It was a visit to Fantasy Net by my wife that got me off my ass, and convinced me to finish reposting this article. A fellow Sandboxer, Weswood, recently posted a really terrific elf figure. Another fellow on another board asked for a teenaged male figure... and another one asked for help on a dwarf.
By the way, this article was originally posted in parts to the Sandbox. Eventually, it ended up on the old site as a bunch of disjointed how-tos; therefore, some of you may find it a bit repetitious. For those of you who haven't seen it, I hope it helps you in some way.
Finding the perfect body via the Keller Sliding Scale
Most folks who start in the hobby of action figures, these days, will quickly get overwhelmed by the seeming endless supply of bodies there are available. Big ones, small ones, thick and thin, good or bad, ugly or not. Seems that for every project, there's a body to fill it. That's also a big problem in itself, because noone can really specialize in all of the various types. Most folks will quickly find their favorite, and they'll stick to that one forever. They'll stick to that one favorite and try to shoehorn it into every project they do, whether it fits or not.
One size does not fit all no matter what the clothing manufacturers want you to believe. Eventually, if they stay in the hobby long enough, everyone will find that they need a body that they just don't have or they need one particular attribute that their figures just don't possess.
Wes' elf? As he said, he created it from a Jane with the significant parts removed. That was an easy project we've been over on quite a few of the forums we've frequented over the years. Jane's make perfect male elves. Their parts are slimmer and more lithe than any male figure and that translates well to becoming a male elf.
If we were sitting in a classroom right now, and I asked you what one lesson you learned from the Jane project, what would you say? That anyone who cuts on a Jane body has some deep-seated personality disorder and needs immediate therapy?
How about if we tossed in a 1/5 scale figure being used as a giant? Does anything stand out yet?
What you'll eventually notice, if you stay in the hobby long enough, is that *every* scale figure, be it a 12-inch Barbie or an 8-inch Mego or even a 5-inch Jakks wrestler, can be thought of as 1/6 scale but simply of differing heights.
"Scale" is, thus, an illusion. Relative size is what's important.
In that regard, my wife and I came up with a system of measuring and finding the right figures that (for lack of a more deserving name), I call the Keller Sliding Scale. It's named after my wife, of course :)
Think of every action figure ever made all being spotted on a chart via their height. Barbies (bad articulation/great heads/rooted) are right at 11-1/2" tall, so let's put her at the far right of the scale. Vintage Joes (great art/BAD hands) are the same, so those two will be our generic male and female 1/6 scale figures.
Don't write directly on your chart... just list your figs in paragraph form in a text file for now!
Next down the chart, we can add in Jane (great overall!). She's 11" tall so she goes one place to the left of the first two figures. Captain Action (great art/hands/bad head) is the same height so he goes beside her.
All of these, so far, are 1/6 scale figs and are in the same 1/6 section, of course.
If you want to find *lots* to add to your list, simply hit eBay and type in "11 inch figure". Do the same for "10 inch figure" etc. and in a few mins, you'll have a full chart.
I'm going to skip this ahead now. I won't fill in your chart for you, because all of us use different figures. Make your own as you go.
Just below the sixers, we can add in the 10" line of Marvel Universe or Justice League superheroes (great sculpts/decent art) both male and female, etc. Those go into the 1/7 scale section.
Down the scale, we get to the 1/8 Steve Scout figure at 9-1/2" and very slender (great art/bad hands)... right next to him are the Gabriel/Marx Lone Ranger Rides Again line (great art/stocky build/great hands) which are identically-sized but far more muscular. The Big Jim line (great art, bad arms) falls into this group, too.
Below those, we can add in the 1/9 Mego line at 8" (great overall). There were male and female Mego's, remember. The "Famous Covers" line is 1/9, too, and comes in just below Mego.
Below those, we can finally add in the 1/12 Jakks wrestlers (great sculpts/bad art) et al. Below those, if you wanted to extend your chart to the left, would be the various 3-3/4 inch figures etc. When working in 1/6 scale, you just don't find any need for a figure that's less than 3 scale feet. If you want to include ones that size, I'll leave that to the more ambitious amongst you.
Once you get a representative chart done (right click on the chart and hit "save picture as") print it out and keep it in your project binder just in case. As said, don't bother writing the various figures directly on the chart... just list them in paragraphs below it that you can add to as you find more figures. You'll find so many for each scale that no chart would ever hold them all.
To use the chart, simply find the size of the figure you need on the slope and see what figures are available that are that size on the chart below it. A six inch figure to use as a halfling or an orc? Look it up in the 1/12 area and so on. Need a nine inch slender to make that teen boy mentioned earlier? Find it on the 1/8 chart and then go hunting.
I know that sounds terribly complicated, but believe me, it's only as complicated as you make it. It's far easier than it sounds.
If you're having problems finding clothing or equipment for a 1/6 Jane, any male 1/7 figures, one scale size smaller, will generally work. As the chart demonstrates, the clothing off of a 1/9 female will generally fit perfectly on a 1/10 male and vice versa.
Ever been ticked off at the lack of a decent selection of shoes to use on your 1/6 Janes or CG's or PB's? Go to eBay and search out the 1/7's and 1/8's... you'll find all the shoes and boots you could ever want.
The scale isn't just useful on clothing, though. Body parts work just as easily. If you want good hands to stick onto a 1/6 Barbie's arms, simply pick up a 1/7 or 1/8 male and his hands will be a perfect fit. Feet are the same way. The wife and I were recently joking about making a female 1/6 head from a male 1/7 superhero just to see if anyone could identify it. Imagine using a 1/7 Spiderman head on a 1/6 Jane or CG/PB and making a matching male and female 1/6 Spiderperson duo?
For those of you with guts and a bit of experience with a razorsaw, a great custom dwarf can be had by using 1/6 muscle-CC arms in place of the legs on a 1/7 or 1/8 male. We've done so many of those types of conversions, our parts box looks like a morgue. We'll get into those later in this article.
You'll have noticed how every time we list a figure, we mention its good and bad attributes after it. Those help in building your own bodies. As an example, that slender teen 1/6 boy figure that one fellow asked for earlier could easily be made from a 1/8 Steve Scout (great art/slender/bad hands)... but since he has a molded saluting hand, you'll want to replace them with a 1/8 Lone Ranger/Tonto (great art/stocky/great hands) and so on.
Trust me. Spend an hour or so on eBay filling in your chart, and you'll quickly find it to be an invaluable asset when looking for or making that "one perfect figure". Groups, make your own group faqs and include your own group lists....your members will thank you for it.
As always, everything we write is in the public domain. The only qualifications we have to add to that are that noone publish any of our work for a profit and that you credit Kris and I whenever you feel like it.
To be continued at a later time. The wife is long in bed and me, I'm too tired to start on any of the how-to conversions right now. Sorry.
Richard 
Kristi