How to hold your mini while painting?

[shibe]

I am sorry if this is a redundant post.  I did not find anything related to this in the posts for advice.

 

I am having an issue holding my minis when I paint certain minis.

 

The ones with the slotted base are easy since I can use this thing I have that holds it in a little alligator clip and has a nice little base.  i can position it really well and it makes it easy to get certain hard to reach angles and I don't have to touch the mini.

 

The ones that have a base already are not too bad since I can use poster tack and stick it to a cork or something like that.

 

The minis that are heavy are hard.  they won't stick to the tack and cork and fall off.  I don't want to hold them and rub ff wet (or dry) paint.  This guy is really heavy

 

Actually I would love to have something like the double handed holder for larger minis or minis with out the slotted base.  Anyone have ideas?  

 

Thanks!

[Mad Jack]

    Although the heavier minis won't stick to whatever bottle/cork/wooden block you're using as a handle if you use blue poster tack, you can put two or three very small drops of superglue on the bottom of the base and then attach it to a popsicle stick or small strip of wood. I usually glue my minis to the top of a 1/2 inch diameter wooden dowel (and I have a block of wood with a hole in it to support the dowel while I'm not painting). You can then hold onto the stick while you paint, or if you use something really flat like a popsicle stick or flat piece of wood you can put it in the alligator clips on your holder... If you use a long strip of wood, you can use both clips to hold the piece. Just make sure you tighten the screws on your holder really well so it doesn't slip while you're painting it.

 When you're done painting, you can slide a hobby knife inbetween the base of the mini and the stick and very carefully give it just a slight twist to pop the mini off. You'll need to scrape a bit of dried glue off the bottom of the mini, but it flakes off pretty easily.

Edited February 15, 2014 by Mad Jack

[Seer of the Pitt]

--Hot glue or perhaps wood glue  the mini on a suitably sized plastic jar lid.

 

--Fill the jar w/ something to counter balance the weight of the mini.

 

--Screw on lid/mini.

Also wrist related exercises if you have to hold the mini-jar for extended periods of time.

I vaguely remember a forum thread where somebody may have mentioned a desk mount monitor arm. Parts Express.com has them for about $30  You'd need a piece of plywood or a block of dimensional lumber to glue the mini to.

 

Good luck and I hope this helps.

 

[shibe]

Those are great ideas.  I am going to start by trying the Popsicle stick, super glue and the alligator clip thingy.  The plastic jar is also a good idea if I can't get the heavy troll to stay stuck to the Popsicle stick.  Awesome guys thanks!

[MonkeySloth]

Binder clips of various sizes and something I imported from Europe designed for holding minis while you paint.

[Grimreaper71]

I just use bottle caps elmers glue. For bigger minis i use gator aid cap

[dsmiles]

I hold it by the base, and paint the base last. It does what it needs to do.

[fishnjeeps]

I use different size prescription pill bottles as my handle. It allows me to unscrew the figure i'm working on and screw on another as long as I have extra caps. I use 3M double sided foam tape to hold the mini to the bottle lid. I've been ok with most of the larger mini's I've been painting. I think I paid $10 for a large roll of the tape and I can just cut off the amount I need.

[Doug's Workshop]

For a figure that big, I would suggest using a large prescription bottle (as fishnjeeps suggests) and superglue the figure to the bottle cap.  When you're done painting, you should be able to snap the miniature off the cap.  The little glue residue at the bottom of the base can be gently sanded off, or put the miniature on a larger base (like a 50mm x 50mm base).

 

Obviously, use as little superglue as you can, because you do want to be able to separate the miniature from the cap when you're done.

 

I use prescription bottles and some wooden spindles I found in the craft woods area of Michaels.  For adhesive I buy a package of "mounting squares" from 3M, again much like fishnjeeps.  They're 1 inch squares of foam and hold really well. 

 

From an ergonomic standpoint, I can't stress enough how important having a comfortable grip is.  If you're holding a miniature and your hand gets tired, you're doing something wrong.

[shibe]

Thanks all!

[Leader of the Rats]

I usually pin my minis to a base so I glue the pins in the bottom of the figure (feet, tentacles, whatever) then I just shove them into the end of a cork after I design and make the base. Sometimes I attach the figure+base to the cork sometimes just the figure, it depends on if I can paint all of the figure without the base getting in the way.

 

My 15mm ww2 army minis get blue tac'd to a 3 inch nail, nail goes into a board I drilled 20 holes into. I batch paint them.

[Kormydigar]

I use different size prescription pill bottles as my handle. It allows me to unscrew the figure i'm working on and screw on another as long as I have extra caps. I use 3M double sided foam tape to hold the mini to the bottle lid. I've been ok with most of the larger mini's I've been painting. I think I paid $10 for a large roll of the tape and I can just cut off the amount I need.

 

This works. I use the same method except I keep the lids on the bottles and fill them with sand or kitty litter to give them weight. That way they are not so top heavy and won't fall down if you so much as look at them sideways.

[fishnjeeps]

 

I use different size prescription pill bottles as my handle. It allows me to unscrew the figure i'm working on and screw on another as long as I have extra caps. I use 3M double sided foam tape to hold the mini to the bottle lid. I've been ok with most of the larger mini's I've been painting. I think I paid $10 for a large roll of the tape and I can just cut off the amount I need.

 

This works. I use the same method except I keep the lids on the bottles and fill them with sand or kitty litter to give them weight. That way they are not so top heavy and won't fall down if you so much as look at them sideways.

 

Yea they can tip easliy however I personally find that the lighter handle lets me paint longer without fatigue. I tried the extra weight but I couldn't paint as long. Though I suppose I would get used to the weight after a while. I suggest tyring it though, your wrists may be stronger than mine.

 

I thought I'd mention something else as well, I bought a yard stick when I got my roll of foam tape for priming multiple figures at once. I cut the tape to the base size and placed them on every inch mark Which spaced them out just right for spray priming. And I found that i can use the foam tape twice before I need to replace it. Here's a pic of it in action...

 

 

EDIT: Got the pic to upload!

Edited February 15, 2014 by fishnjeeps

[72moonglum]

I've always been a fan of using elmer's glue to attach my miniatures to a little square of balsa wood that I cut from a large piece that I usually get at Michaels. A strip of balsa wood costs a few bucks and potentially you can get maybe 100 man-sized figures based and if necessary you can reuse them. After you're done with one just pop the figure carefully off with an exacto knife so you can attach it to your final base.

[Jasonator]

I have always used the cap from a shaving cream canister.

I get Plumber's putty from home depot/Lowes (about 1.99 for a huge gooey block),

and pinch off a quarters worth, and put on top of cap and push the miniature onto that.

I have had no problems with them falling off, and the caps being hollow allow you to get a good grip,

and they can be angled over a corner to get a good photo.

I always photo with the mini attached to the cap.

Hope that helps.

Jay