Category Archives: Interviews

Here at Custom Minifig we love talking to people who are as crazy about Lego as we are. So we were delighted when Andy Howlin Mad volunteered to do one of our interviews:

How did you first get into custom minifigs?

I’ve always loved Lego. My favorite part has always been the minifigures. They are like bridges that allow fans to cross to a whole world of imagination. One of my favorite things to do is mix up minifigures. I love the USMC and Military (as most boys do) and wanted to mix my two favorite subjects, military and Lego. I searched up the appropriate accessories and began customising.

Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?

I get my inspiration from many different sources. Most of my ideas revolve around my imagination and I think them up, but what really amazed me are Lego Junkie’s builds, Empty Sandbox, and Andrew Somers, and PA (Semer Fi)

If there was one character that you wished Lego could produce who would it be?

If there was one character I would want Lego to produce, it would be more of a quartet… the A-team! I love the A-Team show from the ’80s and am thinking of customising my own! Those guys are great!

What do you think of the Lego Collectors minifigures series?

I think the Lego Minifigure series is a very good idea. It allows Lego to grow out of certain themes and branch out. The idea is really good, and lots of stores are selling out: also, many companies are liking the whole mystery figure. MegaBloks recently came out with Halo Mystery Packs soon after Lego released theirs.

Are you currently on any new projects?

Actually, I am! For my school research project I am working on the WWII battle of Iwo Jima. I have decided to do the same with Lego and re-inact the beach landing. I will create Japanese soldiers and a USMC Regiment, as well as an AMTRAC and Mt. Suribachi.

Do you have any tips to pass onto other customisers?

I love giving tips and assisting other Lego builders, so here are some tips:

Always believe in yourself. No matter how cheesy that sounds, it is very true, if you try you will at least get a chance of success.

Stick to paint and decals – marker smudges and doesn’t look as great.

Get a good mental picture of what you are doing before you make it.

Don’t be afraid to invest money- it will be a whole lot worth it.

Third party accessories such as BrickArms, Minifig.Cat, Amazing Armory, BrickForge, etc. make great weapons for minifigures

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TheRaconteur is a regular customiser of Gears of War minifigures which is a hugely popular theme on Flickr, so we caught up with Josh and he agreed to let us interview him and highlight his work!

How did you first get into custom minifigs?

I first got into customising last April. I used sharpie then and didn’t produce much that was good. Then, in one of my Lego searches I came across one of Mclovin’s photos on Flickr. I instantly thought, “Oh my god He’s amazing. I have to do this.” From then on I just worked my way up experimenting on parts.

Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?

Well, to be honest I don’t really do anything inspired by others. I like to do what I want rather than following someone else. BUT, if I had to say someone I would say Mclovin. Not only is he an amazing customiser, but he is a really nice guy too. Plus, he is the one who inspired me to get Flickr in the first place.

If there was one character that you wished Lego could produce who would it be?

I don’t know really. They’ve done all they can do within reason. I just want them to produce new stuff, as it gives me more of a range to experiment on.

What do you think of the Lego Collectors minifigures series?

I don’t really bother about them. It kinda just seems like LEGO are running out of ideas for sets so they are bringing out minifigures instead. The only good thing about them is the new parts because, as I said earlier, I like a wider range of customising.

Are you currently on any new projects?

I am actually. I am mainly working on my Jungle Militia Faction. I have managed to produce 6 figs so far, and will hopefully have them uploaded by the weekend. I am also working a little on my first (hopefully) decent MOC. Although, as it is not my strong point, it is not as important as the minifigs.

Do you have any tips to pass onto other customisers?

Hmm… Now that’s a hard question. I suppose one of them could be to put some time into your work. Too many people are producing bad looking figures and they seem to respond with, “It takes too much time.” or “I can’t be bothered.”Put some effort into your work people!

Also, never be afraid to experiment. A lot of people are scared to ruin tiny little bits of plastic. Experiment! You could make something great, and if not, the remains could no doubt be used for something else!

As well as customising minifigures the Flikr community also has a huge number of people who like to create their on MOC’s (My Own Creation) out of Lego. Of course to produce high quality MOC’s you need to make your own custom minifigures. We caught up with DutchLego and he agreed to let us interview him and highlight his work!

How did you first get into custom minifigs?

I joined the Flickr on the first of September, and was very interested in vehicles. But I found out, that having vehicles only is very boring! I wanted to try making some cool minifigures myself, and mostly searched on Flickr!

I found very some good Camo painters like KalSkirata, and very nice ammo painters such as McLovin, as well as painters who are good at painting everything, like Josh from FamilyBricks! That’s how I got into it!

Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?

I get the ideas and inspiration from a lot of random painters, and from games or tv-series

If there was one character that you wished Lego could produce who would it be?

I think it would be amazing to have an official Collectible ww2 figure, as in the collectible series.

What do you think of the Lego Collectors minifigures series?

I think that the Collectible Minifigures contain a lot of usable pieces, like the Zombies and Gladiators! I have seen a lot of good customs made with these!

Are you currently on any new projects?

Yes, I’m trying to make some good camo scenes, and am currently making some designs for Apocalyptic minifigures.

Do you have any tips to pass onto other customisers?

Yes! You always need the basic ‘ingredients’ such as Scissors, a Brush and Acrylic paint!

Hope you enjoy my review ;D

Belgium custom minifigure creator Sander is a very active member of the Flickr community and has made a great range of minifigures. We were delighted when he agreed to let us interview him and highlight his work!

How did you first get into custom minifigs?

Well, it all started WAAAY back in like 2009 when I made my MOC pages account. There I build like little mocs about Star Wars and Halo. When I discovered customizers on there I tried some stuff myself, then I still used sharpie. Now I use paint which in my opinion looks and is a lot better to use than sharpie.

Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?

Most of the time I don’t get inspiration from other customizers, but from games/movies where I make figures from. But when I do, I get it from friends like Andrew (Pecovam), Camden (09W AKA 09webcam), Danw Hero, Pedro, Chris (Mclovin), Connor (Condor.) and a few others.

Are there any customizers that you look up to, or inspire you?

Well… I actually have some people I look up to, and if I need help they are always there to give me tips and help me out for some things. But if I really have to choose 1 person i’d choose Chris (Mclovin), he is a great friend and helps me out ALOT.

What do you think of the Lego Collectors minifigures series?

Hmmm… I’m not a very big fan of them, but they do have some good stuff like the new printed torsos, legs, arms and new weapons (Shields, swords, etc…) you can use for other stuff. I would be more interested in them if they came with flesh skin instead of yellow. But they are nice anyway.

Are you currently on any new projects?

Actually yes, I have 3 more figures coming out soon. One of them is Ezio Auditore, I often post update pictures about him when I added some new stuff to the figure itself. About the other 2 I won’t say anything yet .

Do you have any tips to pass onto other customisers?

Pfff, i’m not exactly the one to give out tips, but heres one I shall give : Use your imagination, don’t always buy armor parts or weapons immediatly, try to make it with the resources you have. Yeah its a stupid one, I know, but it does work.

Thanks for this interview by the way.

If you love military inspired custom minifigures then you need to view CaptainMatt’s Flickr page as he has created some amazing United States Marine’s and German soldiers. We were delighted when he agreed to let us interview him and highlight his work!

How did you first get into custom minifigs?

I started to decal Star Wars clones about two years ago. Then my dad showed me the movies Patton, Band of Brothers, and Saving Private Ryan. I became interested in World War II and started studying the subject. I started out with no customizations to my World War II minifigs other than BrickArms. Then I started to decal and paint my minifigs.

Where do you get your ideas and inspiration from?

I get most of my inspiration from my flickr contacts. If one of my contacts uploads a new picture of custom minifigs, I will often research the camouflage scheme, pick out a base color, and start painting.

Are there any customizers you that you look up to, or inspire you?

There several people who really inspire me to customize my minifigs. MR.Jens has fabulous hand painted minifigs. Milan CMadge and LegoUli have created great World War II decals.

What do you think of the Lego Collectors series?

I’m not familiar with them.

Are you currently working on any new projects?

I am working on perfecting my German World War II Waffen SS “44 Dot” camouflage hand painted minifigs. I am learning how to design decals for my minifigs. I am making a U.S. Infantry platoon with painted weapons and decals.

Thanks for interviewing me, it was quite fun!