Henchmen4Hire

"Oops, you don't have permission to view this private photo" Meh. Keep your stinkin' internet points!

Well too bad, they're cute. The femmes look good, recognizably female without over-doing it. I think some of my curved torsos would help too How about something like this for the feet design on the walker?

Sweet, will try it out, thanks! Edit: Aw, it requires using Brickstore to make a file to use. Oh well, I guess now I have to re-make my wishlist in Brickstore since I don't see an "Upload Wishlist" option in that program.

I'm violently disappointed that this has nothing to do with Conan, but the cute characters satiate my rage.

I think the different curves would look weird, but I have to see it for real to decide for sure. Also, I think I stretched the curve too far up on this Commander fig so it looks like it ends in her armpits, instead of lower like on the first figure. Ideally (to me anyway) they should all look like the first. The area that jutts out at the waist is kinda weird looking, I'll try shaving that down on the next figure to see how it looks.

Made another for Commander Shepard, check more pics in the Saber Scorpion Decal Review topic: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=82947 Posing Pretty by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr

Aaaallllrighty, then! ...no Ace Ventura fans out there? Finished dremeling the Commander's torso, it was just as scary as the first one lol. Turned out okay. There wasn't too much trouble applying the decal to the new curvy torso, all I did was clip out the printed empty space at the waist, replaced by actual empty space lol. I would love for someone to make a neat version of the torso so I can make designs specifically suited for it, all this micro-adjusting on a case-by-case basis is annoying. Posing Pretty by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr Lost Her Wig by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr Commander Backprint by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr So, about that helmet and those guns... The helmet had minimal flash, easily scraped away with a knife. The mold line running down the center was pronounced enough to be annoying so I scraped most of that away too. It has parts that are very thin, but it still feels solid. The guns are super keen, no flash and negligible mold lines. The Railgun is fantastic, the butt fits in the crook of the figure's arm so she can aim it straight ahead. Custom Line-Up by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr TIP #147: Go ahead and round off the top corners of the torso decals if you want, I did it for the Commander.

In my ongoing quest for providing decent pictures and slightly more info on things I think others would like to buy, I present this topic where I'll spotlight Saber Scorpion's Minifigure Decals. *Just a heads up that this will be an on-going review. I ordered a little pile of decals and gear but haven't gotten all the body parts for them yet, so I'll post updates as things get done. Here's the TL;DR version for everyone who just wants to look at pictures and are happy just browsing SS's Flickr: Are the decals good? Yes! Should you buy?: Yes! In this order I got: 1 x Alien Invasion Colony Marine 1 x Brickarms M41A Pulse Rifle 1 x Brickarms Space Magnum Pistol (Black) 1 x Brickarms XRG Railgun (Gunmetal) 1 x BrickWarriors Android Armor (Steel) 1 x BrickWarriors Desert Vulture (Charcoal) 1 x BrickWarriors Galaxy Enforcer HELMET (Red) 1 x Decals AI NM Police Officers 1 x Decals AI Zero Grav Suit (Orange) 1 x Decals AI-S4 Heavy (Female) 1 x Decals AI-S41 Female AI 1 x Decals AI-S41 Officers 1 x Decals SE-S1 Female Medium Armor (DarkBlue) 1 x Decals SE-S3 Human Female (DarkRed) 1 x Decals SE-S3 Main Character (Commander Female) 1 x Decals SE-S3 Main Character (Engineer) So if you want pictures of any of that stuff just let me know. ========================================= Alrighty, first up is a Police dude from the Alien Invasion Series 4 section: Riot Police Dude by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr TIP #1: Face decals may make it difficult to use helmets without ruining the decal! After applying the decal, the helmet wouldn't go on without completely scraping it off. You may have to grind away a little plastic from the inside of the helmet to get it to fit safely. Not being too experienced with applying decals to minifigures, I started off with the Police decals because there are 4 of them on a strip so it's not a total loss if I screwed it up. They're also pretty cheap costing roughly less than a dollar per chest/face/shoulders set. I love those shades. B-) Is it obvious that the figure has a decal? Believe it or not, this depends mostly on the lighting and viewing angle. The decals are printed on glossy sticker paper, there are angles at which the custom minifig looks official. You can usually tell there's a decal there when the decal isn't reflecting, it simply looks like a crisp paper decal. Hold the figure an inch from your face and you can tell there's a decal there, put it on your shelf a foot away and you'll never be able to tell. How durable are these decals? They're as durable as a regular paper sticker. I wouldn't recommend you give a decal'd figure to kids or throw them in a parts bin, anything with a hard edge that bumps into the decal will leave a permanent dent. How easy are they to apply? As simple as peel and stick, BUT, you have to be careful! I ran into a few speed bumps while practicing on the Police guy, but felt confident enough to work on the female Commander from the Star Explorers Series (pictured below right). The red decals are "Human Female" in Dark Red from the same series. Yes, for the most part you can choose what colors you want the decals to be! Human Female (Dark Red) & Female Commander by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr These are some snazzy designs, I already cut out the Commander's arm, legs, and face at this point. You only need an X-acto blade or a small pair of really, really sharp scissors to get things moving. If you think your scissors are sharp enough, you're wrong, sharpen them more! Dull scissors will cause snags and kinks in the decals as you cut them out. Cutting them out neatly is the hardest part, not much advice I can give, just keep your hands steady and have good lighting so you can see the edges. Once you've neatly cut them out it's time to move on! Coloring Edges by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr TIP #2: Paint the edges with whatever the appropriate color is. The edges of the decals will be white because they're printed on white paper, these white edges will be noticeable even after applied to the figure. To get rid of them, simply run a marker along the edge of the decal (while the backing is still on, for rigidity). Use a marker that releases a little bit of ink at a time, you just want to color the edge, not let it seep deep into the decal itself. I'm using an old inking pen you can find at any art store. Detaching Backing by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr TIP #3: Use a dull knife to separate the decal from the backing, DON'T USE YOUR FINGERS! If you use your fat fingers to try to peel off the backing you're just going to accidentally dent or warp the decal. Instead, use a thin dull knife to wedge between the backing and decal, this has worked flawlessly for me so far. If you use a sharp knife you risk shredding the decal! Female Commander Arm Decals by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr TIP #4: Use something round to press over the edges and get rid of creases. Sometimes you'll get little creases along the edge of shoulder decals because of the rounded shape, use something round to roll over the creases and flatten them. Also roll over the edges of the decal to firmly stick them down. Remember to ROLL, not RUB. Rubbing may rub off the printing. The decals look very good, take your time when cutting them to get clean sharp edges. Here's how our fearless leader is looking so far: Female Commander WIP by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr TIP #5: Cut a little bit extra off the top and bottom of the face decals. You don't HAVE to, but cutting off an extra 1 mm seemed to reduce the chance that a helmet would scrape the face off. I guess it has less of a chance of snagging on the decal's edge this way. I have to paint the helmet (only red/blue available from Saber Scorpion's shop) and switch the torso, annoyingly this torso decided to crack while taking pictures. On the up side, the Galaxy Enforcer Helmet fit neatly over the face decal with no modding needed. Much praise to the designers if the inside was slightly enlarged specifically to fit over decals, if not, good on ya anyway. I'll use the remaining helmet decal for something else most likely. By the way, I totally applied the knee pieces upside-down the first time, I carefully peeled them off and fixed them with very little trouble and no damage! TIP #6: Don't pick your nose while working with decals! Don't let the decals get wet or greasy, they'll be ruined. Now I'm off to make some more curved torsos, will post updates.

Thankssss! Looks like my job here is done lol Yep, should someone decide to mass-produce these, I don't see the thinner walls as a big deal though. For one, it's an easy fix (I assume) by simply adding strategic thickness to the inside walls, this thin-walled prototype is still strong, it doesn't warp or anything when pressured. Secondly, I don't think anyone who would buy these custom torsos would give them to children to play with anyway since they're most likely going to be used with custom decals, so safety factor isn't an issue. I don't know what the worst thing that could happen is anyway, the figure explodes violently because the walls are thinner? haha

Thankssss folks :] Took maybe 10 minutes, it's not a complicated job afterall. Most of it was spent making micro-corrections, trying to get the curves to match, very tedious work. I would spend another 10 minutes sanding and polishing the areas smooth but I don't have the required grits handy and it's too hot to walk to the hardware store. I got scary-close lol. The figure looks fine from the outside, but it if you look at it from the inside and hold it up to a light you can see where the walls are dangerously thin. Despite this, the figure holds up well to posing, switching limbs, etc. The only thing I'd change is I would leave at least another millimeter of thickness to the modified areas, just for peace of mind. I would add the thickness to the inside of the torso though to keep it just as curvy. You may have to shorten the leg's connecting pegs a little, but that's of no consequence. Good to hear, sadly I don't think I can mass-produce these by hand, the results are simply too unpredictable. Would be much better to manufacture them the way Arealight does (which I'm guessing is injection moulding). It's a pretty straightforward process, just stiffly hold the dremel upright in one hand, then with the other move the torso as needed to shave away material (would be easier if I had a bench vise or a router table).

I wanted to see how a female LEGO minifigure would look with more of an hourglass torso so I did a little dremeling and sanding. I like this result a lot more than Arealight's curved torsos, the difference being that my curve runs from under the armpit to the waist while Arealight's is a lot shorter. I did this all freehand and it looks pretty good. The chest design is cut into a bit because it was slightly off-center to begin with. I'll probably add this curviness to my upcoming Samus Aran custom Minifig. LEGO Curved Female Torso by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr LEGO Curved Female Torso by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr LEGO Curved Female Torso by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr

For that many, I think you'd be better off borrowing the torsos you need and making a high-res copy of it by using a scanner. Then, while you're at the copy/print shop anyway, just print the scans on decal paper and you're all set.

Sweet, always happy to see moar birdies :] Kinda want to make an owl now...

So apparently there's this guy, Thomas Poulsom, who make birds. Luckily the Cardinal I made is different from his build and he hasn't made a Roadrunner, so yay for me. He has made a Magpie though, which uses the two curved pieces for the back of the head I used here, but I like my design better so I win His build did give me an idea for allowing the lower beak to move though.

Thankssss I think there's a guy on flickr who does birds, if I do any others I'll pick ones he hasn't done so no one says I'm copying him lol

Yessss, not bad for like 10 minutes work on each. B) With any luck I'll get my tag changed to "One Crazy Superbird!"

Pretty cool, she has nice "hair" lol. If at all possible, try to make the shoulders narrower on the next model so it looks even more feminine. I'd get rid of the heels, but apparently anime kunoichi love heels

Might as well make it 3 birds with one stone... or something lol. This one was kinda easy. In honor of my favorite super heroine, The Magpie, created by Adam Law http://twulf.deviant...gallery/3741154 Eurasian Magpie by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr Actual bird:

I agree 100% that it needs a body, I'm also 100% too lazy to make one

Awesome Bird Fact #672: There is no such thing as a Lesser Roadrunner, they're all greater than the rest. Here's another bird head... enjoy! xD Roadrunner Head by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr Actual bird:

Sometimes my hands wander and do their own thing. Why did I make a Cardinal's head? We'll never know, but someone might find it kinda cool lol And Now For Something Different by Henchmen4Hire, on Flickr

I like it but it looks familiar, think I've seen it in a set before Anyway, cool design :]

Ordered a set of decals from Saber Scorpion, one of them was Samus. Not happy with just adding a sticker, here are some ideas for making the figure even cooler. This is a straight-up LDD build with photoshopped decals. I like it because it's simple and effective. I'd have to paint the robot arm orange and helmet red. And I might get crazy and go further! I already cut a trans-neon-green visor to fit roughly into the GP's visor area, as shown here. Next step would be to cut the chest armor so only the red area remains, that way the chest protrudes. Probably attach some orange 1x1 round plates to the shoulders with tape so they're flexible. Then I'd cut the red part out of the sticker and stick that to the armor. I'll have to get another whole chest piece sticker to put on the torso. I really like this one, it has some much needed added height too. Also, I may just splice the bottom part of some orange legs to the yellow uppers because I don't feel like painting, the stickers would cover the seam anyway. Thoughts?

Sweet designs, I could do without the apple store though I like that easel, I'm going to make one just so I can say I have one :]

Looks like the Wind Fish ran out of gas lol