"Beware (too) multi-part figures..." Topic

I bought a set of 30 pre-owned, OOP, GW Zombies, around 25 years ago. They were hard plastic, with different arms, heads, and such, to glue onto the bodies, to make them fairly custom in their final form. Sounds great, doesn't it? Each one, out of 30 figures, can be posed differently, such that no two figures will be alike -- similar, maybe, but not the same pose, after pose, after pose…

The arms (round head for the upper Humerus Bone) glued into the shoulder's slightly concave socket. Model glue dissolved the surface plastic, which should have created a solid fusion of the plastic bits… It did not -- they broke off, easily, in spite of careful application of the proper glue type.

This was my second such set of multi-part figures. I bought some detailed, Roman Soldier skeletons in the late 90's: separate feet (legs needed to be glued to the ankles atop the feet!); leg assemblies (thankfully!) attached to the torso; arms glued at the shoulders; separate hands holding weapons (yes, you had to glue the hands to the arms, at the wrist): and heads glued to the torso's neck (these were actually strong enough not to break, easily). They were so fiddly, so delicate, that I finally threw them into the trash, as they were only suitable for displaying, without touching them, or they would break off into multiple pieces. Seriously? Gluing the entire, assembled body, onto the feet, at a thin, small, ankle joint?… Being skeletons, they did not have much surface area at the glue points, so structurally, they were quite weak, in multiple places. I believe these Roman Skeletons went OOP within a year of release, due to how delicate they were, once assembled.

These GW Zombies appear to be really nice figures. They sat in my painting queue for around 25 years. I finally began working on them, a few months ago. I did some experimenting on them, using new painting techniques (applying a green ink wash, as well as paint), to see if inks could be substituted for paint, over gray primer -- mixed results), but they were good enough for ripened, decaying Zombies, at arm's length, on the tabletop.

I was matte coating them, yesterday, and when I moved them around inside the painting box (contains the sprayed paint, forming a cloud, which provides more even coating, while containing the over-spray quite well), I managed to snap off several of their glued arms, breaking off at the shoulders… Deja' vu!

Granted, these GW Zombies date from the late 90's to the early 2000's. Things have improved, a great deal, since then, for multi-part miniatures.

For example, I have purchased several sets of North Star's hard plastic Gnoll figures, which must also be assembled: poseable arms (plenty of surface area at the shoulder joint, to create a strong bond); multiple weapon options; and, multiple heads which can be posed at different angles and facings (this was quite fun to cock some heads at an angle, and turned, slightly, creating a comical caricature of a Gnoll -- great body language!). These Gnolls were marvelous to assemble, and they have withstood the rigors of tabletop use, without issue -- no breaking, after several games with various people handling them!

If you buy multi-part miniatures, stay away from figures with small, bony arms, legs, hands, feet; avoid figures with too many parts to assemble, as they likely won't survive more than very delicate handling… I would say this is primarily an issue with Skeleton and Zombie figures. Cheers!

Here's my horror story regarding Blood and Plunder plastic native Americans

TMP link

I avoid multi-part figures if at all possible. Most of the time, there doesn't seem to be a reason why they were cast in pieces to begin with, the exception being figures with optional parts.

GW's plastics for years had a poor reputation for poorly fitting joints and seams, not to mention unnecessary multiple parts to begin with. (Though the problem isn't exclusive to GW.) And while I understand that filling seams and pinning parts has been a thing in the hobby for decades, why should one have to do it when a simplified one-part design could correct the problem in the first place? It's just annoying.

But I'm coming from the "I just want to game with ‘em" side of the spectrum. Others enjoy model-building and like fitting all the components together or customizing the piece. I just want to get them on the table with as little fuss as possible. Different strokes…

I avoid most kits altogether. Other than a few fantasy/sci-fi type pieces, I draw the limit at a head and a backpack. If I wanted to build models. I'd build models. I understand the appeal to some, but it is not for me.

nnascati, thanks for sharing. I think your mini's are on par with those Roman Skeletons I bought 25+ years ago… I think they were 1/72 scale. No, thank you! Cheers!

I have assembled many skeletons, GW & others without problems. I for one like plastic multipart figures. Having said that nnascati I can understand that having too many pieces is a pain in the butt. Zvesda skelies are like that but they go together well & are undead Romans. Haven't done many but they seem sturdy.
Paul

I have to confess that I am the source of a "too many parts" set. When we had the opportunity to convert our resin The Elder Scrolls: Call To Arms starter packs to plastic, we went through the process of re-tooling them. The limitations of making minis for soft silicone for resin and converting it cold, hard steel for HIPS quickly became apparent. Every undercut and indentation had to be removed or drafted back. The resin figures that were in two or three parts became 15 part nightmares. Even then, we had to eliminate tons of detail like rivets and fur that would have trapped a HIPS model in the tool.

Now, when we tool for plastic, we plan for it from the start, rather than conversting our resin minis.

Think the skeletal romans were zvezda ? Got a box and only assembled one (standing in a small plastic dome, now). Nice figures but a pita to assemble :/

I for years avoided multipart figures, but some of my buddies recommended Victrix imperial Romans, and I'm a firm convert -- easy to assemble, relatively inexpensive and they paint up beautifully. Of course, not every multipart kit is as good, but some, at least, are a welcome addition to the hobby.

Yes, they were Zvezda Roman Skellies. I could not remember what brand they were, until ZULUPAUL and Wolfshanza mentioned them. They were super detailed, and once assembled, they looked amazing…

They were challenging to assemble, and I found them to be very, very delicate, easily broken. They did not make it through my paint queue without breaking, repeatedly. I finally gave up and pitched the lot into my trash bin.

Like I said, the North Star multi-part Gnolls were superb to assemble, superb to paint, and they have withstood more than one outing on the tabletop.

It really depends upon the figure set. I think most sculptors have learned how to make them with strong enough joins, when glued, but some are just too small of an area. Gaming with them means handling them, and they need to withstand being picked up, dropped a foot or two onto the tabletop (floor drops are right out, for any figures!). Cheers!

what is even worse is when people sculpting 3d miniatures want to give you STL where they are in parts to glue on! whats the point of that? just pose them with the parts attached so people can print them that way, much easier then trying to glue 3d parts!