Great quick article on basics of milliput and greenstuff from the guys at miniwargaming.com
How to Use Milliput or “Greenstuff”
INSPIRATION: Dschingis Cow by Jarhead
See more conversions by jarhead here
INSPIRATION: Space Wolves Wolf Guard Battle Leader by Wiltrichs
Check out Wiltrichs personal site here.
Review: Pig Iron Kolony Rebel Heads
By Stu from Tabletop-Terrain.com (here is the original post)
I couldn’t resist picking up some Pig Iron Kolony Rebel 28mm heads from Scrap Dragon in Australia. They arrived late last week, so here’s a quick review of them.
I ordered two packs, and each came in a small baggie containing two copies of the white metal sprue you see in the above photo. In each pack you get twelve of the basic gas mask wearing heads, plus two each of the four ‘command’ style heads for a total of 20 heads per pack. Possibly ordering two packs was a bit of overkill, but they’re so cheap – working out at less than $1NZ per head it seemed a shame not to!
The heads are well cast with a reasonable amount of detail on them and I expect them to paint up well. There’s some fine mold lines to clean up, but sensibly no mold line crosses any face. Scale wise the heads are a touch smaller than related plastic 40k heads from Games Workshop. This second photo shows two Pig Iron heads compared to plastic GW Cadian and Catachan heads.
Personally I find the Pig Iron heads to be an acceptable match to the GW plastics. In fact I intend to use these metal heads to convert up a Necromunda Scavvie warband from various GW WHFB and 40k plastics. I think it’s a nice touch that the heads are fairly bare around the back (most of them simply have a strap) as it gives you options for converting on helmets or hoods. For my Necro scavvies I do intend to add tattered green stuff hoods, which I should be able to do without having to cut anything down.
Here’s another shot just to show you the head scale on a GW Cadian and Catachan bodies. I’ve left the arms off so the head/torso ratio is obvious and, given that we’re dealing with slightly oddly scaled 28mm sculptures, the heads looks fine. If anything the slightly smaller heads actually make the over-sized GW figures look more realistically proportioned in my opinion.
So in summary I’d happily recommend Pig Irons sci-fi head ranges to any 28mm converter or sculptor out there. They’re excellent quality and the price is perfectly acceptable given the quantity of heads in each pack. On a related note I’d also happily order from Scrap Dragon again too, in fact my receipt came with a 5% discount coupon code of my next order, which is a excellent way to guarantee return custom!
Converting 101
Perhaps you have searched for that perfect figure with a picture in your mind of precisely what you want it to look like. This is often the case in role playing games where you have a character developed, complete with his choice of weapons and armor/no armor and maybe some odd characteristic. Your likelihood of finding just such a perfect figure is unlikely.
Thus was born conversion, or the altering of a figure to customize it to your needs.
5 Rules to remember when converting miniatures for your miniature warfare games.
1. Prepoduction, Preproduction, Preproduction
Research and drawing boards should be your first step to making a good conversion. Have an idea for what you want to make then research the pieces you will need. Don’t go in blind…it can work out in the end but in most cases the best conversions come from planning. This also includes getting all of your tools such as a razor saw, a pin vise or hand drill, superglue, green stuff, a file, and a razor blade.
*photo courtesy of sciborminiatures.com
2. Get rid of the flash and mold lines
One of the most basic rules is to get rid of the flashing and mold lines lines on miniatures. What is flashing and mold lines? Flashing is the left over pewter or plastic not designed for the piece and mold lines are where the two casting pieces meet to press together a mold or a miniature. One thing that will set your stuff apart from a professionals is a mold line and/or flashing.
3. Get the right glue
Don’t just go pick up any random glue. No, this doesn’t mean buy it straight from Games-workshop or any of the miniature makers but get glue that is A. meant for plastic and B. doesn’t get brittle after a period of time. I would recommend Loctite Super Glue or Gale Force Hobby glue if you have a hobby store nearby or internet 
.
4. Have your “Green Stuff” handy
Also known as kneadatite. Green stuff is great for filling in gaps and blending bitz together. I highly recommend it for those cases alone. However Green stuff is way more than just a filler…entire models are created just from Green Stuff alone. When you want to get your hands dirty with some sculpting then you will definitely need to invest in some Green Stuff.
5. Create a Bits Box
This is my last but definitely not least point to make. A BITS BOX WILL SAVE YOU MONEY! Don’t go out and buy every little bit you want reuse bits that you have stockpiled in your own personal Bits box. It comes in handy. I would recommend being more organized than this box.
Oh and here is a great example of a miniature that is created because of a large bits box.
