"Bending not breaking..." Topic
9 Posts
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| springsnow | 25 Jun 2009 4:00 p.m. PST |
Hi gang, Got some 15mm Essex miniatures with some arms
making weird angles that i would like to modify…
(like a mounted lancer streching his arm way too
high).
What is your usual method to modify the position
of an arm without breaking it? I heard heating the
metal and gently bending it works, but i don't want
to melt the metal in the process… Never done before.
Any tips or "how to" would be greatly appreciated.
What tools do i need to do that? |
IGWARG1   | 25 Jun 2009 4:16 p.m. PST |
It depends on metal the figure is made of. Try to bend it very gently, may be with needle nose pliers. Apply a drop of super glue at the point(s) of bending. |
| springsnow | 25 Jun 2009 4:20 p.m. PST |
Do you heat the area before? |
| nycjadie | 25 Jun 2009 4:44 p.m. PST |
I do the same as IGWARG. No heat. However, I have had a few accidents… |
| Dan 055 | 25 Jun 2009 10:01 p.m. PST |
I use a pair of tweezers (the ones with flat surfaces) and I NEVER attempt to bend the piece into its new position – instead I position the tweezers where I want it to bend so that when I apply preasure, the piece moves itself in the direction I want it to end up. |
| Mitch K | 26 Jun 2009 2:15 a.m. PST |
Depends. Sometimes needle-nosed pliers or haemostats alone are enough, but sometimes some cutting is necessary to allow clearance for the bend. I have used heat, successfuly. Use a LOW powereed soldering iron (e.g. 12w), and clamp it in a vice. Bring the mini to the heat, and work carefully. Seal any cut areas with green stuff and away I go. |
| Robin Bobcat | 26 Jun 2009 2:56 a.m. PST |
Needle-nosed pliers are pretty good. Remember to wrap the jaws with something, or you may leave marks on the metal. Most white metals will have three stages when you try to bend them. There will be an initial 'resistance' stage, where the metal will be hard, and refuse to move, the result of being cast. Then once that is overcome, it will go to a 'plasticity' stage, where it can be bent. The more you bend it the softer it will get until you reach 'loose', at which point it's in serious danger of breaking. Consider if it's easier to clip and re-pin the offending limbs. Green stuff is your friend. |
| battle master | 26 Jun 2009 4:44 a.m. PST |
essex are generally ok to bend just with your fingers as they are not brittle |
| springsnow | 27 Jun 2009 6:49 p.m. PST |
Thanks for the tips all, i hope i won't need to much
cutting and green stuff as i have a fair amount of figs to
reposition…and in 15mm that's not such a fun task.
Time to experiment, thanks again. |
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