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I am building a Chaos FW titan, and need some tips on how to build the strongest leg structure possible. The structure that I used wasnt strong enough (I built it stupidly when I was 13), and now I am rebuilding it. For those who have the rather badly designed FW kit, how did you build yours so that it wouldnt fall down? Sorry for the noob question, but people on this forum seem to know what they are doing.

Hello blinky.

I disagree that it is a bad design...I actually like the fact that it is designed so we can have 100% control over the leg pose. However this also results in a complex assembly process and that is not for everybody. Then again, paying 275GBP for a model assumes you are a serious modeller.

I've had to break apart and rebuild two Mars pattern Warhounds, so I hope I can relate what I've learned.

1st: Invest in some putty and some plasticard tubing to help you replace/repair the inveitable breakage of the foot and leg pistons.
2nd: Break the model apart into sub assemblies you can work with (and strip paint from). Ideally you want to be able to paint the model while its in pieces then finish off the final assemby when your interiors are all done.
3rd: have sandpaper/dremel/finishing tools to clean off the old glue and start with a smooth clean surface where your new glue bonds will have to form.

Since you specifcally asked about a stronger leg structure, I would pin the legs at every joint once you settle on a pose. Don't break all the feet apart, you can accommodate the old foot pose by having the titan stepping on something (ruins, a crater, a rhino). The five ankle pistons are tricky, but I just cut them off the legs with a hobby knife, sanded them clean and then reglued them where I needed. Some are unnoticable behind the leg greaves so you won't really have to replace them if you don't want. I also did away with some of the pistons at the hips, using only the balljoint of the hips and superglue to secure the titan leg pose. Pinning won't hurt here either.

Hope that helps.

I forgot to mention that I built both legs separately, and then attached to the hips (checking that the waist was level to the table) to ensure the titan would stand. Try to keep the titan's center of gravity between the legs of the titan, so it isn't inclined to lean one way or another.

Thanks for the tip. Im trying to find some Brass tubing that would fit, and I have being using a tyre from an ork trukk to accomodate for the old position same as you suggested. I suppose when I say badly designed I am not taking into account I was so stupid when I originally built it (building the individual components first and then hoping it would stand up), but visually it is a beautiful kit.

How exactly did you pin it? I used cut-up coathangers which I then drilled straight throught the sides of the knee joint, and then plugged up with green stuff. I suppose it would be a good idea to pin it twice with a smaller piece of wire, so it could not rotate.

Luckily I used araldite glue when originally making it, which is relatively easy to remove. However the leg i assembled with superglue is holding up a lot stronger.
Thanks for your help.

blinky wrote:How exactly did you pin it? I used cut-up coathangers which I then drilled straight throught the sides of the knee joint, and then plugged up with green stuff. I suppose it would be a good idea to pin it twice with a smaller piece of wire, so it could not rotate.

Luckily I used araldite glue when originally making it, which is relatively easy to remove. However the leg i assembled with superglue is holding up a lot stronger.
Thanks for your help.

Pinning the legs to the feet: drill from beneath the foot into the shin, such that when the titan is standing you can't see the pin's hole. Superglue in place.

Pinning the legs: At each of the round knees, I drilled the pin holes such that the knee cannot bend. If you have already superglued this, then you may not need to pin it. But if you can it makes a stronger leg.

Pinning at the hips: I drill into the leg socket (that connects to the titan's hip/groin), insert the pin so it portrudes from the leg socket, and drill another hole into the hip/groin in the position I want the leg to be. Superglue in place.