Monday, April 10, 2017

Artillery helping hand with blue tack

 I had a little bit of an epiphany late last night while I was trying to glue the wheels onto two pieces of artillery.  I don't know if anyone else has this issue but I have found that trying to put the wheels onto a 10mm piece of artillery can be a pain in the ass at times.  The below models are from Pendraken who makes great stuff but sometimes the axel for the wheel isn't well casted and makes it a chore to get the wheel to stayed glued there.
In past I've used my Insta-Cure glue, which is a cyanoacrylate brand, and held the pieces together until it set. Which could take 10 to 15 minutes. Usually it would take several tries, as I would slip or sneeze and it would come apart. Once I tried to drill out the axel and insert a small piece of metal to adhere to but found I couldn't hold the drill steady enough to drill straight. I also lacked a press and vice to hold anything.
So last night while trying to put the below models together it clicked that I should try blue tack to hold the wheels close enough together so the glue could set.
Well it worked! I fumbled a little getting the gun carriage into place the first time but then it fell into place.  The pictures below tell the story.




If you have any other suggestions I would love to hear about them.

6 comments:

  1. Hi Victor
    Nice Tip

    Take care

    Andy

    http://www.10mm-wargaming.com/

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  2. Haha, don't I know that problem! Another I have (do I buy the wrong models?) is that the axle is significantly smaller than the hole in the wheel, which makes any bond a bit chancy.

    I solve that by mixing a little green stuff, and using that to fill excess gaps and fix the bits in place. As it starts to harden I spot a little liquid superglue on, which will seep into any crevices and hardens the bond. Over time the green stuff will also grow pretty hard, but it usually retains just enough elasticity to stop the bond becoming too brittle. If you've been a bit generous with the green stuff you can alway go back and pare it back with a sharp knife.

    I actually use a similar technique when attaching weapons to figures, but in reverse. I prepare the area (usually a handless stump), glue the weapon/lance in place and quickly slap some green stuff over the join while the superglue is still wet, doing a quick-and-dirty job to mould it into position. Once everything is nice and solid, I go back and cut/file the green stuff hand into shape (more or less - we're talking 15mm here!!).

    So far the combination of green stuff and superglue has proved pretty resilient, but nothing is truly foolproof when you drop models from a height of 4 feet onto a hard surface.
    *winces at the memory*

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    Replies
    1. I will have to try the green stuff. Sounds like a good idea as well.

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  3. Even with 28mm guns etc I often have trouble getting the wheels to adhere, and also to stay straight/perpendicular to the axle, so I agree, this is a small bit of genius, Victor!

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