Separating pieces without total destruction

Prior to this edition I never bothered with Sybarites or Dracons, but now this edition our sarges are automatically added, I need to get some of the models' arms and 1 flag off the models so I can add PGL and Agonisers to a few of them. I have no idea how to remove arms without clipping them off leaving the space not flush like it would be first time off sprue. I have even less idea of removing the blasted flag from my only currently modelled Sybarites.

I need some help, also the heads being removed would be handy as well, since I want to paint as very little skin as possible, I was going to place all extra helmets in place of heads

Edit: Has anyone made a female Archon and if so how? I need to do one, but green stuff and I don't mix

I don't know what you have for clippers but if you can clip the arm as close to the torso as posible then get a file (even a cheap fingernail file works) with a little patience you can get it pretty smooth and flush.

As for the female archon. .. look a some of the gw dark elf range most of our arms and bits fit ight on them with minimal gaps and they have lots of female armoured figures.

Hope that helps

I suppose some of this answer also depends on how they were glued. Super glue just means a bit of patience and maybe a razor and you ought to be able to pop them off clean. Plastic glue makes them combined pieces so a snip or saw is literally your only option.

As to a female Archon - I tend to think they're very easy to kitbash.
Here's a glimpse of one I did back when i made a female Duke Sliscus model, but it's legs off a Raider kit, a female armored torso, a Hexatrix head, a blast pistol, a venom blade, and an old 3e slave model and some basing bits collected from my front yard.

Giving a figure some height and scenic basing can really make them pop;



As another idea, here's my jetbike Archon from back in the day;



That one was made with a few Eldar bits, a Wood Elf head, and a Chaos Marauder cape (I find the cape tends to be a nice 'this is a special character' bit with very little modeling work needed).

If you'd like to get a model without kitbashing I would strongly encourage you to check out Raging Heroes. I have a number of their pieces and they are wonderful;

If you used super glue you can simply throw them in the freezer for an hour or so. Arms/weapons pop loose pretty easily once the glue is brittle and cold.

If you used plastic glue....

Awesome, thanks for the replies. I'll try some of the suggestions today.

If you don't care much about the paint, you can also let you miniatures sit in a house cleaing product with amoniac (I really recommand using glanzer, the bright green version).

It's mainly used in miniatures to remove old thick layers of paint, but with enough time you can also deglue parts (I lreaned it the hard way haha).

Avoid with finecast, it can damage the miniature.
But with plastic, let it sit a couple of hours, it should do the trick (let it sit all night if it really doesn't want to dissolve).


The longer but safier way is a scalpel (I'd recommend a new blade), and maybe some help with hand drill (usually used for pinning), it can helps, and do < 1mm damage, but can do the trick for heavy glued parts. Cut from different angles to fragilise the joints.

And if you go full scalpel, remember to make some pauses, avoid working more than 10-15mn straight. Avoid tendinitis