No, it’s not a rant about politicians or lawyers.
How do you attach people figures to your layout? Most of them come with plastic bases. Do you remove the bases before gluing them down? Or is there a better way?
I use Woodland Scenic’s Accent Glue to stick down folks who aren’t on plastic bases. It’s a tacky glue that’s easy to use, a little goes a long way, and it lets you move them after they’re in place without damage.
Most of the ‘higher end’ figures don’t have bases, such as those from Preiser or Woodland Scenics. For the ones that do, you can cut the base off, if you’re VERY careful, unless you want a guy nicknamed “Stumpy” on your layout. [:)] Better idea is probably to reserve the figures with bases for areas where you can hid the base with other scenic material, such as grass, sand, ballast, etc., and only use figures without bases for areas where you can’t hide the base very well.
Unless you’re referring to the ones that come with the clear plastic base, in which case I usually try to remove as much of the base as possible with a sharp hobby knife before gluing them in place.
The most realistic way (depending on the scale of your pike) is to remove the base and attach your figures with glue. Of course it will be permanent.
On smaller scale figures (HO or N), painting the base to match the surrounding ground and then tacking with glue(cement) can work for you especially if the figures are too small to prop up until the glue dries.
How often you want to clean or relocate or redo a scene using the figures on your layout is up to each individual modeler. Using as little glue as possible with support until the glue is set is one of the better modeling techniques out there.
If you do want to rearrange or remove figures, then using small amounts of glue will allow for minimal sanding and patching…hey like when a utility digs a hole in the sidewalk or road and than patches the surface…adds to the ‘realism’ of your layout/modeling scene.
HTH
Mark
Another method I’ve used with figures is to cut a short piece of stout but thin wire, heat it in a flame until it will impale the base of the figure’s leg (foot?) and place it in a small hole drilled in the scenery material. If you’re using a foam base for your pike, it is a simple matter of placing it where you want it.
If you move the figure and a hole was drilled, it fills easily with a small piece of ground foam.
Dave (dwRavenstar)
Another technique is to remove the base and drill a very tiny hole in the foot up into the leg. If you do it right a very thin wire can be glued in the hole and stuck in the scenery. But with the light tack glues around now, that is probably the best and most flexible approach.
Dave Nelson
I heard about a technique - years ago - using beeswax - it’s sticky. Touch the figure to the wax to get a little on the feet, and then stick the figure down. Easy to remove, too. Doesn’t leave holes in the scenery, but might not work well on a sceniced area (beeswax sticking to ground foam?). Also, the residue might stain scenery.
Rob
I’ve read about a glue called Ailene’s Tacky Glue or something like that. I bought some at a Hobby Lobby a few months ago but have not tried it yet. Supposedly, you can easily move figures around with a minimum of clean up.
I use a miniscule amount of clear bathtub caulk under my N scale figures’ feet to attach them. Sliding a thin knife blade under the feet frees them with no damage. I use the same method to attach structures (with or without bases) and they also come up easily. To get the platforms off the figures’ feet, I cut the platforms away up to the shoes with small sidecutters (rail nippers should work too) then file off what’s left.
… Bob
Aleene’s Tacky Glue is just thick PVA/Elmer’s type glue–it isnt the best thing for sticking down miniatures. Personally I prefer the wire-through-the-foot method, normally using a small drill bit in a pin vise to drill the hole. It’s the best way to get a miniature to adhere to an irregular surface–glue may not do the best job when gluing someone to some dirt or ground foam.
I’ve used this wax before and found it very useful for figures and other objects:
http://www.craftsetc.com/Store/ShowProduct.aspx?p=468652
It removes easily with no residue. Don’t know if it’s all beeswax, but the density is right for miniatures and models.