A Quick Guide to Miniature Assembly
A Quick Guide to Miniature Assembly
Sticking your miniatures together is a part of the miniature painting hobby as essential as the painting process. When your box of new minis arrives, it is very likely they will do so unassembled. Their individual components will be attached to a plastic or resin sprue. Don’t know how to proceed? Just follow our Quick Guide to Miniature Assembly.
1- Wash your Miniature
The first thing to do, particularly if you’re assembling a resin or finecast mini, is give the sprues a wash. During the casting process, your sprues are coated in a chemical to ensure they can be removed from their moulds. This agent will also prevent the pieces of your miniatures from sticking to each other. It will also stop any paint from sticking to your figure. But there’s no need to worry, this agent can be removed easily. Simply wash your components with some warm water (not too hot! or you will bend your precious miniatures), some dish soap, and gently scrub them with a soft toothbrush.
2- Remove Parts from the Sprue
Next, you will need to remove the components from the sprue. To do this, you will need a pair of plastic cutters to cut each component from its sprue gate. When removing components from a sprue, cut the smallest parts of the component from the sprue first. This puts less pressure on parts more liable to break.
When people start the miniatures hobby, they often use a craft knife or cheap clippers to remove their miniatures from their sprues. However, using cheap plastic cutters or another not-for-purpose craft instrument is not good practice. Doing so puts unnecessary pressure on the plastic, and you risk damaging your figures – or, even worse, hurting yourself.
Some specifically-designed plastic frame cutters will save time and ensure removing your figures from their sprues is easy. RedgrassGames’ Precision Nippers are specially designed to do just this. RedgrassGames nippers easily cut through sprues and put as little pressure on the plastic as possible. This means that your figures are in no danger of being damaged during the removal process.
The sharp tip on RedgrassGames’ Precision Nippers ensures that you are able to accurately cut each component from the sprue. Such an accurate cut means you are less likely to damage your figures during assembly. Each cut also leaves as little plastic attached to each figure as possible. This minimises the time you will then have to spend tidying up your figures.
3 -Remove Mould Lines
As you detach your components from their sprues, you might find mould lines or residual sprue gates on the components. Should you find any mould lines, you will want to remove any of these as they will obstruct your painting. This can be done by rubbing them with a fine file, a knife, or a made-for-purpose mould line removal tool. The accurate cut of RedgrassGames’ Precision Nippers ensures residual sprue will be kept to a minimum. Should you find any on your figures, though, they can also be removed with a file or similar tool.
4- Glue and Prime your Minis
Finally, you’ll need to prime your miniatures. This is the name for the process of applying a thin layer of paint over the entire miniature. This provides a basecoat that all your other paints will stick to. Usually, you will use a spray can. White or Black depending on your miniature
5- Start Painting!
And with that, you’re ready to begin painting! If you don’t know how to proceed, we have a lot of FREE painting guides available to help you understand the painting process step by step. Free painting book: https://www.redgrassgames.com/redgrassgames-free-painting-books
Buy RGG precision nippers at Redgrassgames store.
