So I've had this baggie full of little Termagants who were all broken off at the toe... because they are the ones that were balanced on just one of their toes and have a tendency to break off at inopportune moments. So, grabbing some wire, a dremel tool, my trusty eye protectors, and some other stuff, I proceeded to set them all back together. Hopefully I did so in such a way that they won't fall apart again soon.
Please keep in mind that some glues are toxic and should have adult supervision. Also, wire shrapnel is bad for your eyes. Please always wear eye protection when working with metal cutters and files.
Materials Needed:
Thin wire
Miniatures to fix
Two part Epoxy (plastic glue will not hold to the metal, and super glue isn't great for long term hold)
Tools Needed:
Dremel with tiny cutting bit or drill with very small bit
Wire Cutters
Needle Nose Pliars
Toothpicks
Paper towels
Eye protection
--------------------------------------------
Take a look at your broken miniature.
Look at how it's supposed to attach. In my case, it was the toe of the termagant to the base. Other cases may be models that have broken off at the arm, leg, or head. The principle is the same for metal and plastic. We are going to make it so this bugger doesn't fall off again!
Look carefully, you may need to bend your wire (before you cut it!), to make it fit the shape of the limb you are attaching. I drill a little bit at a time, then insert the (uncut) wire, pull it out, drill again, until I feel the wire will hold well when the glue has dried.
Before cutting your wire:
Drill both pieces
Bend wire carefully if needed
When cutting your wire, make sure you are wearing eye protection of some kind, as the pieces are likely to go flying. (Having to get an eye X-Ray before getting an MRI because I took metal shop when I was younger makes for a bit of a hassle - not to mention the idea of metal slivers being pulled out of my eyes at high speed to due high strength magnetism sounds horrid!) To minimize the risk of this, hold your fingertip to the end of the wire, pressing it firmly to the table. Then trim it to the desired length. Make sure your finger isn't near the wire cutters!
Okay! We are going to mix some epoxy. Pull out your paper towel. Fold it in half a couple of times, so the epoxy doesn't soak through it. Make sure you have toothpicks nearby as well as the parts of the minis you are fixing.
At this point, you should have:
Two drilled minis parts
A very short length of wire
Your work area prepped
Mix a less-than-dime sized amount of epoxy and hardener with a toothpick. Take the body of your mini, and apply the epoxy to the hole you drilled. It doesn't really need to get inside the hole, inserting the wire will do that for you. When you feel like you have enough (which really is not a lot), insert the wire you cut previously. Wait for it to dry (if you model is going to be at an awkward angle while drying.
If it's vertical, and you aren't worried about it's balance while drying, go ahead and apply the epoxy to the other hole, and stand the model on it. Use your toothpick to smooth out the epoxy so it looks good on the model. Let dry.
Once your main body wire is set, mix another set of epoxy, and apply it to the base/head/arm, etc. Insert the now dry body wire, and prop it up so it dries correctly.
Notes:
You can do multiple models in this manner if you have an hour or so to do it in. Doing one model doesn't take nearly as long. You can drill them all, line them up, measure and attach all the wires as a set, then wait for them to dry, mix some more epoxy and do the attaching (this is what I did).
Make sure you have enough room, light, and extra toothpicks/paper towels.
------------------------------------------------------
And we are done! Happy Modding!
-Mad Doc Kala
No comments:
Post a Comment