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Hi. I've just recently bought a Space-Marine Librarian which arrived an hour ago. He's the second addition next to my 5 man Tac Squad in my very first 40k army. They were plastic, relatively easy to deal with in terms of cleaning up the sprue bits with regular scissors, but this new Librarian is metal. I've managed to snip off the smaller excess metal, but the base slide is about 2mm too long and thick. I've searched for articles relating to metal clean-up but haven't found anything that deals with it directly, and I'm afraid to start hacking away at it in fear of damaging the model in some fashion.

I've considered simply buying the GW Razor Saw. Is this a good idea for dealing with excess metal problems, or is there an alternative you vets use?

Jewelers files are nice to take off mold lines.

Also the GW clippers are an essential part of my kit.

Between those 2 you should be all set.

Grab a razor saw only you are going to be doing large scale conversions, hacking up entire models and whatnot.

Get yourself a decent set of files. The ones GW sells are pretty good, but if you shop around a bit you should be able to find an equally good set for a lower price. A decent hobby knife is also useful for cleaning up mold lines.

Toenail clippers are really good for this purpose. Personally, I use a Xuron track cutter tool for snipping base tabs. It's expensive, but it is so worth the money. Got mine back in 1993 and it's still going strong. It can cut things that would make the GW sprue cutter cry for mama.

Get an X-Acto kit (or the equivalent) along with the files that have been suggested by others. Also, a hand-drill for pinning and drilling out barrels will make your life easier (from what I hear... I don't do any pinning myself... yet) and add some dimension to your models.

You could always try a dremel tool if you know how to use one. Makes cleaning metal a breeze!

Dremels are by far the easiest method. I just use files and exactos for most of my model cleanup, though. It's easy to screw up and take too much off with a dremel if you don't know what you're doing. The only reason I don't use one is because I don't want to spend the money on it when the only thing I'd likely use it for is miniatures. I burned up the motor on my last one trying to cut a metal torso in half. After that I kinda lost faith in them. It's not that much more work to do it with manual tools.

Really dremels scare people more then they should. I have 2, one thats a low power weak one that is PERFECT on plastics and detail as it doesnt spin enough or is strong enough to damage the minis if you slip. Then I have a super powered dremel that literally has a 7 speed transmission. That thing I think I can cut up car metal with the right bitz.
Also you dont have to buy the DREMEL name brand stuff. Both mine are cheap knock offs and they work just as fine. Just take your time when you use a dremel. Thats the key, slow and easy.
GOOD LUCK ON YOUR NEW ARMY BTW

KingCracker wrote:Really dremels scare people more then they should. I have 2, one thats a low power weak one that is PERFECT on plastics and detail as it doesnt spin enough or is strong enough to damage the minis if you slip. Then I have a super powered dremel that literally has a 7 speed transmission. That thing I think I can cut up car metal with the right bitz.
Also you dont have to buy the DREMEL name brand stuff. Both mine are cheap knock offs and they work just as fine. Just take your time when you use a dremel. Thats the key, slow and easy.
GOOD LUCK ON YOUR NEW ARMY BTW

I agree completely! You can use a cheapy one from a bargain tool store for all your plastic needs and a real dremel for the metal stuff. You can buy a cordless dremel knock off for next to nothing at most bargain tool stores. You can always work on sprues/junk models until you get use to it if you are wanting to learn. Once you start using one and get use to it you will never look back.