Limb repositioning - The best way to do it?

[Benzin ninja]

I have been fiddling about repositioning arms and whatnot on my precious Space Marines.

 

I am however still very much a novice at this, and thus I want to ask you, the experts, what is the best way of repositioning arms, legs and whatever one might reposition?

 

I recently tried my luck with heating the arm. I don't know if my technique is a bit off, or heating is not the right way to go. Regardles of that, the right arm on the guy in the picture below turned out being a bit chubby, and I would like to avoid this in the future.

 

http://peecee.dk/uploads/062013/WP_20130616_002_big_thumb.jpg

[BrotherCaptainArkhan]

First off, well done for jumping in what some would term the 'deep end' of miniature converting. Limb replacement/repositioning can be one of the most difficult aspects of conversion (in my mind) to get right, and you've certainly gone for it so well done.

 

It's a little difficult to see what effect the heating gun had exactly as the paintjob around the arm is quite thick. However, from my own experience (I would class myself as 'apprentice/journeyman' competency) you will get much better results with using a clipping tool (clippers, fine scissors, or ideally a modelling knife) and green stuff (or any modelling putty you can find). A good limb reposition should modify as little as possible of the original limb, and by using a heat gun chances are you're actually destroying/warping the detail on the limb in question. The best ways to go about repositioning a limb (on a Marine) are by cutting into the limb where the 'soft' armour is (so, the inside of the elbow, the wrist, the hip, the back of the knee or the ankle). This is so that when you flex or extend the limb, you can fill the area around the join with green stuff sculpted to fit the pattern of soft armour. In the event that you're straightening a Marine's right arm, as in your example above, I would have cut the arm in two places, one either side of the elbow, giving you the upper arm, the elbow guard, and the forearm/hand as three separate pieces. I would then align the three pieces so that the arm is straightened, and use green stuff to fill the gaps in the elbow area. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures to show you but hopefully this gives you some idea of how to improve. If you do a search on this forum for any of the truescale Marine tutorials, you will often find a lot of info on repositioning limbs, particularly the legs. Give it a try and don't be afraid to post future attempts here :)

 

Hope some of that helped!

 

Arkhan

[Kierdale]

In addition to the Brother Captain's excellent advice I would also recommend pinning: after cutting up the limb into pieces, drill a hole into the centre of the upper arm stump and glue a thin rod within (a short length of paper clip would suffice). Then carefully drill through the enlbow section and into the forearm (make sure they'll line up!). This will help hold the limb in place while you later fill the gaps with Green Stuff.

[Benzin ninja]

Thanks for the advice, I will now stop trying to heat my models. It did result in, as you so surely predicted, the loss of details. The glove-fingers turned into a mitten.

I did try cutting and repositioning with an other arm, but didn't think as far as to have the elbow pad as a seperate piece, and ran into som trouble with aligning the arm correctly.

 

And rest asured, future attempts at making silly marines will most definitely be posted, and there will also most certainly be future silly marines.

[lfhoule]

  No further advice on repostioning limbs, as others who know more have spoken, but I will say that you definately broke new ground with your figure. A space marine having a good puff from a pipe while dealing with the Emperor's foes is very original, seeing that most of GW's figures in the 40k line smoke cigars.

[Grotsmasha]

Hobby saw for cuts, gives an even straight cut that better allows reattachment that a slanted cut from a knife can hinder. Definitely pinning too, especially for metal/resin and small contact areas on plastic.

 

Cheers,

Jono

[Disruptor_fe404]

I started my conversion career (?) with arm repositioning. A lot of the time, I had better results for less work by using straight-up arm swaps, but for things when I had to reposition, I still combined it with arm swaps of some kind (matching upper arms for position with lower arms for motion, etc.) to attain the results I wanted.

 

Admittedly, my route is somewhat more difficult if you don't have a wealth of things to cut up.