A dodgy model

Hello Commorrites.

Lately I bought myself a haemonculus model, but then I found out it has something wrong with the base. If I was to put that base flat on the base, the actual guy would be greatly tilted to the left, and slightly backwards.

Considering the model is already out of the package, cut from the matrices, sprayed and with the model lines trimmed, what would be a good way to set it straight?

Very careful application of a hair dryer will get it plyable to straighten it.

I say careful i mean VERY CAREFUL as resin is very reactive to heat

If it's painted with primer I would suggest gluing it. Resin is flexible, paint not.

You can do that in two ways.

1. Use thick glue, epoxy resin works great and also can be used as putty when it harden a little (it's hard to tell when that would happen so You must poke it to check if it sticks) so You can sculpt gape. I would suggest mixing resin with sand,You would get concrete-like sticky mass that is great for that.
   
   
2. Use putty (any, even cheap plumber putty) and superglue. Mix putty and make "pancake" from it then glue it under model. Then glue it on base, pose, let it dry (You may need to hold it in place somehow). To be fair You can replace putty with something else, like piece of resin but You still need to fill hole, so... just use putty.

as an alternative to the hair dryer method (in case you, like me don't have enough hair to merit owning one! ) - hot water

Boil the kettle,
leave it to stand for a few minutes
pour water into bowl
add model, holding by some tweezers, so as not to hurt your fingers
remove model and gently bend to shape

Mine was the leaning too until I did this.

SirTainly wrote:

as an alternative to the hair dryer method (in case you, like me don't have enough hair to merit owning one! ) - hot water

Boil the kettle,
leave it to stand for a few minutes
pour water into bowl
add model, holding by some tweezers, so as not to hurt your fingers
remove model and gently bend to shape

Mine was the leaning too until I did this.

I used a little bit cooler water than this to de the same mod to the same model. I guess Haemi's have a 'gansta lean'

Im pretty much living in constant fear of opening a finecast box that I can't examine before purchase. So far I have had two boxes of shockingly cast wracks, one with an entire left hand side more or less missing and a few 'special characters' with wonky straight bits. If I use heat or water to straighten finecast, will it eventually return to its bent shape?

Mine has been fine. Of course, I haven't taken a blow dryer or held it under hot water... I had the same problem with my first two boxes of Wracks and some of my Grotesques. I bought 5 Wracks on Ebay and pretty much held my breath until they got here. Everything was fine. It's really hit and miss, though the quality seems to be improving.

I hit my lhamaean with a hair dryer to fix her sword and its been fine since. We had 3 days of 45 degrees C last week and the few finecast i have are all ok

So then the options are:

1. Blow dryer (I have long hair )
2. Not boiling, but rather hot water
3. Lots of glue and putty to straighten it
4. Deal

I think I'll try 2, because it's the easiest and it has worked to a number of people. It will stay that way even after it cools, right?

Yes.

I'm probably a bit late to weigh in with a reply because you did get the best answer yesterday (2) but I'm feeling I've been pretty negligent as far as contributing members here go so maybe I could elaborate on the why in case somebody else has the same problem in the future.

Finecast becomes malleable more readily than true resin parts. You really don't need to apply much heat in order to make a narrow part flex. Because of this I'd suggest avoiding the use of the dryer or boiling water. Either of these methods are too much of a good thing;

Too little heat means you just need to immerse the part again until it is workable

Too much means you could be dealing with a part that has the consistency of wet pasta

Hot water drawn from a tap should do the job nicely. Fixing things fast is nice but avoid the temptation of jamming the model or part directly under the faucet. If the part softens under the weight of running water will probably start bending in that direction.

Fill a cup/container under the tap and immerse the part you want to bend/straighten in the standing water. If possible localize the heat to the area you actually want to move (dip the sword/arm/whatever). Count off ten/twenty or so, bring the part out and test if it's pliable. If it is realign it. If not dip it again.

Once you have the piece where you want it dip it in a cold water bath to set it. Jobs a good un.

As a variation consider a warped halberd like the one the syren model has. Immerse the weapon past the bend until workable. Quench the soft pole (the end you dipped in first) in the cold water to set it then apply traction to the bend from both solid ends. A gentle pressure should pull it straight just don't reef on it. This solution can be less frustrating than "chasing the bend" and introducing new twists to a part that is already pissing you off.

Well, I haven't gotten around to doing it yet, so this advice will certainly help.

Another option if you simply can't get the model to look right, call up GW and exmplain the situation. GW's customer support is quite good and will usually just ship you out a new model.

Me personally,

I take a coffee cup of water and heat it in the microwave for about 45 seconds to a minute. its pretty warm then, but not boiling.

I dip the bent part in for about 15 -20 seconds, then remove and check if it is malleable enough to be repositioned. If not, repeat with dunking.

Once it is in position, you will need to hold it and blow on it till it cools enough to maintain its shape.

One more thing I do for my Haemiis, is I run a pin up through the thin section into the body. This adds strength and rigidity to the model. One problem with fine cast is then tend to soften a bit with heat, and I don't want my figures "laying down on the job". Its a concern here in Texas where it can get quite hot.

Only real thing is to just be careful on the drilling. its just takes a little bit of attention but if you miss and come out on the side by accident, it not a big deal with a little paint, no one will ever know.

For the record, I have 3 haemii, one I misaligned the drill and came out on the side by one of the feet, the other was spot on. Unless you know its there, it looks like part of the model.

thank's again for the contribution