Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Tannhäuser Tuesday - Converting HeroClix Figures

You can thank Yojimbo for this topic...

The simple steps to converting HeroClix figures into Tannhauser figures.

This first article will deal with the simple method of swapping bases on HeroClix figures. Later articles will discuss the cards, powers, and stats. Oh yes, there will be photoshop...

1 - Buy your discount Lobster Johnson for as little as 69 cents.
2 - Buy some cheep Star Wars or D&D minis figure. Be sure to buy a figure with a standard size circular base. You really want a human size figure and be sure that there isn't too much stuff on the base. Simple human feet are great. Figures that have only one foot on the base can be even better.
3 - When you get your stuff in the mail, or from your local shop if you are that lucky, get out the X-Acto knife or single edge razor blades. I am a big fan of the razor blades... But if you are a kid - get your parent to help. These blades are super-sharp and will cut you if you get a finger in the way.
4 - Lobster Johnson, like may Clix figures has circles under his feet that are molded with the figure. Put the figure on your cutting surface with the base at a right angle to the table. Put your blade between one of these circles and the base. Push down with your fingers clear of the blade and that foot will pop loose. Repeat for the other foot. You now have Lobster free of his base, but with circles under his feet.
5 - Stand Roger up on his feet and go around the outside of his shoes with your blade. The X-Acto works best here. When you are done Roger will look like he is wearing Herman Munster boots. Put Roger on his side and slice half of the extra soles off his shoes. His feet will have a sliver of white plastic around them. That's OK for now. Set Roger to the side.
6 - Take your random human size D&D or Star Wars figure and carefully cut off the base. Remember you are more interested in the round black base than the figure. Try to make the base as flat as possible.
7 - Super-Glue Roger to the new base. I use Super-Glue gel. I like it best. Hold him down firmly while the glue dries. Try to line up Roger's feet with where the feet were on the D&D base.
8 - Paint the top of the base gloss black. While you are doing this you can paint the edges of Roger's shoes.

You will now have a figure that blends in great with the official Tannhäuser figures. You can repeat this process until you have a whole shoebox full of faux-Tannhäuser figures.

I will be adding pictures to this post later...




© 2009 W. Peter Miller

1 comment:

james said...

Woohoo! This rocks, Doc! Thank you. I have been looking at Heroclix for a while, and finally decided to take the plunge. And to find out you're sharing with us here... well, this makes my week.

If it's OK to pass this on, I found some characters from the series for as little as .25 cents at www.miniaturemarket.com. I picked up Lobster Johnson, and 7 others, for a total of about $8.50 (and about $3 of that was shipping). I'm not affiliated with that shop, I just found that they had reasonable prices and and I could order a small group in one step, which was less costly than eBay.

I'm off to separate people from bases now... I will be back!