|
Post by Gildor on Aug 23, 2007 9:56:54 GMT
Hi evereybody, I am here to ask advice on the assembling of the MB345 "vengence of Smaug" boxed set.
I have had this figurine for years.... and for years I have been obliged to repair it... Finally I decided to buy another one as the old one was completly "out of order"
the fact is, the figurine can be glued perfectly and no parts drop or break but the corpse being bent forward on a quite tiny tail support on the base, and with the weight of the wings... years after years Smaug has bent over and over and down and down until he falls... head first forward... and break its nek and torn its wings by falling... I repaired, tried to bent it back... and months later, the same... bending, and falling forward...
There is no way to prevent that , the wings are so heavy that he would keep falling because the fixation on the base is too thin, Is there a way to prevent that so that the problem does not repeat with the new one I bought and not yet assembled? any technique would be appreciated (not requiring to maintain the wings hung by a support from above to remove weight pression)
|
|
|
Post by ddaines on Aug 23, 2007 11:25:08 GMT
Hi Gildor,
That age-old problem of (metal ;D) droop! I don’t have the actual figure, but looking at the photographs I could offer a couple of suggestions that I might use, but it may depend on how you want to display Smaug.
The weak point certainly looks to be the tail/base join although from the photo it does appear to be designed to ‘balance’, i.e. the backward curve then gets countered by the forward curve of his body, but I can imagine those wings do make it very heavy.
I would first concentrate on strengthening the tail to base join – I can’t see from the photo properly but is there a stalagmite that touches the tail? You could perhaps strengthen that join by inserting a pin in from the side, or alternatively and it would mean slightly altering the ‘pureness’ of the design, you could scratch-build another stalagmite (around another metal pin) so that it supports the tail a bit further up.
I would ensure that a sturdy pin (metal rod, i.e. wire coat-hanger) is used between the body and tail join – if you drill the holes deep enough and use a long enough pin it would hopefully add strength to that area (sorry I don’t know what the kit looks like unassembled – I assume tail and body are separate). This may help prevent the droop by using the strength of the metal pin to hold it in place.
I think my favourite choice however may be to create a blast of flame from the dragon’s mouth that hides a long piece of wire that would reach either the base or display surface and would support the weight of the metal on that. Flame could be made from cotton wool or expanding foam that you can buy from DIY stores (it is messy stuff), and painted appropriately.
That option though may go too far from the ‘pureness’ of the design if you prefer to display miniatures straight out of the box.
Anyhow, just a couple of ideas that may help. It is a common problem with White-metal figures unfortunately.
|
|
|
Post by Theobald on Aug 23, 2007 15:51:02 GMT
Hi Gildor, I faced the same problem with that figure years ago. I fixed and painted that Smaug a very long time ago. I think because of the sunshine he had to suffer for some years he started bending as you described. - ddaines is right saying that the important points are those three of the tail where it first touches the ground, then the two (!) parts where it meets those "stalagmites". The tip of the tail is very important to fix the figure!!! Refixing the figure I used a very strong (colourless) very liquid glue and tried to keep the dragon in position. After some days I tested the balance over and over again; bending the tail with both hands to find that balance. Kind of trial and error. Each time I used that glue again. Unfortunately this caused some trouble because the paint broke off in some small parts. This was quite easily repainted, of course. As I keep some of my Mithrils in a glass cabinet I chose a position for that Smaug in which it touches with the tip of its right wing the glass - you don't see at all that the figure touches the glass. This way Smaug still is standing in that positon (not any more afflicted by direct sunlight and heat) without causing any more trouble for years now. Of course it is necessary to be absolutely careful in fixing all major parts of the body. It is very useful to have some spare of that "metal glue" Mithril included in the M62 Smaug box to fill in between those parts that are not exactly fitting. (By the way I don't know why they don't offer that as a help for us collectors to be bought at the Mithril shop ... I once asked for this ... but no reply) Well, that's all I know about this problem. By the way you will also have similar problems in case you cut off certain parts connecting the base and legs of some horses ... Anyway, good luck with your second attempt, Gildor
|
|
|
Post by Gildor on Aug 23, 2007 17:52:04 GMT
the metal glue you are talking about is "Miliput"... It still exists but hard to find (exists in several colors, including metallic color) . In craftsmanship, they also use nowadays this king of two component mixing paste. when combined it becomes active you then can model it the way you want for several minutes before it hardens and becomes as hard as stone and resists a lot of pressure. I used that to fix my Smaug in the end actually but that requires a lot of it and put in strategic places, around the stalagmite before painting is a good idea....
With this method I have had no more problems of parts breaking, it is virtually unbreakable event if it falls on the ground... still... it is bending ,but never breaking...over time... lol Rather a balance problem on the fixing position of this tail and cancel the beinding of the tail/torso part.. the only way I think about is creating a big hard metal spine ( hard metal little clove or something like that), inside the torso/tail before gluing them, so that from inside, it can't bend since it has a rigid unbendable spine...
what do you think of this idea?
|
|
|
Post by ddaines on Aug 23, 2007 19:22:07 GMT
You may find the doing is harder than the saying Gildor - presumably you would try and carve a channel in the metal to insert the spine, then you have to patch it up and match the scales/texture etc. and I don't think that would be easy even though it sounds simple enough. You could consider this idea though which I've just thought about based on your possible solution, and that would be to cut the tail into two of three segments (lengths that you could comfortably drill a hole into), drill a hole through the middle (the tip of the tail may still be a stumbling point however) and use the stiff metal rod to act as an internal support. You wouldn't need to drill too deep into the body, 1 - 1 1/2 inches maybe as the rod should be strong enough to hold it. With hindsight it would have perhaps been an idea to have cast the tail with a metal rod already inserted - I know some of the 54 - 90mm producers of white metal military figures used to do this with their horses, but then it would still need a length of rod sticking out to fit the body onto which I think wouldn't be too easy in the casting process. Has Wendy not done something with her Smaug? I'm sure a while back she had an idea for a diorama over Laketown, perhaps she had similar problems.
|
|
|
Post by Gildor on Aug 24, 2007 7:24:30 GMT
well i was only thinking of carving a channel in the tail and in the body, from the point where they are to be assembled, then I insert the rod in this channel at the same time I glue the body and tail together, not damaging the surface of neither tail or body.
|
|