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Assembling a large all pewter model.


thade

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So far my pewter model experience has been limited to SM-sized infantry (captains, vanguard, sternguard, more vanguard, librarians, chaplains, etc) and recently I was very proud to employ GS for my second time, attaching Draigo's arms and filling in the gaps.

 

Now I'm looking at some models which are solid pewter with many pieces and I'm wondering: what's the best way to assemble these guys so they don't fall apart?

 

I've grown suspect of straight super glue, not all of these pieces have room for GS (i.e. some of the pieces actually fit together rather well) and I'm wondering if I honestly have to figure out a way to pin them all. Will super glue hold them? I found that - at least with my infantry models - I pinned virtually all of their arms on as the model tipping over (or worse, falling off of a terrain piece) would otherwise result in pieces skittering away to hard-to-reach places. Pinning a single arm on a model is not nearly as annoying as pinning on wheels, handles, strange bulbous devices, etc.

 

I'm willing to do it if it's necessary...but damn I don't wanna.

 

In your experience, is liberal use of super glue (like, many drops along contact points) sufficient? Or should I belly up and pin em?

Pinning.

 

My 54mm scale space marine (The Inquisitor one) is pinned with 3mm brass rod (torso to hips and leg, arms through torso). Hands are pinned with 1mm brass rod.

The glue is a two part epoxy. They haven't even attempted to come apart since they were buit.

Smaller metal stuff is pinned with paper clips and still glued with epoxy.

 

If they fall off the table, the bits don't scatter to the four winds that way. Superglue is a strong bond, in some ways, but very weak in others.

Heh Hey Thade what is it you plan on building? If a Blood Thirster Pinning is required at every join bar the head, For some reason I guess a Pengine these need pinning at the Hips and Shoulders and then some into the Base. Old Dreads on the other hand Only really need it in the ankles through to the base, My Dc one that is getting a repaint and remodel soonish has around 16 pins in it and is strong enough to be thrown through a wall and only loose the base, I admit I went over board on it but heh better safe than sorry.

 

But before I do this I need to buy a SOB jump pack girl for a little Gauis Point action.

I've actually had figures break apart even with them being pinned, so you might want to consider double-pinning them. Takes a more precision bullseye, but its also a lot stronger.

 

Then again, the milliput I'd tried to fill his gaps with wasn't that good for holding parts together anyway /sweatdrop

If there's enough room where the bond will be, try scoring both ends with an exacto knife. I just put together an all metal GK army and did only that; one of them I tried to re-position an arm after it had set for a bit and could not get it apart without bending the hell out of the arm and afraid I was going to break it.

I had an older thread with some good responses, here.

 

I pinned the model with chopped-up paper clips and a £3 small drill (A Pin Vice I think it's called, but I could be mistaken). I had to use Milliput to fill in a few gaps, and attach some pieces together. For the smaller things like spikes, horns, strange bulbous devices, etc I just used a dollop of GW super glue and there're fine.

 

It took about 5 hours in total IIRC, but it hasn't fallen apart yet and looks fine.

Awesome. Thanks all for your thoughts here.

 

What I think I'm going to do is this: I'm going to pin the heavier parts and otherwise do some scoring around the contact points, where I will use G.S. to stick the model together. It'll be a huge pain in the butt...but I think pins and G.S. will give it a little bit of elasticity it very much needs to stand up to transportation and the occasional drop. I hate to admit it, but...I'm kind of clumsy at the gaming table. For parts that are small and fit together very well, I may use super glue...but only if half the part is GS'd.

Thade,

 

I would suggest pinning when possible, yes it does take longer but the joints are secure. My Emperor's Champion model has bounced on the floor more then once (never leave metals lying around where a kid might get them, I'm just saying that 3yr old +metal=model on floor), and his sword arm hasn't ever come off. It is pinned, and due to my mediocre modeling skills it is a slight change in pose from the original model as well. His arm now points forward as if challenging something off in the distance. It looks cool, but was purely on accident due me not measuring the pin angle right. Frequently my bad modeling skills leads to cool stuff, but it is what it is. I like the changed look of him, and it makes mine slightly different.

I'll repeat my advice to buy two-part epoxy glue :D

If you mean Green Stuff, I have no shortage of that magical goo.

 

If you mean something else, I am curious as to what. B)

 

I will be commencing with the tedious pinning and goo-sculpting probably Sunday or Monday, unless I see here that someone says "NOOOOOO, WAAAAAAIT THAAAAAAADE!!"

I meant epoxy glue, not putty <_< Green Stuff is GW's/a generic name for epoxy putty, but there are also glues that work along similar lines: mix two parts and it sets. They are usually sold in either two separate tubes or as a kind of double syringe, and with a variety of setting times: five-minute, fifteen-minute, one-hour, etc. They should be available from any hardware store worth the name, I'd think (they are over here, anyway).

 

In most cases you squirt out equal amounts of each (with some, you need much more resin than hardener, so be sure to read the instructions) and thoroughly mix them together — I suggest mixing with a cocktail stick on the smooth side of the backing paper of a sticker (minus the sticker, of course :P) and then you can apply the glue using the same cocktail stick. Don't mix up a lot of glue — a small drop will probably be enough for most parts — and plan your construction so you can glue several parts together without having to manipulate bits you've already glued. You will probably need to support the parts in position while the glue hardens, because until it does, it acts a lot like a lubricant… Blu-Tack is ideal for this, I've found.

 

Yes, I know this makes it look like a bit of a hassle, but trust me, this is probably the strongest bond you can get between parts of a metal figure, especially if you also pin the parts, without resorting to soldering.

My first rule for metal and resin is if it looks like it can be pinned pin it. If it doesn't look like it can be pinned look closer cause it probably can be.

 

I know people swear by apoxie's but unless you're really rough on mini's a pin with a bit of some super glue on both sides of some GS will handle it. Put bit of glue around the pin, whap a thin bit of GS suasage around it and put a bit of glue on the other parts mating surface, press together and scrape off any GW that oozes out. It yields a good strong joint that has just a bit of shock absorbing flex do to the GS and is done without the extra expense of apoxie or the mess it can be.

If you think using epoxy glue is an expense, you are in the wrong hobby :D Buy one fewer metal figure for 40K and you have enough epoxy glue to put together several dozen such figures, at a minimum. I also don't see why using a pin plus epoxy putty plus superglue is less of a mess or hassle …

 

Oh, and Apoxie is a brand name of epoxy putty :P

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