Miniature figure

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A miniature figure, also known as a "miniature," "mini," "figure," or "fig." is a small-scale representation of a historical or mythological entity used in miniature wargames, role-playing games, and dioramas. Miniature figures are commonly manufactured from metal, plastic or paper and are used to augment the visual aspects of the game, and track position, facing, and line of sight of actors within the game. Miniatures are typically painted, and are often artfully sculpted and are collectible in their own right. The hobby of painting, collecting, and gaming with miniatures originated with the toy soldier hobby with the distinction that toys are sold pre-painted, and miniatures require painting. This distinction has blurred with the recent introduction of painted plastic figures, such as those used in Clix games.

Materials

Traditionally, miniatures were cast in white metal, an alloy of lead and tin. Sometimes a small amount of antimony was added to improve the alloy's ability to take fine detail. In 1993, the New York legislature nearly passed a bill outlawing lead in miniatures, citing public health concerns. Many miniatures manufacturers, anticipating that other states would follow with more bans, immediately began making miniatures with lead-free alloys, which often resulted in price increases.^[1] After many months of debate and protests by miniature manufacturers and enthusiasts, New York Governor Mario Cuomo signed a bill which exempted miniatures from the state's Public Health Law.^[2] Still, most American manufacturers continued to use non-lead alloys.^[3]

Recently manufacturers offer plastic (polyethylene or hard polystyrene) minis; others offer resin (mostly polyurethane) minis. Some war games use box miniatures, a simple cuboid made from folded card stock. Art work representing a view of each side of the subject is printed on the outside.

Scales

With the metrification of Great Britain,United States manufacturers began to describe miniature sale in the metric system rather than fractions of inches in order to match military models with miniatures for table-top wargaming. Miniature figure scales are commonly expressed as the height of a six-foot (183 cm) human male. In 28 mm scale, children and short characters such as dwarves, hobbits, and goblins will be typically be smaller than 28 mm, whereas large characters like ogres, trolls and dragons will be taller.

Scales of 25 mm, 28 mm, 30 mm, 32 mm, and 35 mm are the most common for role-playing and table-top games. Smaller scales of 10 mm, 15 mm, and 20 mm are used in wargames representing massed warfare. Larger figures of 54 mm and more are commonly used for painters and collectors. The use of scale is not uniform and can deviate by as much as 33-percent. A manufacturer might advertise its figures as "28mm," but their products may be over 30 mm tall. A contributing factor is the different methods for calculating scale. Some manufacturers measure figure height from the feet to level of the figure's eyes rather than the top of its head. Therefore a 6-foot (1.83m) figure in 28 mm scale would be 30 mm tall. As a result, 15 mm figures are interpreted as 1:100 real-life height by some and 1:120 by others. A further complication is differential interpretations of body proportions. For example, a 30 mm figure from Privateer Press and compare it to the accurate scaled proportions of a real person, one sees that the figure has exaggerated proportions making it look much wider, with bigger features like the head, hands and weapons. Figures from other manufacturers display similar deviations. Some of these began as concessions to the limitations of primitive mold-making, but they have evolved to artistic and stylistic choices over the years.

Painting

Many role-playing gamers and wargamers will paint their miniature figures to be able to differentiate characters or units on a gaming surface (terrain, battle mat, or unadorned table top).

Although many gamers are indifferent to the quality of the paint job, for some the skillful painting of minis is a hobby in itself, on a par with the "more serious" modelling of historical and military figures. Skillful mini painting is a difficult, exacting, time-consuming process, but the results can be quite amazing.

Fantasy, role-playing, miniatures and wargaming conventions will sometimes feature miniature painting competitions, such as Games Workshop's Golden Demon contest, and there are many painting competitions on the internet.

Professional painting services exist for hobbyist and corporate customers.

Painting tutorials and help can be found in books, and on the internet at sites like http://www.paintminiatures.co.uk/.

Manufacture

There are two basic methods to manufacture figures: centrifugal/gravity casting and plastic injection casting.

Most metal and resin figures are made through spin casting. Larger resin models, like buildings and vehicles, are sometimes gravity cast which is a slower process. For this process a sculptor will deliver a master figure which is then used to create rubber master and production moulds. The production moulds are then used to cast the actual figures you find in the stores.

Polyethylene and polystyrene figures are made through injection moulding. A machine heats plastic and injects it under high pressure into a steel mould. This is a very expensive process which is only cost effective when you manufacture very large amounts of figures since the cost per cast is minimal.

Many miniatures companies do not do the actual production themselves but leave this to specialised casting companies or miniatures companies that do have a casting facility.

Notable miniatures companies include (in alphabetical order) the following, among others:

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• Alternative armies (Flintloque)
• Artizan Design - UK based manufacturer of 28 mm high pewter figurines
• Assault Group, 28 mm historical miniatures.
• Battlefront (Flames of War)15 mm (WWII)^[4]
• Black Cat Bases (28mm historical and fantasy miniatures)
• Black Scorpion Miniatures 28 mm/30 mm.
• Citadel Miniatures (Games Workshop) - (formed 1979, plastic and metal for Warhammer Fantasy, Warhammer 40,000, The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, and other games)
• Crocodile Games - 28 mm fantasy figures, WarGods of Aegyptus, Miniature design for Paizo Publishing's Pathfinder RPG
• Dark Horse Games
• Eureka Miniatures
• Steel Crown Productions - produces Exodus Wars miniatures
• Forge World - a Games Workshop subsidiary company working primarily in resin
• Hasslefree Miniatures - 28 mm, Grymn sci-fi dwarves, Post apocalyptic, guns, girls, Zombies.
• HaT Industrie - The most profilic 1:72 company based in America. Very large Napoleonic range.
• Heresy Miniatures - 28 mm, Demons, Sci-fi, Deathball, Thrud the Barbarian
• Iron Wind Metals - Based in Cincinnati are the direct heirs to the original Ral Partha molds and employ many of the same employees as the late Ral Partha Corp, including behing helmed by Mike Noe, former Line Director for Ral Partha. They currently make miniatures for Dungeons and Dragons, Battletech, Crimson Skies, Shadowrun, and Wargods of Ægyptus.
• Magister Militum - a company particularly known for their 10 mm figures but also make a wide range of figures from 6 mm to 28 mm incorporating Navigator Miniatures and Chariot Miniatures^[5]
• Mithril Miniatures - Lord of the Rings miniatures
• Old Glory - US figures manufacturer - 10 mm, 15 mm and 25 mm
• Peter Pig - An English figure manufacturing widely known for their WWII figures and Ruleset - (Poor Bloody Infantry). 15 mm.
• Privateer Press - Warmachine, Hordes and Iron Kingdoms RPG figures
• Quality Casting Miniatures - 15 mm (modern and WWII)
• RAFM Miniatures (They have been around since 1975 until present and have produced their own lines as well as lines for Ral Partha, Citadel, Dark Age, and Heavy Gear.)
• Ral Partha - 1975-2001; many founding members later formed Iron Wind Metals, LLC
• Reaper Miniatures - since 1992, Warlord, CAV, and RPG figure lines
• Schleich - Animals, comic book characters
• Valdemar - Produces very well sculpted medieval miniatures in a 1:72 scale. Many Are based on the lager Pegaso figures. Based in Denmark
• Wargames Foundry
• Warmodelling - Producers of figures for wargaming and modelling miniatures in 15 mm and 20 mm - 1/72 escale. Napoleonic, Ancients, WWII ...
• Wizkids - Heroclix, Horrorclix
• Wizards of the Coast - Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game - Axis & Allies Miniatures
• Zvezda - Russian company that very rarely has a negative output.

Sculpting

Most miniatures are hand sculpted in the same size as the final figure using two component epoxy putties. The components are mixed together to create a sculpting compound which hardens in a period of 1–3 hours. There are many brands of putties and each has its own properties. Some commonly used ones are Polymerics Kneadatite blue\yellow (AKA "green stuff" and "Duro" in Europe), Milliput, A&B and Magic sculp. There is also ProCreate from the Kraftmark company. Polymer clays have been avoided for a long time as they can not withstand the traditional mouldmaking process. Modern techniques using RTV and softer quality rubbers have made it possible to use weaker materials and polymer clay masters are more common now. Fimo is the most popular of these clays though only specific colours are used since each has its own properties.

Masters for plastic miniatures are often made in a larger scale (often 3 times the required size). The master is measured with a probe linked to a pantograph which reduces the measurements to the correct size and drives the cutter that makes the moulds.

A more recent development is the use of digital 3D models made by computer artists. These models can be used to create a physical model for mouldmaking using rapid prototyping techniques or they can be used directly to drive a CNC machine which cuts the steel mould.

Miniatures in Dungeons & Dragons

Manufacture

The original Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game bore the subtitle, "Rules for Fantastic Miniature Wargames Campaigns Playable with Paper and Pencil and Miniature Figures." Initially, fantasy wargamers used figures designed for historical wargaming, but eventually, new lines of fantasy figures appeared.

TSR, Inc. produced a line of official Advanced Dungeons & Dragons miniatures. Other companies have produced a multitude of figures for Dungeons & Dragons and other games in various scales. Hasbro, in the early states of publishing Dungeon & Dragons Third Edition, produced a new game called Chainmail based on simplified D&D rules. That project was abandoned, and the Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game now serves as the game's official line of miniatures, in addition to being played as a standalone game.

Traditionally, figures were made of lead or pewter and cast from silicone rubber vulcanised moulds. Many are still made of pewter or other alloys, but plastic miniatures have grown in popularity. Both Mage Knight and the Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game use prepainted, collectible plastic figures.

Gameplay

Originally, D&D was simply a miniatures game, with the distinction that each player controlled a single figure and a wider variety of moves or plays were possible. As the game grew and changed, miniatures remained a way of visually representing tactical situations.

Dungeons & Dragons did not require miniatures, although it suggested ways of using them, and referred interested players to the official line of AD&D figures. AD&D did assume the use of miniatures. Player's Option: Combat & Tactics introduced a more elaborate grid-based combat system that emphasized the use of miniatures; a streamlined version of some of these concepts made their way into Dungeons & Dragons Third Edition.

Although not strictly necessary, the use of miniatures is assumed in the current version of the game, and many game mechanics refer explicitly to the combat grid. In addition to reducing ambiguity about the size and position of characters, this allows the game rules to define rules such as reach, threatened areas, and movement rates intended to simulate a particular reality. A side benefit, from the standpoint of Hasbro, is driving miniature sales, which are potentially an evergreen market compared to the easily saturated market for more books among customers who already own the core rulebooks.

See also

• Miniature conversion
• Miniature wargaming
• Model figure
• Toy soldier

References

External links

• Alex Castro's Miniature Masterpieces, blog and gallery of the artist and author.
• The Miniatures Page, a source of daily news about the tabletop wargaming hobby. Includes directory of miniatures manufacturers.
• The Stuff of Legends, a large reference for lists and pictures of fantasy and sf miniatures.
• Miniatures Atlas, a reference of miniatures currently available for sale.
• ScaleModel.NET International list of scale model related web site, searchable web directory for miniature figures.
• The Mouldmaker, information on silicon-rubber mouldmaking and white metal casting.
• Game Fusion Studio gallery of painted miniatures and wargaming terrain
• Painting Miniatures Guide Extensive tutorial on painting miniatures
• BoLS Miniatures community with tutorials on painting and converting miniatures
• paintminiatures.co.uk, a website with painting help, tips and tutorials for miniatures, models and figures.