"Sticky Question" Topic

Can anyone give me advice on temporary mounting for painting of AB 15`s napoleonics. Ive tried white glue on wood and nails, but removing the figures is proving costly as a few have snapped off at the ankle when trying to remove them. When ive tried levering the figure off with a knife all i seem to do is mangle the thin metal base. I also tried rubber cement but that seemed like it would never set. Any tips would be much appreciated.

Copydex ought to do the job. Alternatively look at how you're removing them – I tend to use a pair of sprue cutters to get 15s off of their painting sticks, which works well for me.

Hmm I use white glue on ice cream sticks. After painting I put them in 1-3mm water and they come off easily.

Good tip – hadn't thought of that but it certainly ought to do the job.

I have stopped using sticks and use strips of scrap cardboard instead. Much easier to remove the figures.

I always use double-sided sticky tape on strips of card. It holds the figures very well for painting and they are easy to remove when you are done.

umm blu-tac on a ruler ?

White glue on bottle caps? Never had any trouble getting them off. Though I might adopt the cardboard and water theories.

Many thanks guys.Double-side sticky tape sounds promising SJDonovan, nice one. What brand do you use? Will the same strip hold further figures once used and is it strong enough to hold horses? ( 15mm ones !!)

Double sided sticky tape for me too, cheapest version I can find. Use it for 15mm all the time. Holds horses fine, but horse plus rider can be iffy if the bases are not very wide or if you haven't filed the base flat. Just handle and store a bit more carefully in those cases so that if they topple over it's not too damaging.

I use white glue (just a tiny bit) on paint stirrers. I find when I'm done I can just twist the wood stirrer and the figures pretty much pop off. In some cases I use a sprue cutter to grab and twist of one or two are still stuck in place….never broke a figure this way.

I use hot glue on paint stirring sticks. Use a clipper to get them off, you hold the clipper at the joint of the based and the hot glue and clip and they come right off. No problems. If you want to make the hot glue even more brittle you can stick it in the freezer or outside if you live in such climates.

Try hot glue. It sticks metal to metal well enough for painting, but usually peels off without too much trouble.

I use the technique the Extra Crispy describes – when I paint 15mm that is.

I use bottle tops (to hold) and double sided. Works like a champ.

Try high temp glue sticks using low temp setting. Creates a weak bond on roofing nails that is good enough to hold for painting yet can be popped off with fingernail or knife. Dropping a mounted figure on the cement floor by accident often results in the figure coming off if that helps you gage the bond strength.

Mounting on roofing nails allows groups of 25-50 figures to be placed on a piece of plywood in which rows of holes have been drilled to recieve the nails. Great for spraying primer on masses of troops.

Hi Harry,

The one I use doesn't even seem to have a brand name. I just get it in my local hardware store. As Temporary Like Achilles says, just go for the cheapest you can find (You can get really expensive stuff that people use to stick towel rails and the like but that stuff is far too strong for what you need). You need some good sharp scissors to cut it and you'll need to clean them occasionally because they tend to get gunked up after a while.

I don't find that you can use the same strips of tape more than once – it tends to lose its stickiness over time. However, it will hold horses just fine.

Here is another vote for hot glue. I put masking tape onto wooden pop sickle sticks.

Apply a generous bead and wait a bit. You want the glue to cool so the bond is not so strong and you want the figure to not sink all the way into the glue, so that the glue strip remains strong.

When finished, the glue is easily levered off of the masking tape from one end leaving a bead of glue with figures on it. Then since the glue is all one piece it is easy to peal it off the bottom of the figures.

Another vote for hot glue. I use a hot glue pot dip the figs in and on to the tongue depressors they go. They lift right off. Sometimes, I use snips, but find that it is rare that I need to.

I use white glue and stick the figures on pennies (Canadian ones, mostly). I find the pennies give me better access to nooks and crannies on the figures than mounting them on a popsicle stick does. When they're done, I pop them off with a #11 Xacto blade (using the thick part of the blade). I've never damaged a figure doing this.

I use the blue tacky stuff you use to stick posters to the wall. A small blob of it on the head of each nail. I got enough to last me ages from Walmart. 99¢

I use white glue and then two needle nose pliers one on either side of the stick. I twist both pliers and it breaks the bond well enough for the figures to come free.

Thanks guys. Im overwhelmed with your response, how cool is TMP website ? So many brilliant remedies for my sticky problem.

I've used poster putty and pennies. The putty will stand up to a series of sprays and paintings before it looses its sticking power. Being doing this for 25 years and it works great.

Blue tac on paddle pop sticks for me, I glue the paddle pop sticks 3 deep and 2 long, this gives me a mount for a 24 figure unit. Heres and example.

link

Blue tack for me.

Usually blue tack to card but also sometimes to a small piece of 2x4

Ferg

I pick them up one by one to paint. I tried gluing them onto a stick many years back, but I could never paint all of the odd angles unless I was holding each figure individually.

Good luck whatever you end up using.

stephen

White glue will dissolve in water fairly easily, but it might be a bit difficult to deal with a row of nails that way. I use hot glue myself, and my main problem is it losing its grip too soon.