How-To: Shrinky-dink gaming minis

Podcast Episode Summary

Even as we approach the cultural apocalypse of ubiquitous, fully immersive, photo-real multiplayer video game environments, there are still those of us who like to play board or tabletop games. The communal wargaming experience, for instance, is very different from playing a networked MMORPG or turn-based strategy game. Whereas WarCraft or Xbox Live is kind of like hanging out with your buds watching TV, actually getting together and playing a board game is more like a real party. There's usually music and snacks and beverages and lots of gregarious BS-ing of a type that just isn't as practical over a network line. Manipulating the physical game pieces is also satisfying in a way that virtual objects have yet to achieve, and probably won't for some time to come.

A lot of folks who are into tabletop gaming eventually end up making their own pieces, for one reason or another. They may be making a custom army to compete in a wargame with established rules, or they may be making up their own game for which no commercial pieces are available. For these folks there's an array of techniques available. The simplest, as in wargaming days of yore, is to use illustrated paper or cardboard "chits" that lay flat on the gaming surface. A step up from that involves buying or making bases so your cardboard heroes can stand upright, which not only makes them look better but makes them much easier to manipulate. If the cardboard approach is too wimpy for you, you can always purchase commercial 3D miniature figures and paint and/or customize them to suit your taste.

Polyolefin shrink film presents an intermediate approach to original miniature design, midway between cheap paper or cardboard cutouts and fully dimensional figurines. Shrinky-dinks are much more durable than card stock, and unlike store-bought figurines, they are completely customizable. Best of all, you can make all your artistic mistakes at the software level, where they're easy to fix.

Materials:

• Inkjet ink
• Inkjet friendly shrink film
• Small binder clips, one for each mini you intend to make

Tools:

• Computer with color inkjet printer and appropriate software (if you're designing your own art)
• Oven
• Cookie sheet with cardboard insert to fit
• Paint pen
• Scissors/pen knife/paper cutter to cut out dinks

Step 1: Design your dinks

The best way to determine the expected shrinkage of your film is by experiment. Print a square of known dimension, cut it out, shrink it, and measure the new size. The ratio of the "after" dimensions to the "before" dimensions gives the expected shrink percentage. Every film I've ever seen also includes an approximate shrink ratio in the directions, and if you're not an accuracy freak it's probably safe to assume it's correct. The clear film I used shrinks by about 50%, meaning that the designs as printed need to be about twice as big, in each dimension, as the desired miniature size. Note that if you intend to use bases you need to be sure to leave an empty "tab" at the bottom of each image so the base can be attached without obscuring the art. If you're using binder-clip bases (see below), I recommend the small (3/4") size. These have a real "footprint" of 3/4" x 1/2", so scaling up for 50% shrink film gives a 1.5" x 1" pre-shrink area to allow for during the design of each piece.

If you don't want to design your own minis, or you just want to experiment with the technique, I've put together a set of markers for the deluxe edition of Steve Jackson's famously awesome future war-game, OGRE. You can download a .PDF of my OGRE marker designs here, ready to print onto five 8.5" x 11" sheets of 50% shrink film.