"Repair and Maintenance of Figures?" Topic

I am going back and repairing some of my Napoleonics who have been through a few moves, and many of the cavalrymen have fallen off their horses, i.e. the rider has come unglued.

What would be the best glue to use that will securely fasten the rider back to the saddle, but not be visible or affect the paint job of the adjacent area? Appreciate any recommendations, thanks.

I prefer to use Walther's Goo. I have never had a deserter figure in all the years I've used Goo. The Goo is a rubber based cement/glue and is excellent for metal to metal bonding. Or when two different media need to be glued together as well.
Even with active play with my WW II minis, the bonds of tank tracks and other parts have never come loose.

Mike

Zap-A-Gap

If your riders keep falling off. Drill a little hole in the saddle and the rider. Use floral wire as the connector and use a good glue, like Zap A Gap or Loctite super glue this will bond them quite well for a long time. Its easier in 28mm but I do it in 15mm as well. DO NOT USE GORILLA GLUE.

Though Gorilla Superglue Gel is fantastic stuff and not at all like regular Gorilla Glue

Mike, does Walther's work when the figures are already painted?

Titch, great suggestion, but that would take a bit of time, and although my Konig- und Kaiserlich Dragoons are fully deserving of that time, I do not actually have that much time available now. When I do, I will implement your excellent suggestion.

Hmm, zap-a-gap, I'll look for it next time I'm at the store, as well as Gorilla superglue gel. Helpful suggestions all, thank you.

…and a really dumb tangential question. I also need to clean the bases of most of my Napoleonics, which have gotten a but dusty over the years. The perfect tool (afaik) for getting dust off the space in between the figures would be a pipe cleaner.

But apparently they don't sell pipe cleaners any more. The clerk at my local Target guided me to Drano when I asked for pipe cleaners. Anyone have any ideas?

I've seen pipe cleaners sold in hobby and art stores. People use then for art projects, particularly with kids.

The clerk at my local Target guided me to Drano Anyone have any ideas?

I strongly recommend you don't use Drano on painted figures.

I use 5 minute two part epoxy. Haven't had problems with figures falling off horses ever.

G'Day

I have two brushes that I use to clean painted figures.

I use…a fine optics brush (try WalMart) and my wife's fine make-up brush (long fibered one)…both extremely delicate and works brilliantly.

Best Regards
Art

I find that a white latex glue (Elmers) works well. It has enough strength, but can be undone without breaking the figure. It dries transparent, so it becomes invisible.

I will agree with 1968billsfan. While white glue may fail to some degree over time, I find that if rider and horse are affixed in a much more permanent way (epoxy) then if there is a drop or a bump much more likely to damage the figure. Same with basing. The ability to release is actually a good thing.

Tobacco stores (cigarette stores) sell pipe cleaners as do Walmart in the craft section

As for cleaning the bases, your airbrush (sans paint, of course) works very well.

The ideal solution is to scratch back the paintwork on both rider and mount where they join. Personally I would then fix them with any rubberised 'super-glue' (Gorilla is one brand I believe)

For cleaning old figure I second the brush approach, I have a cheap set of make-up brushes I use for this. A blast of air from an airbrush or can of compressed air doesn't go a miss.

To clean the bases gets some toothbrushes. Buy your family new ones because you love them, then collect the old ones and use them.

Two part Epoxy is pretty good.

For me the far more difficult thing is not the rider, but when the horse breaks off the base. For most figures out there which have horses looking like running dogs, any old glue will do, the problem is holding it while the glue sets.

For me, I use 30mm Willies and Surens with beautiful horses in proportion which means the legs at the ankles are small. Also with the rough use of wargames I do the work up front.

What I do is I take the horse and place it between two blocks of 3/4" pine, and clamp it solid. Then I take a a drill (normal, hand, household drill) with a 1/16 or 3 64" drill and drill up through the base and into the belly of the horse. I will then use a dremel to gouge a small groove about 1/2" long on the base, underneath the figure. Into this path I epoxy a pice of hard piano-wire bent at the right angle and trimmed so the short end lays in the grove under the base, and the long end goes up through the base and into the hole in the body of the horse. Swab down with epoxy and let set and it will prevent the horse from breaking at the legs or ankles. Also makes the figure highly rigid and resistant to the careless claws of war gamers who like to pick up troops like picking up a handful of popcorn. Often I will do the same with the riders, drill down from the saddle a bit, and up into the figure from below the point were the figure meets the saddle, then soldering a piano-wire mandrel.

Pipe cleaners can be found in any craft department or store. You will have a choice of colors too. I like the make up brush idea. Very soft bristles and will do the work fast than the pipe cleaners. Go to your local Walgreens, Wal Mart, or Rite Aid and choose a brush to your liking. Model railroaders use make up brushes for applying powders for weathering effects on the models.

When using any glue to affix a rider to the horse, I make sure that there is no paint on the rider's butt as well as on the top of the saddle. The bond will be stronger that way.

Mike

PS- I have been using Goo with great success for over 40 years, on model railroading as well as wargaming figures.

Good points!

"Also makes the figure highly rigid and resistant to the careless claws of war gamers who like to pick up troops like picking up a handful of popcorn."

I am proud of my Polish lancers, who each carry a sharp and strong steel pin as their lance, pointing up. Woe unto the hamhanded gamer who tries to grab them carelessly!

I use Elmers for basing, for exactly the reason billsfan and Esquire mention; it's strong enough to hold the figure to the base, but will give rather than bend, if subject to pressure. Easy to glue back on.

What I do is I take the horse and place it between two blocks of 3/4" pine, and clamp it solid. Then I take a a drill (normal, hand, household drill) with a 1/16 or 3 64" drill and drill up through the base and into the belly of the horse. I will then use a dremel to gouge a small groove about 1/2" long on the base, underneath the figure. Into this path I epoxy a pice of hard piano-wire bent at the right angle and trimmed so the short end lays in the grove under the base, and the long end goes up through the base and into the hole in the body of the horse. Swab down with epoxy and let set and it will prevent the horse from breaking at the legs or ankles.

I used to do similar with 1/72nd plastic horses except I used a small pin that went through the base and into the underside of the body of the horse. Ont he table top you never noticed it and it held the horse completely rigid and in place so there was never any flaking of paint on the legs.

Brian,

Yes, back in the Airfix days (when no glue that a kid could get would hold the base on the horse) I did the same thing.

Second a can of compressed air for dust. Much less fiddly than pipe cleaners. I aways glue metal cavalry with rapid epoxy applied with a cocktail stick. If you're reasonably careful you'll never see it. I find superglues too brittle when knocked, though ymmv.

I use a super glue gel. Could be loctite or such. I have never had a problem with anything coming apart when metal to metal is glued. It doesn't run and is easy to work with. Very rarely will a figure come off a horse, but if it does, a drop of the same glue works fine and doesn't disturb the paint job. And these are all 40mm figures I put together and paint.

I use Goop for large figures and Tacky Glue for small figures to fix them on their bases, and Gorilla Glue Super Glue to stick pieces together.

The Goop and Tacky glue have a bit of flex which is important in forgiving the jostling of handling.

Gorilla Super Glue seems a bit more forgiving than others I have tried. Regular Gorilla Glue is a huge disaster for minis. It expands with water, which makes it cure, but it makes a big mess for miniatures!