"Miniature ideas needed" Topic

I'm continually smacking my head against a wall re making minis.

Endlessly flip flopping from one idea to the next.

I have options for casting.

I have ideas all over the place.

Suggestions welcome.

Genre? Subject? Material? Packaging? Market? What have you.

I've had most success with cutsie creatures including commissions there of.

Would rather sculpts women.

Need to sculpt what is wanted, which seems to be anything and everything these days.

Any help appreciated.

One category of figure that, AFAIK, has never been released by anybody despite what IMHO would be a fairly large demand would be troops armed and equipped as per the novel "Dune". Of course copyright would prevent them actually being labeled as such, but they could be called "Deathworld Warriors" or some such.

What I mean is that there are dozens if not scores of choices for infantry armed with slugthrowers and beam weapons of all descriptions, but troops armed with sword and dagger, or sword and pistol, etc are few and far between – usually only the occasional officer type.

My vision would have troops in half-length robes/camo smocks, armed with a variety of melee weapons plus a few slug throwers, and with a variety of head types:

Evil Aristocrat's forces (protective mask and helmet)
Noble Family's forces (service cap)
Native Tribes (hood, mask)
Galactic Tyrant's Legions (helmet and fright-mask)
Smuggler Mercenaries (brimmed hats, goggles)
Sisters of the Knife (female features, cowls)

Other head varieties could be berets, full-visored helmets, mohawk hairdos, etc etc.

Anyway, you get the gist. Spice for thought…

Commercial focus rather than personal preference. Money is lost at all levels, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers when the focus is in personal favorites.
You are in Australia, so consider early Aussie history. Colonial ‘cowboys' can work for your area and American old West.
Of course WW1 and WW2 since Bolt Action is so popular.

The French call this "un mer a boire" (a sea to drink). Do you know this site ? only-games.co thousands of miniatures offered by indie manufacturers.

"Would rather sculpts women." Great ! I have a collection of "Babes from Beyond Time" from Maidenhead Miniatures, sadly gone. Could be inspirational ? Australian originally. Likewise Brother Vinni (from Slovakia) brother-vinni.com/collections. I especially like the armed Playboy Bunnies (dressed ;-)). Hinterland Miniatures were also gone (armed women for princesses regiments around 1900), recently promised to be produced again by Lone Wolf (USA) and Victoria Miniatures (https://victoriaminiatures.com/)

Hopefully this helps, good luck with your work !

Sadly, all the choices boil down to (1) do a popular scale and period and face stiff competition or (2) do something no one else does--and find out why.

I'd say do something you personally enjoy, and try not to invent a scale. While I'm perfectly happy to assemble plastic miniatures from kits, the investment in molds is considerable starting out. Overall, I'd agree that skirting the edge of copyright in 28mm F&SF has much to recommend it. Dune is having a vogue, but Barsoom has staying power--and is noted for the beauty of its women. I was telling my son (who has a 3D printer) yesterday that there seems to be a distinct shortage of alien pack animals in 28mm. You might want to consider them. For myself, I'm always up for another pseudo-Squat or not-Ratling.

Anyway good luck.

Mash Mad Max & LOTR together and you might have something… ;-)
But avoid zombies (unless for above), as there are already hordes of'em out there…

Many great ideas and insights.

Don't hesitate to add more.

An alien/human range has been on my mind. So maybe that's one avenue.

Not**** figures can be logical sellers.

Things with known backgrounds work, hense historical figures.

Mixing ideas is also a good idea.

Any thoughts on materials?

My main options right now are lead based alloy and siocast.

I always thought someone should make a blank figure. Basically a figure that looks like a naked person that you could use milliput over and sculpt a "custom" figure to fit your needs…just a thought.

cavcrazy, you're in luck – see these from Hasslefree:

link

I'm happy with either siocast or lead. Shipping from Australia would be an argument for siocast, I should think.

Something different?

TimePortal alluded to the subject above H, and over the decades I've liaised on several occasions with a number of figure manufacturers and rules publishers, in at least one case coming close to success, with regard to filling the last geographical gap on the historicals scene: colonial Australia.

With bushrangers, rebels, soldiers (including improvised cavalry), mounted police of various types, Aboriginal warriors, rowdies, armed station hands, explorers, and Chinese miners (with the sculpting of which I believe you have some experience) there's no shortage of possible subjects.

One big selling point on the sculpting front is that the same style of bush clothing was worn throughout Australia by rural workers in all sectors (including crime), and didn't change much over the course of the central decades of the 19th century, so the same figures will work in various roles.

For inspiration you could start with the 'Australian Bushrangers' Osprey book.

They are out there.

I have painted great Aboriginals, police and Kellys.

I'm not sure how far the range goes.

It has been in my head from time to time, as I'm sure it's not too common and you could endlessly add to it.

But how many would sell?

And that's another question, does anyone know rough number of figures sold?

Probably not GW, warlord so on, but some of the smaller outfits.

I have heard 20-1000s? Of one figure.

For fun, I'm thinking of being topical and making a certain bird(twice) with a twist. See how far I get.

And some SciFi.

More comments encouraged…

They are not 'out there' H; at least, not in any comprehensive, dedicated, historically accurate sense. What is 'out there'?

1. The Dead Man's Hand range includes a pack of five(!) para-historical armoured Kellys and some completely ahistorical 'bushrangers' and state(!) police in fictitious costumes based on characters from the movie 'The Proposition'

2. Eureka Miniatures has a range of Denisovans, inspired by various South Pacific cultures, a few of which happen to bear a passing resemblance to Australian Aboriginal warriors.

3. Knuckleduster makes an armoured Ned Kelly figure, spoiled by the fact that it wears an ammo bandolier.

That's the extent of the current options. There are no accurate depictions of Australian mounted police, no non-Kelly- inspsired bushrangers (and there were around 2000 of them over the course of the colonial period). Where are the miniatures of Matthew Brady and his gang, Ben Hall, Frank Gardiner and associates, the Clarke Brothers, and all the other famous outlaws of the 1860s, never mind generic bushrangers. Then there all the other types I listed, which have never received any attention from sculptors of wargaming miniatures.

So, as I said, colonial Australia remains the last empty space on the wargaming map.