Here's one I did last Halloween. Just pose a figure then EXPORT the 'dismembered' part. IMPORT it (them) back to use as the part and HIDE the coresponding part of another figure.

This way you can have many, many dismembered parts without taxing out the old CPU ;p

hint:
a) use a Transparancy on the severed part to control the edges.
b) Add a primitive in the 'empty hole' so camera angles don't show the hollow shell.

(I also used the same method to cut the Dragon's head off in my "The Huntress" pic in the Gallery)