In this page you’ll see techniques on how to create custom minifigs using various methods, such as decal printing! Below are some good links to check out:
Citizen Brick - A little pricey, but with some amusing minifig creations
Brickforge - A place that actually custom molds weapons & military gear
Minifig Customization Network - Another great resource and forum
For making custom decals, you’ll first have to determine if your printer is laser or inkjet. For those of us with laser printers, you’ll need a few sheets of water-slide clear decal paper, used mostly for hobbies and model cars. These things are generally available at most model train shops, or you could always check Amazon for the same items. You’d more than likely pay about $10-15 for a sheet of 5, so use ‘em wisely. I always recommend doing dry runs first by printing on regular paper, examining the outcome and then deciding if it’s good to print on decal sheets. Before printing, make sure to set up the object to NOT be centered, and to move it around in the corner or so to save space and reuse decal sheets.
Following the basic rules of printing things in 300 dpi and CMYK, more than likely I’m assuming you’re making your designs in Adobe Illustrator. For a good template for all basic body parts, armor, and symmetry lines, download my template here in .AI CS3 format, or .PDF — please note, this template was a modified form of another template I downloaded from the Minifig Customization Network, only slightly changed to be more user friendly. If you’ve got a knack for art and design like me, you should have no problem making faces and body parts for your little guys!
As seen in the picture below of the upcoming Baron von Brunk minifigs in western garb, you’ll have to make sure anything that’s intended to be printed white must be another color; for example, the stars and stripes on my tie are a very, very subtle shade of bluish gray. This is because you’ll be printing on clear paper, which by default, your printer will assume anything white will be printed blank. The faces, however, are intentionally left white, as they’ll be placed on a yellow LEGO face. You also notice that the lenses on my glasses are a very, very light yellow, as shown on the bottom right.
These are not actual size. Also, look at my four totally different facial expressions: Anger, hatred, vengeance and disdain!
Now that you’ve printed your perfectly-sized image on a sheet of clear, water-slide decal paper, you’ll need the following items: Scissors, a small bowl of water, tweezers, cotton swabs, a good magnifying glass, and optional, some decal setting varnish. The in-depth tutorial featuring pictures and instructions on how to place decals can be seen here.
To purchase blank minifig heads, click on this particular store link on Brinklink.com and find a good vendor. Also use this similar resource to get other blank body parts, such as torsos, legs, and arms!
