Odd support issue

[BigBadHodad 0]

So I’ve had an issue in a few prints, Cura is putting a “shell” around some figurines. 
at first glance it looks like the print is low resolution but I’d you grab the surface with angle cutters it pulls away for the most part and underneath is the figurine. Most places it’s easy to remove in others it’s so stuck in place you cannot get it out. 
im guessing it is support generation so for figurines any suggestions for making easy to remove reliable supports?  
 

also on some prints it leaves off bits of support