Post by PitYak Studios on Feb 1, 2005 23:20:00 GMT 12
A few pointers to help you get the best out of your freebies or boughties.
Steel spears
These are made from a mild steel wire, which is stronger than white metal or plastic, and more likely to bend under stress rather than snap. If your spears are bent they are easy to straighten:
Find a piece of hard wood, metal, toughened glass or any other hard surface (even your desk or bench, unless you still live with your mother / wife). Lay the spear on this surface with just the tip hanging over the edge, then get a steel ruler or something similar and roll the shaft straight. This is much easier to do than describe
If the spear is already fitted to a mini, the same principle applies, you just have to think a bit: If it's the bottom half that's bent, treat the hand the same as the tip in the paragraph above, that is let it hang over the edge while you roll the shaft. If it's the top half, you are going to have to let the hand and the tip hang off your surface; try using the corner.
If the tip is bent, carefuly press it onto your hard surface. Carefully, it won't take much to push it back in line.
Unlike white metal which is fairly inert and plastic which is completely inert, steel as I'm sure you know will rust in contact with air. Not a problem if you are painting the whole spear, but if you want to leave the tip bare metal you will have to protect it somehow, varnish or a coat of light oil should do the trick.
As some of you have found out, these things can be pretty sharp ;D but if you want them even sharper (who knows why?) you easily hone the edge furhter with afile, stone or emery paper.
Fitting the spears is fairly easy: Lop off the offending weapon then drill a hole down the hand. If you are as highly skilled with power tools as I am, you might want to use a pin vice for this. High speed drills and melty plastic are a recipe for disaster. With plastics you can often get away with heating up a pin and pushing this through the hand. Once you've got your hole, slide the spear in (need I say butt first?) but stop a couple of milimetres before it's where you want it. using a pin or a brush, place a small drop of superglue on the shaft , and push the spear the rest of the way home. If you've gone overboard on the hole this won't work, and a bit of putty will be your best bet.
The knurled shaft of the spears are easy to paint; mid brown , with darker washes and lighter drybrusing. the tip can be apinted however you would normally paint steel, or can be left bare for a rather convincing steel colour.
Then line your doods up and impress your mates.
One final note: if you have a unit of plastic spear armed men and you accidentally put your hand on them, that's your spears knackerred. If you do this with steel spears, that's your hand knackerred.
And not a tip so much as a suggestion; plastic and metal figures will come with weapons that are generally too fat and too short. With the steelies you can choose from a range of gauges (and suggest more if I don't do what you want), and any length. I think units of pikemen look super cool, why not go for some really long pikes? The mediavel European pikes were in the region of 20' long, or about 120mm in 28mm terms. Massed ranks of them would have your opponents cavalry thinking twice!
Resin bases
Many of you will never have dealt with resin, so first a general word. For the technically minded amongst you, I use a polyurethane resin. Now that bit of information is going to make all the difference to you isn't it. Anyway, unlike plastic or metal, when you sand resin, it creates a fine dust. A fine harmful dust. I really suggest you wear a dust mask when sanding resin, or do it in an extractor cabinet, cos I'm sure you've all got them at home! Seriously, wear a mask, you're no good to me dead! If you "sand" with wet emery paper the dust is controlled somewhat, but I would still suggest a mask.
(And always wear goggles if using power tools - you can still look cool, mine are Oakleys
)
Ok, the bases themselves. The bases you are probably used to are made form injection molded polystyrene. Two big lumps of steel mold are pressed together, and liquid plastic forced in. The paths the plastic follows are what we often call "sprues", and the fact that the mold is in two parts means you normaly get a mold line or flash around the edge of the cast (the bases in this case). Sprues and mold lines need to be cleaned off before use.
The resin bases you get from me are made in a one piece silsicon rubber mold. This has two advantages: Coupled with the resin, I can cast detail impossible in injected styrene, and because of the one piece mold there are no sprues or mold llines. As with all things however, there is a trade off. Because of the nature of the one piece mold process, there is less control over the final shape of the cast, and the top of the cast will have an uneven edge (imagine leaving some paint in an open jar for a few weeks; the paint will solidify, but probaly won't have a completely flat surface). This is not a major issue since I cast the bases so the "top" of the cast is the"bottom" of the base. (Here's why you got the sanding warning) If your base doesn't have a completely flat bottom, and it probably won't, get a hard flat surface again, lay a sheet of emery paper down, wet it with water and detergent, and sand the bottom of the base flat. I suggest starting out with something like 200grit, maybe even coarser if you have a lot of material, then finish up with 800grit or finer to get a smooth finish. The resin sands very easily and quickly, so go easy at first until you are famliar with it, or you will sand the whole thing away! (and don't forget that mask!)
To attach your figure to the base, use superglue, epoxy resin or contact adhesive. Whatever you use, scrape the paint off the base where you are going to glue it first. For a stronger joint I would recommend pinning. Paperclipwire is good for this. You are probably going o need a drill for this, although a pin vice will do just as well. If using the old drill, I would suggest you wear goggles and your mask.
Once all that's done, sit back and admire your handywork, and then do the other 199.
I generally like a heavy gloss on the sides of the base; looks nice for display, and is hardwearing for handling. The gloss I use is a highly specific product known as "nail varnish" and I get it for $2 from you-know-where.
Steel spears
These are made from a mild steel wire, which is stronger than white metal or plastic, and more likely to bend under stress rather than snap. If your spears are bent they are easy to straighten:
Find a piece of hard wood, metal, toughened glass or any other hard surface (even your desk or bench, unless you still live with your mother / wife). Lay the spear on this surface with just the tip hanging over the edge, then get a steel ruler or something similar and roll the shaft straight. This is much easier to do than describe
If the spear is already fitted to a mini, the same principle applies, you just have to think a bit: If it's the bottom half that's bent, treat the hand the same as the tip in the paragraph above, that is let it hang over the edge while you roll the shaft. If it's the top half, you are going to have to let the hand and the tip hang off your surface; try using the corner.
If the tip is bent, carefuly press it onto your hard surface. Carefully, it won't take much to push it back in line.
Unlike white metal which is fairly inert and plastic which is completely inert, steel as I'm sure you know will rust in contact with air. Not a problem if you are painting the whole spear, but if you want to leave the tip bare metal you will have to protect it somehow, varnish or a coat of light oil should do the trick.
As some of you have found out, these things can be pretty sharp ;D but if you want them even sharper (who knows why?) you easily hone the edge furhter with afile, stone or emery paper.
Fitting the spears is fairly easy: Lop off the offending weapon then drill a hole down the hand. If you are as highly skilled with power tools as I am, you might want to use a pin vice for this. High speed drills and melty plastic are a recipe for disaster. With plastics you can often get away with heating up a pin and pushing this through the hand. Once you've got your hole, slide the spear in (need I say butt first?) but stop a couple of milimetres before it's where you want it. using a pin or a brush, place a small drop of superglue on the shaft , and push the spear the rest of the way home. If you've gone overboard on the hole this won't work, and a bit of putty will be your best bet.
The knurled shaft of the spears are easy to paint; mid brown , with darker washes and lighter drybrusing. the tip can be apinted however you would normally paint steel, or can be left bare for a rather convincing steel colour.
Then line your doods up and impress your mates.
One final note: if you have a unit of plastic spear armed men and you accidentally put your hand on them, that's your spears knackerred. If you do this with steel spears, that's your hand knackerred.
And not a tip so much as a suggestion; plastic and metal figures will come with weapons that are generally too fat and too short. With the steelies you can choose from a range of gauges (and suggest more if I don't do what you want), and any length. I think units of pikemen look super cool, why not go for some really long pikes? The mediavel European pikes were in the region of 20' long, or about 120mm in 28mm terms. Massed ranks of them would have your opponents cavalry thinking twice!
Resin bases
Many of you will never have dealt with resin, so first a general word. For the technically minded amongst you, I use a polyurethane resin. Now that bit of information is going to make all the difference to you isn't it. Anyway, unlike plastic or metal, when you sand resin, it creates a fine dust. A fine harmful dust. I really suggest you wear a dust mask when sanding resin, or do it in an extractor cabinet, cos I'm sure you've all got them at home! Seriously, wear a mask, you're no good to me dead! If you "sand" with wet emery paper the dust is controlled somewhat, but I would still suggest a mask.
(And always wear goggles if using power tools - you can still look cool, mine are Oakleys
)Ok, the bases themselves. The bases you are probably used to are made form injection molded polystyrene. Two big lumps of steel mold are pressed together, and liquid plastic forced in. The paths the plastic follows are what we often call "sprues", and the fact that the mold is in two parts means you normaly get a mold line or flash around the edge of the cast (the bases in this case). Sprues and mold lines need to be cleaned off before use.
The resin bases you get from me are made in a one piece silsicon rubber mold. This has two advantages: Coupled with the resin, I can cast detail impossible in injected styrene, and because of the one piece mold there are no sprues or mold llines. As with all things however, there is a trade off. Because of the nature of the one piece mold process, there is less control over the final shape of the cast, and the top of the cast will have an uneven edge (imagine leaving some paint in an open jar for a few weeks; the paint will solidify, but probaly won't have a completely flat surface). This is not a major issue since I cast the bases so the "top" of the cast is the"bottom" of the base. (Here's why you got the sanding warning) If your base doesn't have a completely flat bottom, and it probably won't, get a hard flat surface again, lay a sheet of emery paper down, wet it with water and detergent, and sand the bottom of the base flat. I suggest starting out with something like 200grit, maybe even coarser if you have a lot of material, then finish up with 800grit or finer to get a smooth finish. The resin sands very easily and quickly, so go easy at first until you are famliar with it, or you will sand the whole thing away! (and don't forget that mask!)
To attach your figure to the base, use superglue, epoxy resin or contact adhesive. Whatever you use, scrape the paint off the base where you are going to glue it first. For a stronger joint I would recommend pinning. Paperclipwire is good for this. You are probably going o need a drill for this, although a pin vice will do just as well. If using the old drill, I would suggest you wear goggles and your mask.
Once all that's done, sit back and admire your handywork, and then do the other 199.
I generally like a heavy gloss on the sides of the base; looks nice for display, and is hardwearing for handling. The gloss I use is a highly specific product known as "nail varnish" and I get it for $2 from you-know-where.