Customing guide for starters
by Raptoralpha

Starting
Before anything else, you have to choose a project. Will you make a never-seen-before human figure? Will you modify an existing one for better likeness? Will it be a 4 inches or 5 inches tall figure? Will you repaint a dinosaur? Will you sculpt it?
When you’ve decided what you want to do, try to have an idea of what it’ll look like. When you know exactly what you’re going to do, it’s time to check what you need.

Ingredients
What does a customizer need? First, you need a figure to customize. If you want to make a 5 inches tall figure, you can choose from several line: the JP and TLW toy-line, obviously, but also the Congo toy-line, Waterworld figures, Robin Hood figures, … If you choose to make a 4 inches figure, you have the JP3 figures, the Star Wars figures, the GI Joe line, those cheap ChapMei toys (Soldier Force, Dino Quest,…).
For a custom dinosaur, only the different Jurassic Park toy-lines are good, but you have a huge selection of dinosaurs in them, so…

"Boil and pop"
If you only need the head, the arms or the legs of a figure, use the “boil and pop” method: boil a small amount of water, put the figure in it for a few minutes, then pull the parts you need. If you do it correctly, the part you need should come out easily.

Paint and stuff
When you have the parts you need, check your tools. You’ll need paint (model paint like Testors or Revell paint is perfect), natural hair brushes, toothpick (if you want to paint some very small details), exacto knife (be careful with this), model glue and, if you want to sculpt some parts, sculpting material like Sculpey, Fimo or Premo.

No rushing!
When you get all your tools, you’re ready to start your custom. Try not to rush it, a good custom takes time, usually several hours, so be patient, and you’ll be well rewarded at the end.

Good luck!