Warhammer 40k Basic Modeling Tips

Useful Modeling Tools, Tricks, etc.

Pinning

Metal pieces sometimes do not hold together with just superglue. They need to be pinned ( have a metal rod inserted into both pieces for added support). This is usually done by drilling a small hole into both pieces and securing the pin into each hole. This can be done with either super glue or green stuff, if the hole is big enough. The drilling is usually done with a pin vise, but can also be done with a low-power drill or dremel tool (be extremely careful if you do these, as you can easily ruin your model).
Pinning can be extremely helpful with metal miniatures. I have seen it done with plastic miniatures as well, but only to secure them to a cork base while priming/painting.

Pictured to the right is basically all you need to get started with pinning: a pice of a paper clip ( or some other thin, metal rod), a pin vice and an appropriatly sized drill bit.

Gluing

I know this is a pretty simple concept, but it deserves some explaining. There are basically two types of glue: super glue and plastic glue. Simply enough, you use plastic glue for plastic (and resin/Citadel Finecast) models.

For super glue, you just need to find a decent brand and use it. It does not need to be specific to Warhammer/Modeling. Some generic brands are ok, but I have yet to find a very good super glue.

 For plastic glue, it is a little more difficult to find a good brand. First off, the GW plastic glue is complete crap. Just throw it in the garbage. Some other modeling companies make better plastic glues, but I find that it is actually "polystyrene cement" that works the best. People always have their own opinions on what the best brands are. You can do some reasearch on some gaming forums and decide for yourself.

Acrylic medium

Until recently, I had been using water to thin my paints. Although this worked well for a long time, I have moved on. I bought some liquitex Matt medium online, and it has changed the way I paint. I highly recommend it.

Matt medium basically thins the paint, without making it run like a wash (stay in recesses). I will be using it all the time from now on. I also use it sort of like a glaze medium in some cases.

Green stuff

I already went into detail on the uses of green stuff (see 100 Hours - sculpting first post), so I will just briefly describe it now. Green stuff is an epoxy putty that can be used by games to fill gaps between model pieces as well as sculpt new parts to a figure, whether it is a symbol on a backpack or a new body part. It is definitely a useful tool for advanced hobbyist to get acquainted with.

Pictured to the right is my green stuff. I found the tubes to be much more cost effective than the strips. Again, this is all explained in my earlier Green Stuff post.

Magnetizing

This is for very advanced hobbyist, and is usually applied for people who play in tournament. The idea is that instead pf having a different model for every available armory option, you can havr one model with interchangeable parts. People magnetized parts of their models so that they can be switched when they modify their army. As an example, they may switch out a terminator's combi-bolter for a heavy flamer in their army list, and instead of using an entirely new model they can just remove the arm the the combi-bolter and replace it with a heavy flamer arm. Magnets can be used on any number of models, but they are usually used thing like tanks and elite squads, not so much on basic infantry.

Magnetizing is done by drilling a hole, the size of the magnet, in either side of what you want to change out. Magnets are placed into either hole (making sure opposite polarities are facing each other, or else you need to dig them out and start over), and glued into place. You can place a magnet in each part you want to change out, making sure that the polarities work out as such. Usually, rare earth metal magnets are used, because they are the only ones that have the strength to hold the pieces together.

Miscellaneous

There are a few tools that can be used for the same tasks. In order to remove models from their sprues, you can use sprue cutters (more likely you will find then as flush cutters) or a hobby knife (X-acto makes good ones of these)
In order to remove mould lines, you can use the dull, reverse side of a hobby knife blade, needle files, or something like a GW mould line remover.
Picking up a decent set of needle files is recommended, they come in handy a lot, and don't cost more than $20 or so.
There are a bunch of other tools you can find in various places, often disguised as other craft tools.

My opinion is, buy tools that you need, don't find buy tools and then make up a need for them. This hobby is too expensive as it is without purchasing useless tools all the time.

Learning More

If you read something here that was confusing, or you are interested in learning more, post a comment and I will try and help out the best I can. For some extra reading, there are some interesting posts of DakkaDakka (a gaming forum) that talk about tools, and methods to better use them. Here are two of my favorites:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/Useful_painting_and_modelling_advice

http://www.dakkadakka.com/wiki/en/The_Toolbox%21

The Painting and Modeling forum in an invaluable too. Always search the forum about a topic before you ask, especially if you would be starting a new thread. If you do join DakkaDakka (I highly recommend it to all gamers), my username is dmerr187, you can friend my if you want to.

Obviously, I don't know everything. I am only a moderate painter/modeler, so I still have a lot to learn. If you read something here that is wrong, or maybe you just disagree, say something! I don't want to be spreading false information if I can help it.