Anyone have suggestions on how to straighten the spearmens' spears and get them to stay straight? Before or after painting...

A bowl of water as hot as you can make it while not scalding yourself and a second bowl of ice water. Did the bendy part in the hit water for several seconds then pull it out and straighten it. When you are happy with the repositioning dip it in ice water to set it firm. This can work to do some basic reposing of models as well.

you can use a hair dryer instead of hot water but things can go wrong faster with the hair dryer.

I found the plastic extremely easy to reposition, I second the hot water / ice water trick. The hot water in my kitchen sink comes out steaming, so I just held the spear under the water for 5 seconds to soften it up, repositioned the now-soft model and dunked it in a bowl of ice water

I washed mine in a bowl of soapy water, repositioned and rinsed in cooler water. Worked like a charm

I use a hair dryer on warm setting, heat up the section that needs to be shaped, reshape it, then hit it with the hair dryer on cool.

Great suggestions! Thanks guys, I'll give that a try on the next batch.

Just be aware, I put the rule book on top of my straightened spear for one day and they are all bent again.

2 hours ago, Martincourt said:

Just be aware, I put the rule book on top of my straightened spear for one day and they are all bent again.

Also be wary of leaving these minis in the trunk of your car on a nice toasty summer day....

I did the hot water method and I'm finding some of them return to their bendy nature after a few days. Meh, not a huge deal with these guys.

35 minutes ago, VernonBroche said:

I did the hot water method and I'm finding some of them return to their bendy nature after a few days. Meh, not a huge deal with these guys.

After dipping in hot water and getting them straight try shocking it in ice water to harden it in its new form. I know plastic doesnt temper, but it seems to help remove some of the "material memory" and if it does go back to being bendy it is usually significantly less than it was.

2 hours ago, flightmaster101 said:

After dipping in hot water and getting them straight try shocking it in ice water to harden it in its new form. I know plastic doesnt temper, but it seems to help remove some of the "material memory" and if it does go back to being bendy it is usually significantly less than it was.

Also: Bend them past where you want them to settle.

The plastic has a bit of "memory" and will start to curve back in the direction it was going, so if you over-correct, the final position will relax into a straight spear.

Follow-up question: can I do this trick even after I've glued the models together? For the spearmen it's no problem, but one of my archers has a wildly curved bow arrow, so much so that it keeps popping one of his arms out of the shoulder joint. The hot/cold water won't affect the super glue, will it? I haven't glued them yet, but I don't know how to keep that arrow straight if it's a loose piece.

I washed mine in hot soapy water after having super glued them, and it was ok

On 5/1/2017 at 9:01 PM, NeonWolf said:

Also be wary of leaving these minis in the trunk of your car on a nice toasty summer day....

On 5/2/2017 at 10:55 AM, VernonBroche said:

I did the hot water method and I'm finding some of them return to their bendy nature after a few days. Meh, not a huge deal with these guys.

Being sure to keep them away from heat is important. They can rewarp even after painting.

1 hour ago, Parakitor said:

Follow-up question: can I do this trick even after I've glued the models together? For the spearmen it's no problem, but one of my archers has a wildly curved bow, so much so that it keeps popping one of his arms out of the shoulder joint. The hot/cold water won't affect the super glue, will it? I haven't glued them yet, but I don't know how to keep that arrow straight if it's a loose piece.

After gluing should be fine, after painting, you can try with a hair dryer but drenching them in water is risky.

If the plastic is returning to its original "bend" the answer may lie in heating the plastic slower and more evenly as well as cooling it slower. You've heated the part enough to change the shape but not enough to "even out" the residual stresses in the material. Over time these internal mechanisms in the material "return" the material to its "original" shape.

Hence the advice to:

On 5/2/2017 at 3:06 PM, Tvayumat said:

Also: Bend them past where you want them to settle.

The plastic has a bit of "memory" and will start to curve back in the direction it was going, so if you over-correct, the final position will relax into a straight spear.

The "memory" is called residual stress. http://www.dc.engr.scu.edu/cmdoc/dg_doc/develop/process/physics/b3400001.htm

Science!

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4 hours ago, Frimmel said:

The "memory" is called residual stress. http://www.dc.engr.scu.edu/cmdoc/dg_doc/develop/process/physics/b3400001.htm

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