Mounting minis for painting.

[Dribble Joy]

My search-fu is weak. Or at least what I found didn\'t help.

I\'ve been having problems with large metal pieces of minis.
I like holding the miniature close to where I\'m painting it. For most 28mm models, even metal ones, I can just hold it by the base.
Currently though I have been painting a Ghazghul conversion, and the parts are large and heavy. Holding them by the pinning rods will kill my hand after a while and tacking it to a cork/paint pot/etc won\'t work if it just falls off.

Holding it by the piece itself brings up obvious problems.
I can\'t really finish all steps on a small part of a piece and then varnish it where I would hold it while I do the rest.
Is there any way to mount stuff like this or am I just going to have to learn to paint \'at a distance\' where the hand holding the piece is more than 1\" from the brush tip?

 

[Ritual]

Originally posted by Dribble Joy
... or am I just going to have to learn to paint \'at a distance\' where the hand holding the piece is more than 1\" from the brush tip?

I would advice to get used to that. Especially if you ever plan on painting minis taller than one inch.

Just stick the pins of the mini into a piece of wood or something else sufficiently sturdy to hold the mini upright while sitting on the desk when you\'re not painting.

 

[Amazon warrior]

I\'ve glued heavy metal models to crossed icicle sticks - it works quite well, they don\'t fall over too much and they pop off fairly easily when you want to stick them to a proper base. An alternative might be to use a pin vise - you may need something to prop it up in if it\'s very heavy and you\'re worried about it falling over.

 

[freakinacage]

if a piece is pinned, i put the wire in a pin vice and hold that

 

[DrEvilmonki]

One thing I have used on big figures is latex gloves. Then I can just hold the figure.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Dribble Joy
My search-fu is weak. Or at least what I found didn\'t help.

Did you see the threads in the Basics, cleanup & equipment section of The Sticky Thread?

Einion

 

[RuneBrush]

If your model is glued onto it\'s base then you could use the lid for something like a hot chocolate container or coffee jar, cover it in double sided tape and ram the model onto it. I\'ve used this technique for quite a few models now - if it starts to feel loose, you\'ll have to replace the tape.

 

[Amazon warrior]

Originally posted by RuneBrush
If your model is glued onto it\'s base then you could use the lid for something like a hot chocolate container or coffee jar, cover it in double sided tape and ram the model onto it. I\'ve used this technique for quite a few models now - if it starts to feel loose, you\'ll have to replace the tape.

I use pringles lids and bluetack for this, but the principle\'s the same! lol

 

[ScottRadom]

I like little wooden blocks (maybe 2 inch square) then I hot glue gun the model -on low- onto the block. I always mount my models on their gaming bases though first, so this won\'t help if you mount them after painting. I pu tthem in the fridge over night so make the glue real brittle then I pop it off in the morning.

But as for the OP original question I think you should paint them from a pin vice, as I think someone suggested.

 

[CrookedEye]

One thing you can do to help your fatigue is to pin the feet and instead of using a pin vice, get a large piece of round cork from Home Despot or Lowes. The ones they carry are about 2-2.5\" across and 1.5\" deep. You can stick the pinned model into the cork and then rest the cork on the table to paint it.

That way it\'s secure, plus you aren\'t holding any weight, just steadying it to make sure it doesn\'t fall over.

Zach