"Repairing broken mastheads" Topic

I have a few Langton ships with broken mastheads, either bent or completely snapped off along with their accompanying flag. Getting the offending part back on is a very fiddly and time-consuming process.Until now I've gone with the super glue approach. First straighten out the masthead and possibly just file the bottom flat if it has snapped off at an angle, and then attempt to glue back in place. This part usually takes many attempts and a lot of patience. Does anyone have any hints or tips on suitable other methods that might be more secure as a careless waft of the hand can immediately simply knock the masthead off again? I thought about using green stuff and making a sort of small bandage but that would make the mastheads look like tree trunks.

I'm not sure what diameter these Langton masts are but I have done some similar repairs by drilling up and down into the mast, inserting a piece if fine wire and re-gluing.

I have some very fine drill bits.

If they are really bad then replace the whole mast.

Probably painful to see/do.

I'd rather have full frontal lobotomy than replace the masts I think. I doubt my skills go that far anyway.These are all fully rigged though not by me since they are a purchase which arrived very badly packed and henceforth very badly damaged in the post. Think washing machine on full spin type scenario with bowsprits snapped off, masts bent backwards, some masts in an S shape, flags scattered to the four winds etc. I'm trying to resurrect what I can salvage from the wreckage but there are some that you would need infinite patience and a magic wand for I fear. I have a drill with very fine bits but I fear the masts at the top aren't thick enough to take any drilling, not in 1/1200 and the majority aren't what you'd call large vessels as it's Anglo Dutch.

That is a pity.

OOOHHHH man, I feel your pain!

maybe take a small but stiff wire, painted black, and glue it on the end of the broken mast but on the side, so like it sticks out halfway, and then glue the broken mast head on top of the mast and to the wire… hope that makes sense…

good luck!

I would use angle tweezers to set the mast with superglue, and spray it immediately with Zip Kicker. After it dries, apply/smear metal epoxy(JB Weld) around the break.

The wire solution will hold better and longer…

Totally different minis but, I used snips from paperclips to reinforce the engine struts on two old FASA Star Trek Enterprise minis way back in the mid-80's. They are still good to this day…

I've fixed several of my Napoleonic ships with the drill and pin method, but I know that the Anglo-Dutch ships are considerably smaller. Were they purchased from a site like eBay? Given what you've said, I'd look at getting a refund if that is the case.

Do you have any pictures you can post? Seeing how bad they are might let one of us suggest some other methods. Based on what you've said, replacement and rerigging may be the only solution for some of them.

Good, StarCruiser got what I meant and put it better! use the wire as a brace / reinforcement of the two broken mast pieces…

A little more detail – not sure if Imgur is going to cooperate but:

starcruiser.imgur.com/all

In both cases, material was removed from the struts to make room for the paperclip pieces. A hole was drilled into the engine nacelle and in the hull matching the location on the strut and the paperclip was super-glued in. I then filed where needed to reduce the bulk of the paperclip steel and super-glue the whole together and painted…

It's actually not as hard as it may seem but, I'm not how it will work with the Anglo-Dutch ship masts. Those are smaller.

It might be easier to carefully cut out the parts of the masthead that matters, cut a piece of rod the same length as the broken mast – drill and glue through.

Volleyfire – can you post any pictures of where the damage is?

At the moment I can't find a lead to connect my phone to the computer to download any pictures of the damage unfortunately.
I have managed to repair 16 of the first batch though by using tweezers and superglue and a lot of patience. They were mostly snapped bowsprits and a few masts that came adrift so nothing too serious. The remainder are a different story however.
Originally they looked like this.
auction
I received a partial refund from the seller of 50% as we agreed between ourselves, and I think they were already the bargain of the century anyway.
The second package was far better wrapped and apart from a few flags missing and two bent masts, easily repaired, there was nothing awry.
auction

Well – you can always build some of them as battle-damaged ships!

Since I would assume they weren't too expensive, that can be a plus…sorta…

There already were sunken ships included in the packages Ron, and although damaged ships are a nice idea I was hoping to eventually restore these to their original state as they are so very well done in the first place. It seems a shame to leave them in a state of damage or disrepair.

Then, take your time. Focus first on the minis that are in good condition and as you feel like it, tackle one broken mini, and then another.

That's generally the way I handle situations like that.

Looks like it was a large haul of ships anyway!

27 in the first box Ron, of which I've salvaged 8 of each side, and a further 12 of various sizes in the second box which are all now ok apart from a little window dressing and titivation.

Tidy little fleet!

Of course, you'll need a pile of them for the 4-days fight!