Ashokmarine | 20 Dec 2015 8:48 a.m. PST |
Do you just throw it away or do something useful with it? I was thinking of making some casualties using instamold..? Ashok |
Extra Crispy | 20 Dec 2015 9:02 a.m. PST |
I don't think I've ever had anything so broken it couldn't be salvaged. How "broken" are you talking? |
Ashokmarine | 20 Dec 2015 9:04 a.m. PST |
Well I mean broken tails on horses or something similar. Things that are difficult to repair. |
Rrobbyrobot | 20 Dec 2015 9:04 a.m. PST |
I often use lead sprue to add weight to plastic items. Otherwise I do throw mine out. Want me to set mine aside for you? |
Winston Smith | 20 Dec 2015 9:08 a.m. PST |
If you are a cheap stubborn old coot like me, you figure out ways to fix them. Horses' tails? File a notch in the butt. Drill it out, shave the tail to just fit, jam it in with lots of superglue. Then mount him as the middle figure on a 3 horse base. If they are too far gone I try to sell them to a sucker like epturner. After all he bought my Redoubt AWI figures, so he'll fall for anything. |
Timmo uk | 20 Dec 2015 9:26 a.m. PST |
I've repaired stuff. Drilling, pinning and gluing or soldering. If it's painted and broken then making the figure into a casualty is a good idea. |
dampfpanzerwagon | 20 Dec 2015 9:33 a.m. PST |
I've used broken lead to weight down model railway carriages. Tony |
Wretched Peasant Scum | 20 Dec 2015 9:48 a.m. PST |
If a fig broke at the ankles; put the ankle part if front of an enemy army's cannon. The other part gets modeled as a soldier standing in a puddle or tall grass. |
zippyfusenet | 20 Dec 2015 10:16 a.m. PST |
There's not much I can't repair. Modeling is a craft, and repairs are just a regular part of playing with models. You need a pin-vice and some small drill bits, some wire stock (straight pins and brass wire are both good), a snipper to cut the wire and 5 minute epoxy. I can drill out and pin the ankles of a 15mm figure or the tail of a horse, no problem. If a piece is missing, I can sculpt a replacement from hobby putty and/or lead or plastic sprue. I can texture the surface with a graving tool. Lookit me go! Of course I'd save a lot of labor by throwing out the broken figure and painting up a new one. But the point of pursuing a craft hobby is that I *enjoy* the labor. It puts me in the zone. Now, I have crafted casualties out of suitable redundant figures, broken or not, and I have some more on the agenda. Lookit me go! |
Cardinal Ximenez | 20 Dec 2015 10:26 a.m. PST |
I glue them into my plastic tanks to give them some weight. DM |
Bashytubits | 20 Dec 2015 10:38 a.m. PST |
I throw them in the lead smelter and make more figures. |
Coyotepunc and Hatshepsuut | 20 Dec 2015 10:51 a.m. PST |
I throw them into the local drinking water reservoir and wait for mass insanity to ensue. |
Zargon | 20 Dec 2015 10:52 a.m. PST |
My motto same as the Marines "No man gets left behind" :) I'm the drill, pin and green stuff master and any toy soldier cut down doing his duty is sent to the toy hospital and gets the full VATSS (Veterans Association of Toy Soldiers Society) looking after:) Cheers and long may they serve. |
tigrifsgt | 20 Dec 2015 11:18 a.m. PST |
I melt them down for round balls for my '51 Navy. |
CeruLucifus | 20 Dec 2015 11:53 a.m. PST |
I save for weight or rubble filler. For broken horse tails, I make a replacement with fine strands of wire and/or green stuff. |
14Bore | 20 Dec 2015 1:36 p.m. PST |
I have to say working with 15 -18 mms Naps with close to 5000 figures from many makers I have only received maybe 1 man disfigured and 1 horse missing a leg. Mostly after breakage is a stand which I glue back on without and bayonets which if he lost it he doesn't get another issued. |
Editor in Chief Bill | 20 Dec 2015 2:29 p.m. PST |
Depends how critical a role the figure was intended to play. |
goragrad | 20 Dec 2015 4:21 p.m. PST |
Repair – pin if necessary and JB Weld. Have a couple of horses and a Norman standard that may become casualties – wrong temp on the oven when setting primer. A number of figs melted off their bases. Some I repaired (a short length of wire for a core and then epoxy to rebuild a leg), but some 'slumped' a bit and ended up somewhat flattened on one side. Now I have collected a pound or so of sprue and flashing trims that I am considering using at some point to cast a few figs. That and a couple hundred pounds of tire weights that will be used for bullets and some old style 'lead soldiers.' My brother got his son an old style casting set. P.S. Not a concern of mine, but I imagine a number of jurisdictions have prohibitions on disposing of lead (and possibly tin) in land fills.
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HMS Exeter | 20 Dec 2015 4:46 p.m. PST |
Depends on what got broke and how. If it is something that won't get noticed on a battlefield, eg a horse tail at 15mm I may just let it go. If it is noticeable, eg a 25mm fig on a stand broken at the ankles, I'll find a way to reattach him. I had a cav fig that was broken at all 4 fetlocks, but it was a rare figure, so I drilled up through the stand and into the body and remounted the fig on a brass rod, then tap glued the legs. There is a profound moment that comes after your first beautifully painted figure gets broken. It's called the first time you fix a beautifully painted figure. It's quite empowering. |
Wolfshanza | 20 Dec 2015 11:34 p.m. PST |
I occasionally cast so reuse the metal. I do like Punrabbits idear, however. |
Martin Rapier | 21 Dec 2015 2:53 a.m. PST |
I will fix it if possible – amazing what you can do with a pair of pliers and some pins. If it is a complete writeoff, bin it. |
Ashokmarine | 21 Dec 2015 5:40 a.m. PST |
Good ideas thanks. And punk rabbit thanks for the laugh! |
Ottoathome | 21 Dec 2015 6:44 a.m. PST |
No one gets mustered out. Broken figures, including seriously broken get repaired with solder and glue. Horses for example are repaired by drilling through the base along the back underside of the leg into the body and a hard wire .502 diameter strut soldered and glued in. Then the legs are re-soldered once the glue on the strut is dry. Save with arms and legs from the riders or foot figures, holes for a reincorcing mandrel are made in each part, then glued into place and puttied out. I work in 28mm-30 mm. Others that are beyond home are used to make seated figures on wagons or around tables, and ones that are completely gone wind up a solder to patch others. |