Hi from 4,760 miles away

[hershaddow]

From London, UK to Washington state, USA is about 4,760 miles for those of you who are curious.

I am another one of the new people that are appearing as a result of the Kickstarter.  I also ordered a few things from Hasselfree to try out the line.  I really like the look of them, but have no history of building metal models.  I guess I have a lot to learn.  If you have any tips on what I should be pinning (the gun on the engineer seems to have some really small attachment points, can you even drill there?) or something along those lines, be sure to leave them below.  I hope to have some models to show off around here shortly.

Have a great day!

[Kryptovidicus]

Hey, I usually pin everything that points out (arms, weapons, legs that aren't attached to the base, ...)
The size of the drill depends on the wide of the surface and can range from 0,5mm to 3,5mm.
Also make sure your glue is dry on the piece you put the pin in before attaching it. And always be careful not to drill too deep (happened to me on numerous occasions)
I also remove the piece of metal on the feet and pin them to the base, much cleaner finish.
The hole in the base is covered with painter's tape before I add sand to the base (with watered down woodglue)
In case of the engineer, I pinned the derak at the 2 contact points with the body.

There are a lot of useful youtube films on how to do this (which is how I learned to do it).

Hope this helps

[NickH]

It depends on how many times you intend to drop them

I've assembled all the trial figures I got from Hasslefree without pinning, even the big Devanu Kopa using cheap superglue. I usually try to get a 'hold' with the superglue, then, once it is set run some more in to fill any gaps. After you have glued a model it's best to leave it for several hours before attempting to paint it as superglue cures to its full strength over about 24 hours. Note the difference between 'set' and 'full cure'.

It can also be useful to run some superglue along thin spear shafts, even if they are not broken as it can strengthen the metal significantly (EG on Delgon warriors). This works because low pressure castings (like most miniatures) are quite porous so the superglue can actually impregnate the structure of the metal.

I buy tiny tubes of superglue in bulk via ebay, so if a tube gets spoiled I haven't lost much. You can store the superglue in the freezer and it will keep indefinitely. I've found it can generally be used straight from the freezer as the amounts you use are so small it very rapidly warms up to room temperature.

[Halcyon]

I also pin limbs and weapons and "make sure your glue is dry on the piece you put the pin in before attaching it".
It allows you to "dry fit" the piece and make sure everything is OK before gluing it in place.

Mostly I use 0.5mm wire and a 0.8mm drill, but for big bits I use (cheap) paper clips and a 1.2mm drill.

How you base them is personal preference and there are many ways of doing so.
I use the slotta bases as is, but file down the top edge of the figures tab so that it doesn't show when I put flock/sand onto the base. 

[Carcharoth]

Welcome! Glad you found your way here in spite of the distance 

Pinning is almost certainly the best way to do things, but you can often get away with just gluing carefully and making sure you leave models to set fully before messing with them (that's my usual problem). As a beginner I would suggest you just stick everything together with superglue and only worry about pinning if they start falling apart! I've tried to do most joints so they fit snuggly and don't need pinning.

Halcyon, interesting thought on sanding the bases down! If I was starting a force from scratch I would probably use laser cut wooden discs, but I've got too many with similar bases to consider starting again...

[Kryptovidicus]

Thanks for the tip Nick! I never tried strenghtening the shafts with glue before.
When glueing larger area together I usually put a small ball of greenstuff between the two components.
The greenstuff fills in the gaps and any excess is easily removed and smoothened.

[hershaddow]

Wow!  Thanks for all the advice.  Nick, the plan is not to drop them, however you know what they say about the best laid schemes of mice and men. I have ordered a pin vise so I can try my hand at pinning some.  Maybe I will start on larger pieces and work my way down.  Kryptovidicus, it sounds like you pin everything.  Is there something you would consider not pinning?  Mike, some of the joints, like the right arm of Arak Katain, do seem like they would hold really well.  There is practically a built in pin.  I may just practice on some of the larger, flatter surfaces before doing too much.

I had never considered that there was a way to strengthen the flimsier pieces.  I was hoping that the spears wouldn't bend that much after painting as it would be a pain to touch up.  Thanks for that tip, Nick.

I hadn't really considered what I was going to do for basing.  On the plastic minis I have been painting, I am just painting them green or brown and running a highlight color over them.  After a brief Google search, I am considering using Spackling paste (used to fill in holes on drywall) to fill the indent in and then, pinning/pegging the mini onto it.  I do like the look of a flat surface, and filing sounds like a lot of work (no offense to Halcyon; do you have pictures of yours?).

[NickH]

So far I've not needed to pin any of my Twilight miniatures, even the Devanu Sempa whose joints don't have particularly good contact surfaces. Arak Katain and the Fubarnii mounted herders are really easy to glue.

I do sometimes pin the Games Workshop 'new metal' models (introduced about 20 years ago I think), this is horrible stuff to work with, it may not contain any lead but it's very hard and it's difficult to get a decent bond using superglue.

My models are based on washers. Once the miniatures have been painted and varnished I treat the bases as follows:

• Paint the bases with Naples Yellow (a bright sand colour),
• Cover the bases with a generous helping of PVA (white) builders glue,
• Place a few bits of  fine aquarium gravel,
• Sprinkle some spring undergrowth flock mix (EG by Galeforce Nine),
• Cover the rest with bird sand (this has a mixture of grain sizes and colours).

The base colour of the base coat is quite important as the sand grains are somewhat translucent, that's why I usually use a bright colour.

[hershaddow]

Thanks Nick.  Assuming the herders are like the knight captain with the entire arm with the spear a separate piece, did you place any in an outward position, with the elbow joint out from the body (so the only contact is at the shoulder)?  I would like to do one like that and am concerned any shear force on the joint would break the join.  I have been meaning to order a pin vise for a while for other projects, so even if I don't end up using it on these minis, it will not go to waste. 

Your bases sound interesting.  What do you do with the hole in the middle of the washer?  Is "bird sand" the bedding for bird cages sold in pet stores? 

[NickH]

Assuming the herders are like the knight captain with the entire arm with the spear a separate piece, did you place any in an outward position, with the elbow joint out from the body (so the only contact is at the shoulder)?  I would like to do one like that and am concerned any shear force on the joint would break the join.

My 4 herders are waving their spears around in a fairly aggressive manner but because of the shape of the shoulder joint (& the nature of the metal) I've managed to get a really good joint in every case using cheap superglue, proper industrial or modelling superglue would be much better but is a lot more expensive and still goes solid in the tube/bottle.

Your bases sound interesting.  What do you do with the hole in the middle of the washer? 

I used to use masking tape but recently I've started cutting (plastic) covers from old packaging using a cheap compass cutter which gives a neater edge and gives a much better bond for the figures.

Is "bird sand" the bedding for bird cages sold in pet stores? 

That's the stuff, the bits of gravel are optional (sometimes I use too many) but help to 'lift' the colours as they are very reflective. Like my painting style this is a technique more suited to gaming 'toys' than display models

More pics on my blog: http://fenedgewargaming.co.uk/wp/

[Kryptovidicus]

I pin most things, but not all. The really small surfaces (like the antenna's on many Infinity models) or pieces that touch multiple other components (like base and body) I don't pin.
I had some horrid experiences by moving the white metal miniatures Nick describes.
There was a lot of reglueing and repainting, and I hated it.

For the base I cover the hole with masking tape and add a grainy sand. Sometimes with some stones you can easily find in the garden.
I hope to upload some pictures soon. But so far any attempt has resulted in Errors (upload storage full, this post/topic already excists, ....)

[NickH]

I hope to upload some pictures soon. But so far any attempt has resulted in Errors (upload storage full, this post/topic already excists, ....)

You may need to host the photos on another site (mine are from my blog) and then use the link when you post here.

[Halcyon]

Sorry, I don't think I made my self clear... I don't file the base, I file the figure.

As the bases are recessed on the top I glue the figure so that the feet are level with the lip of the base.
The feet are then floating above the recessed base top by about 1mm. (I quite often stick a bit of plasticard under them).

However as I file down the top of the tab (between the figures feet) the tab is at the same level as the recessed base top.

I then sand or flock the base, as the top of the tab has been filed down it doesn't show and you don't get a ridge.
Also the figures don't look like they are sinking into mud. 

(But then again I am a bit OCD)

I hope that is clearer.

[NickH]

I then sand or flock the base, as the top of the tab has been filed down it doesn't show and you don't get a ridge.
Also the figures don't look like they are sinking into mud. 

I prefer my figures to look as if they are walking through short vegetation or mud/dust.
Except for the most intensively grazed pasture any vegetation is likely to be at least 100mm-200mm high so would hide a human foot.
(it also makes the model a little stronger.)

[Halcyon]

@NickH - At the end of the day it is all just down to personal preference. 

Plus I do like the way you have done yours, especially the movement tray idea.