"Help with Flag Bearer with Separate Arms" Topic

So far, the Perry plastics construction has been pretty straightforward, but now I've gotten to the command sprue and I have a flag pole with a hand and a hand/arm molded on to it. To glue this, I'll have to juggle the flag pole, the arm and the figure body all at the same time. Watching me try to "dry fit" this is pretty funny. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

Glue the arm on first. While the glue is still wet put the glue on the flag pole, press that in place, then make adjustments. With plastics it is pretty easy.

Thanks, Pictors!

Consider replacing the plastic flag pole with wire. The plastic pole is fragile.

Wrap a bead of poster putty around the flagpole base (like it's going through the hole in a doughnut). Touch it to the base and press the poster putty down to hold the flagpole in place while you attach the arm. When the arm is dry, remove the poster putty and paint solvent cement where the flagpole touches the figure base.

If the arm has cured but accidentally the flagpole doesn't touch the figure base, of course you can break the arm loose and try again. But if you don't want to do that, sculpt a blob of epoxy putty to look like a rock and press under the flagpole to sculpt to fit, let cure, then remove and re-attach with epoxy (best) or superglue.

And this part of the model will be under some stress from game play. I give them one try with the solvent cement. If the arm pops loose during play (or painting), I drill and pin and re-attach with epoxy (best) or superglue.

As far as replacing the pole with wire, personally I wait until they break then do that. But probably during the life of the model it will be necessary. The pole probably won't break during play but it may break during storage/transport.

You should try contact cement, very lightly. Put some on all the different pieces let them dry a little bit then stick them together carefully. Ditto to using a metal pole.

Thanks for all the great suggestions! As it turns out, the arm attached to the flagpole sits very well in the right shoulder, but the left arm is much too small for the space available, and there is a gap on that side to boot. Welcome to plastics, jeff?

I briefly toyed with the idea of not using the poorly-fitting arm, and simply leave the left hand on the flagpole with some blood on the exposed wrist, but I'll have to save that the for diorama, I guess.

Off to google gap filling on plastics…

I'd probably try to attach the left arm to the flag pole so that the gap, if it not too large, is between the upper arm and the left shoulder. Then, cut a small wedge from the sprue to fit in the gap and apply the plastic modelling glue. The plastic melted by the glue can then be used to fill and smooth the area between the arm and shoulder.