So, I lost the images for this when SolVII died ... with some recent interest, decided to reload the photos & repost. Hopefully someone will enjoy this!
Okay, there's been some interest on how to repose/mod plastic minis. So I decided to emulate IAMCLANWOLF, albeit with a far less ambitious project.
I'm going to be deploying a Cyclops 11B in my 4th Tau Ceti Rangers. The 11B drops speed by a quarter, to allow addition of lots more armour and a second Gauss Rifle. The 'Mech will be supporting a lance of Demolishers, so the speed drop isn't a problem here.
Now the Cyclops has suffered a bad rep, justifiably in most cases, for lack of armour, lack of ranged weapons, and generally not being an armoured brick mega-assault. I'm pleased to say that FCCW & later Cyclopses are horses of a decidedly different colour, but alas, the mini is also disappointing - a very bland, static pose.
Now the one on the left is an original lead mini, the one on the right is a first-attempt repose as a CP-11-C2 variant - Kuritan dual-C3M command 'Mech. This was the original intro box plastic mini, hence the lack of bulk & details. Today I'm going to repose one of the much superior nu-plastic Cyclopses, into something that is hopefully a little more dynamic.
Note - all below took place in about 30 minutes, stretched out over an hour and a half of working on other 4TCR minis. It's that simple, folks.
So first, what tools do you need to work on plastic minis?
Essentials:
* Hobby knife. I prefer the stiffer Stanley blade over craft or hobby knives; I can exert more pressure, and still control it better thanks to the larger handle and harder blade. YMMV; work with what you're comfortable with (this minimises blood sacrifices)
* Superglue. I prefer the gel, again YMMV
* Pin vise, with thin drillbit. Pinning plastic is terrifically easy, and gives more strength than glue alone. In practical terms, this means "won't fly apart when I drop it". Plastic parts don't impose the same weight issues as metal, too.
* Wire to pin with. I'm using old fuse wire here - I find it's sturdy enough, and bends and cuts easily. Paperclips are the other traditional source of pins. (Note: don't use real pins. They're hard steel, and are a bugger to cut.)
* Hobby clippers. Not really essential for plastic mods, but when you just want to hack stuff off (not slice it off for later use), they're a great time-saver. They're also needed to cut lengths of pinning material.
So let's go. I want my Cyclops in a running pose. With some minis - see the plastic Assassin - one or more legs are already bent. You can mod them simply by separating one of the legs and reposing at the hip, as I've shown before. But here we're going to cut deeper ..
A few minutes slice & dice. Arms off at the shoulders, right foot underneath, both legs at the knees, and then slice up at the hips. It wouldn't be a lot more work to slice at the base, either, for torso twists, but I didn't feel like that here. With the knife I use, I find steady pressure with a rocking motion works best; don't press too hard, otherwise the plastic may fracture in unexpected directions, and you'll probably make sacrifice to the Blood God of Stanley ...
Next step ... drill holes! Stick them in the centre of the surfaces to be joined. Typically drill 3-4mm (3/16"?) deep holes (careful not to go through thinner parts), so the wire will have somewhere to bed down. Where you want parts joining at an angle - like the knees - drill one side at the angle, and the other at right angles. See how the wires stick out of the lower legs?
(Also, a simple way to make sure both legs go on aligned is to drill all the way through the lower torso, and use one bit of wire.)
This is why. When you put the bits together, you get flex.
Now there are some options here. I could have sliced the bottom of the upper leg to meet the top of the lower leg flat & cleanly; I'll show an example of that later, but do be aware that you lose length in this process. I don't want my Cyclops any shorter than it already is, so I'm leaving it with a gap. Into which I then ...
press some modelling clay. I use this - never got to grips with two-part putties. Modelling clay dries without shrinking (except in the largest blobs), can be "sculpted" while wet, and paints well. OTOH, it's useless for structural strength, and if not supported tends to break off at the surface. With plastic minis, and inside a joint, neither is a problem. I then used my knife to cut off the excess, make sure the clay's in the gap, scrape excess clay off the plastic, and even mark some accordian lines in my "joint".
Like this. It looks a little messy here, but it'll paint up just fine. So here's the next step:
The lack of weight in plastic means all I had to do was apply the glue, apply the part on the pin, hold for 30 seconds, then release. The Cyc's just leaning up on the paint pot, and doesn't need the support a metal mini would need at a similar stage. The Hanse is there because it's going to sacrifice it's remaining barrels to make my two Gauss Rifles ...
Now the right torso cannon I just replaced the AC-20 with the end of the Hanse's gun. For the new left torso one, I had to remember that the LRM-10 was still mounted - unlike the 11-C2, where the LRM was dropped. So I couldn't stick the barrel on the LRM box; with the legs as they were, nor could I mount it under. I could have put it on the side, but felt it'd get in the way of the arm. So ... upper surface, it is!
As you can see, I cut the barrel back so it'd point forward enough to look good. I then filled the small gap with putty, again scraping off the excess ...
.
While giving this several minutes for the glue to set, I grabbed a handy nu-plastic Awesome, sliced under the foot & at the knee on the right leg. In this case I did slice the top of the lower leg at an angle, so it would go back raised; the existing bend in the left leg means it's got a nice "chugging along" look:
And here they are, all ready for priming!
I can't say this enough.
Plastic minis are so easy to modify! Yes, I realise it seems pretty daunting for a first-timer. If you want, just start with the knife and superglue. Just slice an arm off at the shoulder, and aim the weapons forward. Or slice at the waist, for a torso twist. Then go on to separating & swinging a leg up.
Doing these simple things makes the mini
uniquely yours. There are many Cyclopses out there, but
this is mine. It's a great feeling to look at something which was otherwise a little disappointing, which you've made your own.
Modding metal is
hard. it's doable, but you need to devote more time, more effort, and invest in the right tools. If that appeals, then please post pics of your creations here! But in the meantime, for those who've got the plastics, and are thinking about how they'd do something with them ... give it a go! Post pics, ask questions here. But mainly share pics O0
Cheers,
W.