In honesty though, pinning your minis is a good habit to be in as at some point in its life every mini will find itself taking a swan dive off the battlefield to the floor below. It helps to know that there is something more holding your minis together than glue, prayers and blood sacrifices when it hits the deck.
As such, apply the below to your plastic minis by all means. Just be aware that as plastic is naturally softer, show extra care drilling as you won't have the same margin for error with bending and drilling through that tough ol' metal offers.
The Kit
Above is everything I use for pinning my models and making sure they look semi decent afterwards. I'm going to assume that you have done your prep work and filed off any pokey bits of metal or mould lines on your minis. Also my tutorial is using resin bases from Tiny Worlds and for the cost of a fiver or so, they are hugely recommended. Basing Malifaux miniatures on stock bases with no decoration takes a lot away from the model aesthetic. Conversely, if you are making your own custom scenic bases, you may be a bit beyond this tutorial!
Where To Pin and Getting Going
You should be able to draw a straight line from where you want to start drilling up through at least 1cm of metal for base-pinning. The pin doesn't have to be strictly vertical although as close to vertical as possible will help with standing strength and make drilling the base a tad easier.
On Lady Justice, I am using a 0.9mm drill bit (£1 from independent hobby store) and CAREFULLY drilling up through her heel. Patience and care is a must, as is stopping every now and then to ensure you are drilling straight and won't emerge through the metal before you finish drilling. Some may prefer to hold their mini in a vice, but I prefer to hold it to ensure I can look all round it and make sure I'm drilling correctly. The flip side is increased risk of drilling through a finger or the nail, but if you are slow, careful and sober, you should be okay.
Pop The Pin, Trim and Stick It In!
Once you have drilled deep enough (marking the drill bit with a marker pen prior to drilling may help), carefully test the hole by inserting the pin without glue. Two points;
- I use 0.9mm bits and 1mm pinning material (paperclips) as whilst drilling there will be a wiggle to make the hole up to 1mm and ensure a nice snug fit.
- Do not cut the pin down to size yet! If the hole is deep enough and the pin fits nice, glue the pin in using superglue gel with plenty of length left.
In the photo above, I had skipped ahead a bit. I had about an inch of pin showing and used it determine where to drill the receiving hole on my base. This is where a vertical pin is easier as you don't have to guess angles and directions to get your mini standing where you like!
Once I had drilled the base, I cut the pin down to size so it wouldn't stick out the bottom. From here you have two choices. You can a) glue the pin and mini to stick the mini firmly to the base, or b) leave unattached for painting purposes. Your choice will be purely personal preference but I chose to keep it unstuck for now.
More Complex Pinning
Multi-part pinning can be possible, like in the above case. As the Death Marshal's coffin is hollow, I used a thicker (2mm) pin and drilled slightly deeper into the leg and ran the pin straight through to the base. If the coffin was not hollow then this technique would require a LOT of drilling through, sweating, swearing and eventually quitting the hobby. Or buy a Dremmel.
In the above, the coffin is solid metal so multi pinning was required. Also note the left arm; I used a small pin drilled quite shallow into the arm piece and adjusted to an angle I liked. The original angle placed his arm rigidly down by his side and it looked bizarre. Now it looks a bit more natural, reaching down to steady himself as he lands from his leap. I have filled the gap with green stuff and upon drying I will file and sculpt to make it look less scrappy and more of a natural extension of the duster coat.
The above has been a quick and simple guide to pinning and I hope you found it useful! Below is the crew, all pinned and together.
The chain from The Judge's weapon came off during assembly, but in the spirit of making the most of a bad situation, I reckon it will make painting him a lot easier and can be easily re-glued on after the is painted up. Mr Positivity, me!
Also, that fancy bowl in the background is a Royal Worcester porcelain bowl that I have requisitioned as my water bowl for painting. Now that is hobbying like a SIR!
Until next time!
-Jack
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| Nails in both arms and pins in his feet? Good point well made, SoJ. |
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