Bones -- To pin or not to pin

[ferret]

When rebasing Bones should you use a pin or could you just superglue the figure to the base? On my first Bones figure, the Bugbear, I used a pin. Drilling the plastic was easer than drilling metal, but I found it took aa bit more care to ensure the hole was straight and of the desired depth because the bit cut so quickly. It turned out fine, but I was wondering how well the pin will hold it's place in the plastic foot and, if given how little the mini weights, if it is worth the bother of pinning rather than simply super gluing the figure to the base. I will appreciate your thoughts

Edited June 21, 2013 by ferret

[Exwilly]

small to medium bones miniatures ive been able to just super glue. haven't done any of the larger ones myself. im expecting to pin kaladrax and the demons.

 

 

edit: my ogre chieftain was superglued to the base.

Edited June 21, 2013 by Exwilly

[Kormydigar]

So far the only Bones mini that I have re-based has been one of the original cave trolls. It attached to the base fine with just superglue. If the base surface the mini is being attached to is plastic, then a good plastic cement should do the trick all by itself. If the model is being attached to a base of another material then I would probably pin it if it were of a larger size.

[Wren]

Which glue did you use? In my experiments cyanoacrylate superglues had excellent bonds between Bones and a variety of other materials. Five minute two part epoxy did okay, but not great, and white glue performed poorly (though will likely work okay for basing materials.) Those tests were gluing bases to other flat surfaces. With the glues that didn't work so well, I could pop the Bones off of the other surface. Since a pin is internal with uneven surfaces to glue to, even if you used another glue, your pin will probably stay pretty solid. I'd avoid outright dropping the piece if you can, since the shock could jar the glue loose. (Again, if that's if you used something other than superglue. A superglue bond wouldn't likely have a problem with the shock from being dropped.) If you want to read more about my tests, the post is here: http://www.reapermini.com/forum/index.php?/topic/48668-bones-preparation-glues-putties-mould-lines-etc/

 

For larger figures or with small contact points like just feet there's probably no harm to pinning, but you'd also probably get away not pinning in most cases. I cut away the base of the gnoll I've been working on and I did pin the feet, but that's in large part because I was pinning it to an irregular and porous surface (a piece of bark) so I needed more contact area between the glue and the figure.

[ferret]

 

Which glue did you use?

 

Zap-a-Gap CA+ which is a cyanoacrylate super glue. It seemed to form a good bond which lead me to post the question of whether it was worth the effort to pin Bones minis to the base. Thanks for all the information. I will likely just glue most of the Kickstarter figures to bases which will save me hours of pinning which I don't really enjoy.

Edited June 21, 2013 by ferret

[BloodRose9337]

I would pin the big stuff, but the small models, it really depends on what you plan to do with them. If they are for display, pinning may be overkill. If you plan to use them for gaming, pinning them may prevent you from re-attaching them constantly. My group tries to be careful, but last week I dropped a friends mini. Model went one way, base went another. Accidents happen, so it is best to plan for them,

[Aaron_W]

Except for the few figures that already come with a substantial base, I base all of my figures onto a metal washer. I've been using 5 min epoxy or CA for years (decades really) and have never had one come off its base in all that time. Small hobbit sized (1/2" tall) to larger ogre / small giant size (2 - 21/2"). I haven't glued any of my bones yet, but I've used the same 5 min epoxy or CA glue on all sorts of plastic and resin bits without any trouble. If it will hold a heavy metal mini, a lightweight bones shouldn't be a problem, unless they happen to be one of the plastics highly resistant to glues (unlikely because those tend to resist paint as well)..

 

Personally I prefer the 5 min epoxy because I can build it up a bit around the original figure base for a little extra hold for those awkwardly shaped bases or for figures intended to fit into the slot of a plastic base (GW / Citadel minis mainly).

 

My results may vary from Wren's because I apply the glue quite liberally. Based on the glue residue in the photos of the bases the figures came off of, I apply the glue much more heavily than in those experiments. I'm going to blend the original base into the washer so don't have to be worried about some excess glue squeezing out from beneath the base.

Edited July 17, 2013 by Aaron_W

[Wren]

Aaron - I recommend you score surfaces where you can to help with the adhesion. The epoxy seemed to react similarly to how CA will with other surfaces - it was more of a snap popping off of the Bones side from impact/force than the glue crumbling or seeming weak or anything like that.

[Baugi]

For me, pinning bones is more about having control over the mini's posture than adhesion to the base. It lets me plant the feet how I want. The only ones I haven't pinned this far are the kobolds and skeletons, both of which have very small and/or thin feet. Some of my unpinned skeletons are leaning in awkward directions, hence my above reasoning. I've used both Gorilla CA (blue cap) and zap-a-gap CA+, and prefer the Zap-a-gap, as it tends to set quite a bit faster.