DWilliams | 24 Aug 2016 12:42 p.m. PST |
Fragile parts like bayonets, flagpoles, and radio antennae can easily be broken off. You may have other equally fragile bits in mind as well. What do you do when this happens? (a) Leave it broken and just ignore it. (b) Repair the damage as best as possible. (c) Send the miniature back to the manufacturer for a replacement or refund. (d) Complain loudly about it to the TMP community. (e) _______________ (something else) |
Mako11 | 24 Aug 2016 12:47 p.m. PST |
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Winston Smith | 24 Aug 2016 12:51 p.m. PST |
(a). Nothing like trying to "repair" a butt metal to metal joint with superglue. There are few more useless things to do in this hobby. |
Col Durnford | 24 Aug 2016 12:56 p.m. PST |
B – I purchased some ACW figures with quite a few defects on bayonets. Just removed the bayonets from the figures. C – if new and I have the time. BTW – returns are a thing of the past. When there is a problem with a figure, I take a picture of it along side a good figure if possible. I then bring up the picture in "Paint" and circle the defect. I've done this at least a half dozen times in the last few years and it has been good enough for the vendor to send out a new figure without requesting the old one back. |
etotheipi | 24 Aug 2016 1:05 p.m. PST |
Actually, I have reasonable luck gluing butt ends together. Generally, I don't pick up a mini by the bayonet (antenna, sword blade, etc.) and swing it around from there, so things tend to hold. For a bit where I am concerned (spears, usually, as they are pointy and out there and get hit accidentally), I will drill a countersink and have a tong on the end of the bit I am adding back in. |
myxemail | 24 Aug 2016 1:57 p.m. PST |
My figures with bayonets are 15mm in size. I do not want to try to reattach the piece if it breaks off, as I feel it is too small and the attempt as a waste of time. I do trim the end of the musket to make it look like a musket without the bayonet attached. Mike |
Flashman14 | 24 Aug 2016 3:01 p.m. PST |
Yup, that's my E. too: carve off what remains and call it good. |
Condotta | 24 Aug 2016 3:03 p.m. PST |
(b) Some manufacturers seem to ignore the reality their figures will actually he gamed with. Their weapons, including bayonets, easily bend or snap off. Yikes! My Foundry Napoleonic figures by the Perrys have never lost a boyonet because they sculpted them to avoid this issue. Swords, too. See these Austrian Hussars – swords designed for gamers.
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JimDuncanUK | 24 Aug 2016 3:12 p.m. PST |
@Condotta Your pictures are very nice but they seem to be on their sides. |
Old Contemptibles | 24 Aug 2016 3:32 p.m. PST |
Do you mean one that was broken in shipment or do you mean after shipping. If it is already painted I would try to repair it. If I haven't painted it then it would depend on the figure and how many I have. |
Perris0707 | 24 Aug 2016 4:33 p.m. PST |
I cut the rifle/musket off near the hand. Then use a pin drill and insert a pin into another musket from an unpainted scrap figure. Tedious but it works. |
Weasel | 24 Aug 2016 5:29 p.m. PST |
I honestly just let it be. |
Pictors Studio | 24 Aug 2016 9:40 p.m. PST |
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Condotta | 24 Aug 2016 10:01 p.m. PST |
@ JimDuncanUK: Thanks, Jim, sorry they are on their side for you. In my view, the photo above is correctly formatted as a portrait. Unsure why it would appear otherwise, perhaps because I used my mobile camera. |
attilathepun47 | 24 Aug 2016 11:08 p.m. PST |
I have successfully repaired broken lead 15mm figures, but not by trying to glue back the broken off bits. Lead is too soft and is torn and warped in the process of breaking, which makes a decent fit for gluing butt joints pretty impossible. For broken off bayonets, I first trim off any remaining stub of the lead bayonet, then snip off a piece of straight pin of the appropriate length and tack it in place with super glue along side the musket or rifle barrel (keeping the overlap as small as possible). Then I reinforce the joint with some epoxy glue. I have also replaced broken off lances by inserting a length of brass rod of appropriate gauge into a small socket made into the lancers hand with a set of miniature drills, using epoxy glue for strength. I do this with a manually twisted drill, as power tools are too uncontrollable for such fine work. It takes a lot of patience holding the figure steady long enough for the glue to set. I have not yet tried the new plastic that hardens under ultraviolet light. That might work even better. Lastly, I managed to fix a couple of figures broken off at the ankles using a small solder gun. That is a really dicey proposition, as the lead figure melts at the same temperature as the solder. You have to get it right fast and the first time--but hey, the figures were already broken and unusable, so what really is to be lost trying. |
Jcfrog | 26 Aug 2016 7:03 a.m. PST |
If by chance only the bayonet itself went, then repaint/paint (if feeling so, add a bit in scabbard?) guy now has either lost or not put on this bayonet. If the mini is in say "march attack "position and the broken bit has a part that touches or can touch the hat, for ex, I can repair it, and it might stay! Also did cut the musket entirely and use arm in sling (a bit of paper or cement+ paint) for a wounded in the rear. Sometimes weapon off becomes an infantry aid to artillery crews (or battalion gunner). Recently one went to the lowly job of handling mules. |