How to Make Plastic Army Men Look Cool

Little plastic army men come in 2 basic colors, green or beige. The variety bags usually have the army men in different fighting poses, and most custom plastic army men wear camouflage pants. There are a few things you can do to plastic army men to make them look cooler and increase the enjoyment you get from playing with them.

Things You'll Need

• Acrylic paint
• Paint brushes
• Permanent markers
• Dried herbs or leaves
• Glue
• Knife
• Lighter

Instructions

1. Gather your supplies, and make a mini studio for customizing your army men. Choose a well-lit area and cover your work area with newspaper or an old tablecloth. Get acrylic paint in different colors, dried herbs or leaves, and permanent markers.

2. Spray your plastic army men with a black base coat if you want a smooth finish. You can skip the base coat step and paint directly on the plastic, but it may not be as smooth.

3. Decorate your plastic army men with different colored paints. Use flesh color for the chest, hands and face, adding scratches or other details once the paint dries. Paint their guns and supplies with traditional colors, or get a little crazy and use neon accents.

4. Draw specific details with fine-tipped permanent markers. Use markers for the face, gun detail, and helmet and uniform detail.

5. Glue dried herbs or dried leaves onto the bases of some of the army men. This makes the base look like grass, and you can use these army men when playing around with a jungle theme. Mix together basil, oregano and thyme for a realistic effect.

6. Make wounded plastic army men by cutting the limbs off a few of the soldiers. Represent scarring by using a lighter to melt some of the soldier's features.

Tips & Warnings

• Never let children use a lighter or knife when customizing your plastic army men.