"gluing figures to horses" Topic

I'm painting my first 28 mm army up and need to glue some figures to horses. Now the figures don't exactly fit or sit well on the horses, there are some gap so I need a glue which will act as a sort of filler. Any ideas?

I use either zap a gap or a two part epoxy.

Do a little prep work before you start -- make sure they fit -- really helps.

After that . . . zap a gap

I mix my zap a gap with some baking powder to make a thick paste, trowel it in with a modified wood coffee stirrer. You need to work quickly though, as the powder acts as a mild accelerant.

How many people glue before they prime and paint, or else paint rider and horse separately?

Cut and file as flush as possible.

Glue with Zap a Gap

Prime then paint.

DM

I always paint before gluing the rider on the horse. This makes painting them both faster I find. It also allows you to base the horse by itself without the rider and then attach the rider to the horse already on the base, which is very helpful when doing multi-figure bases.

I often paint the horse first.

This has its issues.

I have some horses I finished for a brigade of Dragoons that I did around 1992. Still have not finished the riders.

mjc

Rather then one of the "Super Glues" I use good ol' Elmer's White Glue, or School Glue, if you will! It fills any gaps, holds extremely well under gaming conditions, and once dry it takes Primer very easily and maintains a firm hold!! Even when accidently dropped (Oh NO!!) I've never had a rider separate from his horse!

The best advantage, is if you get some where you don't want it you can clean it off with a little warm water and a Q-Tip a lot easier then you can with the Super Glue!!

Paul

The best method is to mix up some epoxy putty, Green Stuff / Kneadatite or equivalent, and wedge a blob onto the bottom of the rider, then press the rider down onto the horse, and use a sculpting tool to form it to look like an extension of the saddle or the rider's pants or gear as apropriate. Then let it harden, break off of the rider, scrape the rider, epoxy or superglue glue the putty onto him, then scrape the horse, and epoxy or superglue the assembly onto it. Paint before or after this last step as most convenient.

The quick method is to use a gap filling tacky glue or a hot glue gun, and not paint because that takes too much time.

Either Gorilla Superglue (NOT Gorilla Glue!!!!) or Devcon 5-minute epoxy.

I mix super glue gel with paper handkerchiefs to get a paste. (Glue / paper / Glue) Fills everything extremely well.
Also use it in stead of green stuff to fill gaps.
After it dries in minutes, it can be cut with a sharp knife.

Drill and pin the figure to the horse. Easy to do and a lot less time involved.

Thanks for all your suggestions. I'm going with an epoxy putty, the problem being the riders are a loose and ill fitting so that there is little actual 'flat contact' to glue.

mjc I liked your story about the Dragoons…I too did that only when I returned to paint the riders I found my painting style had changed over the years!!!

Five minute epoxy or good old fashioned impact cement (Evostik or something similar). A coat on the horse and one on the rider, dry for five minutes, assemble. Done.