Treasure Tokens

Making steps on prepping these figs for their transformation into vibrant and twisted little homunculi, I decided to try a new method for fixing these guys to their washer bases (that is, a method other than superglue and faith). 

I figured, since I need to fill the holes in the washers with putty anyhow, why not use a little extra to allow me to make an imprint of the models feet on the base? That way, the superglue would have more surface area on which to adhere.

See that standard bearer? I'm really excited about that standard bearer.

It worked even better than that. When the putty cured, these guys were stuck. No superglue. No mess. (No fess?)

But it's hard to estimate precisely how much putty you will need to achieve an effective depth on the base. So of course, I wound up with some extra. And there I was, a little bead of putty and a whole world of possibilities.

And here's what came out:

Very simple, roughly sculpted tokens to represent hoards of treasure.

These are pretty simple to make. I just slapped a rough mound of putty on the washer, blocked out some bigger shapes for chests, sacks and whatnots, and then took out my super specialized tool pictured above to the right.

Yes, the ink reservoir in a standard ballpoint pen makes a pretty handy tool for making indentations. I used it to make impressions all over the putty to represent large, hard, oh-so-clutchable currency.

I went back in briefly with a detail tool afterward to clean up where some of the impressions overlapped, but I didn't stress to much. I'm content with a rough sculpt here, since all the coin is just going to be slathered in gold rub n' buff anyhow. I think it'll get the point across.

What's YOUR favorite trick with a pen? Encribe it in the soft epoxy comments field below. Quick! Before it cures!