Got my ramos crew

[Dragthar]

Well as the title shows i just got my ramos crew and man I was so excited until i started to get the spiders off the tabs for puting them together. I think after all my friends hear talked to me about malifuax they could have warned a newbie like that IT IS HARD NOT TO DAMAGE THE SPIDER LEGS! I am so upset that my clippers couldnt get all of the leg off.

So i am asking any tips for the future that i can use to lower my anger level and also are there more pieces in this game that have the same problem?

thank you for letting me rant.

[hippieshopper]

I have not encountered too many things like that but I can list a few other problematic models...

Mortimer (Res) : His shovel attaches to his body in two separate places. This is tricky to glue.

Punk Zombies (Res): Their swords bend very easily.

Misaki (Out): It is a SEVERE pain in the ass to glue her glaive to the rest of her, and it is paper thin.

Jack Daw (Out): Even though he is one piece, the base of his model is very fragile. I had to use some extra wire and green stuff to make him stick and stay.

Nicodem (Res): His arm with the vulture on it is too close to his hat. This is harder to paint if you glue him before you paint.

[mythicFOX]

Sorry to hear you had trouble with the spiders. I snapped the odd leg myself making mine.

I'll add the Coryphee's arms. If like me you use resin bases on your minis you'll find a few of them that are a devil to pin into the base after taking off the tab.

What I will say is that they're still miles better than Freebooter and Avatars of War in terms of hard to put together.

Besides I'd rather have cool challenging models than easy dull ones.

[Ratty]

Sybelles (res) ridding crop is very thin I ended up adding some glue and touching it to the top of her head so it didn't break.

Belles (res) the one that is holding her umbrella over her shoulder. Stem of brolly is really thin, I ended up drilling it out and putting in a paper clip.

[Monkey]

First things first.. you need tools

Good pair of clippers that have a flat edge... (as much as i hate to say it GW are the best that i have found but they are pricy.)

http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat470006a&prodId=prod1095448

Razor saw helps cutting items from tabs that are too chunky for the clippers. (again a gw link as im on the site but there are loads of cheaper places to get the saw from.) http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat470006a&prodId=prod1095446

Files a set of files with differing profiles will help you get rid of mould lines as well as any rough sectiols left from sawing or clipping.

Drill and Pins

again a good set of drill and pins help fixing the finer sections together and will add strength to the joins.

I use ( another GW tool but cheeper are availble) http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?prodId=prod1095460

As for pins i like paper clips but you can use brass rod If you use brass rod dont use your miniture clippers or saw to cut it as its way to hard for that.

this guide should be able to help if you dont know how to pin [ame]

[/ame]

A sharp craft knife is a must. Make sure the knife is always razor sharp as the more pressure you need to make a cut, its deforms the cut and increases the risk of you slipping and hacking in to your fingers.

With my spiders I used a sharp knife to trim the main body from the tab. I then used clippers to get the other 2 legs off. The legs come with a small rod that is ment to help pin hte leg to the main body so dont clip that off.

I then used a file to remove the mould lines

I then use the pin vice to redrill out the chinmy on the spiders back

a quick dry fit to make sure the rods fit in the holes. dabe of glue and on to the next one.

If you ever get stuck and are not sure how to fit a miniture together Just stick up a post for help.

Edited November 11, 2010 by Monkey
sorting out my spelling... probbabaly missed loads still

[mythicFOX]

Good guide Monkey. I'd add a couple of thoughts;

Pay attention to the kind of glue you use for each job. I'm a big fan of the below super glue for joins on my minis.

http://www.loctiteproducts.com/p/4/3/sg_ug_cntrl/overview/Loctite-Super-Glue-ULTRA-Gel-Control.htm

It has rubber in the mix which makes it much more resistant to use when gaming. The fact it's a gel makes it easier to control, so you're only gluing the bits of the mini you want to. It's also widely available in the UK (Tesco and Asda stock it).

I also make a point of scoring both sides of the join with a craft knife before gluing. This gives the glue more to adhere to.

For pinning I tend to use a 1mm drill bit and 1mm jewellery wire. The fact the hole and the pin are exactly the same size means the join sits exactly and you don't get the model wobbling, even if the glue holding the bond gives up mid game.

On tricky joins I can't pin I often use a little green stuff to strengthen the join and make sure the parts fit together as perfectly as possible.