will allow you to search your computer and keep the related name files close to each other, so you can quickly identify the file and if it has been resized or not.

For this instance we will use the front art for the back/reverse image side and keep it set up to print in the same size as the original art.

Resize the page/canvas only, do not resize the figure. You want to resize the page/canvas size/background height to double what it currently is. (Example - If you are using inch rulers and the current canvas size is 1.2 inches increase the size to 2.4 inches). Select and copy the entire image and bracket. Move the image and the bracket up on the newly sized page/canvas till it is close to the top. Just leave a little white area as a border for when you cut out the figure. Now duplicate your copied image and reverse it's alignment so it becomes a mirror image of the upper image. Move this new image down and align the brackets. This will insure that when you go to fold the figure both the upper and lower image will overlap correctly.

You should now place your copyright or use/permission requirement on the individual figure or page (if you are printing a whole page). This will inform others who owns the rights to the design. If the modification is of someone else's work, make sure you include their information here as well. This may also apply to similar conceptual art designs. In our case, it is similar to GW art, so we include a disclaimer that no infringement is intended, if it is found to be so by GW management, it will promptly be removed upon notification. We thank the original designers for creating such work and if you enjoy these type of figures we recommend you try their metal miniatures and game sets as well.

You are now ready to make your own new modifications.

This document and all paper miniature artwork, photo's, gif's, and jpg's are Copyright © 2006 Patrick Crusiau and Historygamer2. Personal use is granted. Reposting, Redistribution or Commercial use is not authorized!