The Le: Do you ever get commissions for private jobs?

James: Yes I do get private commissions although not very often. The rates for a completely new miniature are a little high for most people, especially when you can get a mod from some of the great modders out there for substantially cheaper. My contact info is on my blog From The Knife's Edge for anyone who wants to inquire about commissions. That aside I've actually done quite a few, for example I did a character for someone who wrote and published his own comic, he was a clix player and wanted to have his character sculpted so he could play it in a game.

The Le: What putty do you use?

James: I use primarily green stuff. If I need to sculpt something that has a hard edge like armour or weapons I'll use brown stuff becuase it is harder and you can sand it and get a really crisp edge.

The Le: What material do you use for the more intricate details of the work?

James: I use a mainly 4 tools. A standard exato knife with a No.11 blade, a wax carver, a large pin tool, and a small pin tool for the really fine details. All my tools have the edge taken off of them and are polished. This keeps the putty from sticking to them and preventing the tool from ripping the putty.

The Le: How much detail is lost from your initial work to the mass-produced work from China?

James: Quite a lot! That is probably my greatest pet peeve about sculpting for Wizkids. The paint that they have to use is so thick that it can actually melt the details on the figure, it fills in all the depressions, and generally screws up everything. That is why it is really hard when people see the production figures, their first reaction in some cases is to trash a sculpt, but it is not usually our fault, and often a result of the production and painting process that goes on in China. For example here is a comparison between my photograph of the original of Lyssa Drak beside the production copy. You can see the drastic difference in detail between the two, yet this figure was criticised quite heavily for the sculpt quality. If you want to see more just take a look at my Flicr site, it is my online profolio where many of my figures are displayed in the original state, compare some of them with your own copies and you'll see.

The Le's Notes: While Wizkids certainly does use a thicker paint, this is both a blessing and a curse. Details are certainly lost, but the durability of the figure is greatly increased... especially since 99% of players out there keep their figures in bins rather than seperating each figure into its own compartment. The loss of detail is well worth it in my book (and HeroClix is still the best looking superheroes minis around)! Using a thinner paint also means the colors on your figures would chip off much easier.