Wargaming Tradecraft: May 2014




Donate

Filling Gaps in Bases



One of the steps to assembling your miniatures is to fill the gap usually left in bases after gluing the mini to it. We do this so that you're not trying to awkwardly glue stuff across a hole in your base and provide a surface to glue things like flock to.

There's a few ways to do this.

I've talked about using modelling putty to fill gaps before and this tends to be my preferred method, even for larger base gaps. Aside from Testors putty, I've even used autobody (car) filler. Fumes are stronger though, so I'd suggest sticking with hobby level stuff.

First off, I want to make sure I've completely filled that hole, so I run the putty along the hole, filling it to excess. (You can see all the extra putty sticking out of the hole.

Then you wait. Don't try to scrape or level the putty while it's drying.

Once the putty is hard, cut or scrape with a knife or file the excess putty. Make sure the bottom is smoothed, so the base sits on the table without wobbling. For the top, your first thought might be to leave it rough, because, y'know - terrain is rough. You're half right; What you don't want is a rough line down the middle of your base.


Another option for filling the holes in bases is to smear a bunch of green stuff over them. If you're working with a lot of it, this can be just the extra stuff that would otherwise dry out.

This CAN be done roughly and gives a nice rough terrain sort of feel to the base.


[UPDATE] Getting some great suggestions in the comments, so scroll down and take a look...


Super Glue Remover


I recently looked at using Super Glue Accelerator to speed up the drying time of super glue. But what if you want to reverse the process? There are nasty chemicals you can soak models in to dissolve super glue... there are also nasty chemicals you can buy specifically designed for the job.

That is the thing to be aware of with this kind of stuff - super glue is really strong, so anything designed to remove it is also going to be a strong chemical. Even something like the "UN-CURE" pictured is a harmful chemical. FYI, manufacturers have to provide what's called an MSDS document which details how dangerous their chemicals are and how to clean them. I always recommend keeping a strong cleaner available for just this reason.