Carcassonne Central

I've noticed there is no topic here for making or obtaining meeples for some of the fan-based expansion sets.  So since I've been toying with it, I'll start a topic for it.  Although many of the expansions that I've seen use tiles from other Carcassonne-type games, there are a few that seem to require special meeple.

While I was in the craft store the other day, I found colored clay that hardens when you bake it.  It seemed reasonable so I picked some up for $1.29USD per package  Here's a pic:
(http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs270.snc1/9729_1245887667767_1246653959_30732436_4324076_n.jpg)

I'm thinking for each package, you could sculpt somewhere between 12-18 meeples.  I've been rolling it into a ball and then pressing down on it with a meeple that I was to copy.  Leaving that meeple on top of the clay, I cut around the edges and finally smooth down the sides.  It's slightly time consuming, but you could set up to do it while you watch TV or something like that and then it's not so bad.

Some of the expansions that only require a meeple to be made are Jester and Minstral, Leper, Hog Roast, Black Tower, and Dual Dragons.  Here are some of the meeples that I've made so far:

(http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs270.snc1/9729_1245241291608_1246653959_30731119_5440295_n.jpg)
This was my first attempt at making them.  Here is a comparison of my Minstral and Jester(with cat teeth marks) to regular and big meeples and the Count.

(http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs270.snc1/9729_1245887627766_1246653959_30732435_3025989_n.jpg)
Trading Posts(I should also note that my yellow meeple were spray painted to purple)

(http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs250.snc1/9729_1245591100353_1246653959_30732013_3121133_n.jpg)
From left to right is the pope, white dragon, the grim reaple, the wizard, the leper, a big white meeple, a white builder, and a white pig.


And if you have multiple sets of meeple and want more than 6 colors, I found that spray paints seems to work well with the meeple.

I like your pig meeple better than the ones you can buy. I think I'll try that - I even have the clay already - thanks for the great idea!

Excellent work....and congrats on your first merit point   ;)
Those look great - very creative.

PS.  I'll PM you my address so you can ship me a full set!   :-p

wow those turned out better than I'd expect (that's a comment on the material, not your skill) :)

That's a great idea, but I'm too OC to use clay meeples.  I think they would look too different from the originals.  It's true though that you could get really original if you wanted.  I think I'd like to see a set of meeples made from glass and/or polished metal.  They would be cool.

I feel that my meeples need to be made out of wood for consistency sake, but I don't want to discourage experimenting with alternatives.

What tool would one have to use to cut wood into that small of pieces without cutting your fingers off?

I'm pretty sure they use a laser cutter for something like that.  I suppose it's possible to use a CNC machine or something like that, but they might be too small even for those machines. 

Here's a crazy thought...what about using one of those machines that they use to make copies of keys?  I should take my meeple down to the hardware store tomorrow and tell them I'd like to make 24 copies.  :D

Use a router table to cut custom profile into a length of hardwood.  Then cut to size with a band saw, sand and paint.

Shapes would depend on the profile(s) or sections of profile(s) that the router bits offer.

My brother used a band saw to make my road and city pieces for King and Robber Baron. Use locking pliers (aka vise grips) to keep fingers safe.

Are there any pictures?  (of the road and city pices, not your brother)

They look identical to the road and city pieces from Settlers, except they are painted brown and the size might be slightly off because I don't have Settlers so had to guess at the dimensions.

Here's my next batch of clay meeples.  I made the Missionary, Monestaries(since I don't have Settlers of Catan), and Sheriffs for the Prison expansion.  Making the tiny little white stars was a pain, but I thought it added a nice touch.
(http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs270.snc1/9729_1265772204868_1246653959_30796642_7751061_n.jpg)
(http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs270.snc1/9729_1265772244869_1246653959_30796643_7003625_n.jpg)

Wow, the Missionary looks pretty cool!  Do you enjoy playing the expansion?

I haven't played any fan based expansions yet.  I also don't get to play it very often.  my friends around me aren't into board games.  The people I started playing with live in Canada (4 hour drive for me), and my best friend that likes the game is an hour away.  Last game I did play was last week and we played with all the official expansions which took about 4 hours.

And tonight I made 24 mini followers but I'm not going to bother with a picture unless somebody really wants to see them.  They look like the others only smaller and thinner to make them a little easier to tell them apart from a normal sized meeple.  I've still got about half of package of clay left for each color and only about 156 more meeples to make before I have enough meeples for all of the fan-based expansions from this site(total includes boats and tower pieces).

Oh, that's all?  ;)

I have the same problem.  Too bad we don't live closer.

I was going to attempt to make some of the extra Meeple shapes out of clay. Can anyone provide outlines of the various shapes, that I can use as templates?

For my first few figures(Jester and Minstral), I didn't use any tools or outlines.

For the majority of the rest of the figures that I made, I used the actual meeples that came with the game.  A smooth and flat surface works best, my table is glass and it worked well.  I started by rolling the clay into a ball and then flattening it with the meeple figure I wanted it to resemble.  Then I used a wooden knife to cut around the edges. Once it was cut out, I then used the over-sized toothpick tool to smooth out the edges which is the most tedius part.

If you using the same kind of clay that I posted a pic of, then you're probably only going to want to use wood tools.  I used the 5th and 8th tools from the left in this pic:
(http://www.multifilla.com/images/Product_highlights/Mini_wood_clay_tools.gif)

I also used a tower piece from the tower expansion for the traingular gap between the meeple's legs.  It does not work to use tower pieces to make more tower pieces because the top and bottom of the towers are different sizes.  Does this help at all?

I just bought extra... but I like yours mo betta.. grim reaper rocks!

https://www.meeplepeople.com/index.php

Would you be willing to make, and sell the custom made meeples? I think you did a fantastic job, and since I'm not an artist, mine would totally suck if I tried! lol  I would totally be willing to pay for them.  Saves me tons of heartache.

So, did you get a chance to play yet?  One note, especially since you play with purple meeples, you should paint the Missionary gold so it looks more neutral.

Hey, this seems to have turned into a prophetic statement, CKorfmann!

I played a game recently where we used clear coloured glass tokens to represent Carcassonne: The Phantom.  It is a very simple and fun addition to the game.  I believe it will really catch on, once the clear meeples are available in all markets.

CARC_Zoner