Basing my figures.. no idea what/how to do it

[luisito8m]

I would like to start basing my figures, but I am wondering which kind of glue to use.

The figures are plastic, from a normal sprue and the bases are round and made of wood. I was thinking PVA glue but not sure if that will hold the pieces since it may become brittle.

Do you guys think that super glue would do the trick?

Also, should I base the figures after or before the base is completely done? Meaning, should I add the grass, dirt, sand, rocks, etc or wait until the figures are in place?

Thanks!

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

I usually drill a hole in one foot, usually the heel, CA in a piece of steel or brass rod. Drill a corresponding hole in the wood and CA it there. For the wood you might want to use a thicker CA as the thin stuff tends to get soaked up into the wood.

 

[luisito8m]

I usually drill a hole in one foot, usually the heel, CA in a piece of steel or brass rod. Drill a corresponding hole in the wood and CA it there. For the wood you might want to use a thicker CA as the thin stuff tends to get soaked up into the wood.

Wisdom..

What about non-straight feet. The figures that I am doing are like "running", and all the feet are at an angle. One of the 4 figures is literally touching the ground with the front tip of one foot and the tip of the heel for the other leg.

Do you think this might work? Would suck if the rod ends up showing.

Please take a look, if you don't mind. http://www.scalemodeladdict.com/index.php/topic,9525.0.html

Thanks ECH!

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

You are doing those older Tamiya figures justice!

I assume they will be running over some sort of terrain and not just a plain wooden base?

Too easy to work some dirt/grass under the foot to hide any posts in the feet.

Although...the hot glue might work also, only thing is, if the hot glue peels up, it is probably going to take a chunk of terrain with it.

That is what I love about armor. Mess something up, cover it with a pack, box, or mud, and no one knows the difference! LOL

 

[luisito8m]

You are doing those older Tamiya figures justice!

I assume they will be running over some sort of terrain and not just a plain wooden base?

Too easy to work some dirt/grass under the foot to hide any posts in the feet.

Although...the hot glue might work also, only thing is, if the hot glue peels up, it is probably going to take a chunk of terrain with it.

That is what I love about armor. Mess something up, cover it with a pack, box, or mud, and no one knows the difference! LOL

Thanks for the kind complement.

Yea, I am going to put terrain under them, still don't know exactly what, but I bought some Army Painter supplies.

So far I am having a bad experience with the hot glue, the figures keep coming off and have to re-glue them so I can work on them again. The bad, is that the primer from the boots keeps peeling of when the hot glue peels off. I have re-primed them and now looking for a permanent solution for my basing.

Haha! Yea, I am new to this, so those are the little things that would be hard for me to figure out.

 

[Quaralane]

Using pins in the feet is still likely the best idea.
And you can angle the pins in for the ones that are touching the ground with just a toe

 

[luisito8m]

Using pins in the feet is still likely the best idea.
And you can angle the pins in for the ones that are touching the ground with just a toe

Yeah, I just came back from Home Depot. I was looking for some wire but sadly didn't have the appropriate gauges, I guess I will use clips.

 

[Quaralane]

Paper clips can work in a pinch

 

[Rraven]

There is also the family of high viscosity adhesives that are offered through the product name of Goop. Available at most home improvement centers, be warned it stinks very high VOC's so use plenty of air but this stuff bonds anything to anything really. It's water clear and in thin layers drys very fast.

 

[luisito8m]

Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to go the paper clip way.

 

[urumomo]

Yeah man ,
The best thing to do is insert a pin of some-sort into the bottom of the foot or the underside of whatever you're painting . ( paper-clip wire -- toothpick etc )
Drill a hole a with a pin vise and then you can grab the wire or whatever with a clothes-pin or stick it into a piece of rigid foam ....

 

[luisito8m]

Yeah man ,
The best thing to do is insert a pin of some-sort into the bottom of the foot or the underside of whatever you're painting . ( paper-clip wire -- toothpick etc )
Drill a hole a with a pin vise and then you can grab the wire or whatever with a clothes-pin or stick it into a piece of rigid foam ....

Definitely. I even thought of using the toothpick as you suggested, but it may break much easier than the paper clip and since it is wood, it can rotten if it absolves too much humidity. I went with the safe option of the paper clip.