Stand fast lads...

[homechild]

Quick question.

How do you guys fix your squaddies and/or vehicles to your diorama bases?

I'm thinking about pinning them into the board but would like to know if there's a really easy solution that others use. I considered using glue but don't know if that will give a strong enough bond.

What do you guys do?

(details of my "in progress" dio to follow - as soon as I take some pics!)

[Guest]

I think most people use pins, but I personally prefer PVA glue. It's a simple and easy solution; the only problem I sometimes have is getting the figures to stand in the right position while the glue's drying. Normally I use Blue Tac for that, creating a block underneath any raised boots on running figures for example, then just remove it with tweezers once the figure is set in position.

[Guest]

PVA glue myself.. it dries clear and holds very well.

For holding the figure whilst setting i make a little "cradle" or "jig" out of thick (ish) soldering wire ... it's easy to bend and you can wrap it around parts of the figure to hold it in any position you need, when the glues dry the wire is just eased off and stored for the next time.

The soldering wire works even with any scale figures, at the mo i'm doing a 2ft x 2ft 1/72 diorama with about 120 figures plus horses depicting a scene from the Boer war and i'd be struggling positioning stuff without it.

[spanner570]

Drew, people will have a different take on this depending on the longevity of the diorama.

Because I like to be able to remove figures, armour and bits to repaint and then recycle for new ideas, I never 'Stick' items down permenantly.

I just put a very small amount of blue tack under feet ect. Just make sure the base is free from dust and any of the stuff that oozes out is easily removed or hidden with dust or muck.

This works fine and holds things well enough for my purpose....

Cheers,

Ron

[homechild]

Thanks for the input guys.

I'm thinking I might just do the extra bit of work and pin them.

I'm going to buy a display case (seen one for about £15.00) for it because I'm planning on keeping it. Also, as the base is going to be like a desert the PVA idea may not work so well.

Thanks again.

[Guest]

as the base is going to be like a desert the PVA idea may not work so well.

It would work fine to be honest, i will say that pinning is the more secure option though.

Drew, people will have a different take on this depending on the longevity of the diorama.

A good point, i slick firmly as i can then hang the dioramas up on a wall for storage.

Saying this ... the kettles on if you want to come and help me stick the remaining 80 odd little figures down with bluetack Ron