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For my BA army I need meltaguns. I was looking into purchasing meltaguns for my Assault Squads and I noticed that the meltagun bitz available on the GW website are metal so I'm not quite sure how metal with plastic would work since I've never really had any experience with it and from the few metal figures I've held its actually pretty heavy.

Is it as simple as merely gluing the metal hand onto the arm? or are there other steps involved to assure that the plastic arm can hold and remain attached to the metal meltagun hand? Thanks in advance.

I forgot to mention I was planning on using the arm that comes handless in the Assault Marine kit.

cut the grip off of the gun, then glue it on to the marine hands as normal. You may want to use one of the accelerators, but if you're patient, it won't be an issue.

That's a good idea. I forgot to specify in the OP that I was going to use the arm that comes without a hand already.

I have no idea what an accelerator is so it won't be an issue here.

The arms without hands have the hands on the pistols, right? just cut the pistols off, it will be a tough one, as you will have two very small glue joints holding all the weight of a metal bit.

Accelerators are the products used to quick-cure super glues.

I used them for my IG vets, and I didn't have to do anything extra to make sure that they stayed in the right position, well besides a lot of patience. Also, if it's just the meltaguns that are metal you're adding to the fig, it won't affect the weight much

I've done the same to my meltavets but along with cutting the hand off I also remove the stock. Quick bit of filing to round the end off and a drop of superglue and it works fine, the weight isn't an issue as long as you're not using legs in a running pose.

SoloFalcon1138 wrote:The arms without hands have the hands on the pistols, right? just cut the pistols off, it will be a tough one, as you will have two very small glue joints holding all the weight of a metal bit.

Accelerators are the products used to quick-cure super glues.

I think you misunderstood. The metal Meltagun bit already has a hand on it so I would be attaching it to a hand-less arm that is included with the kit. There would only be one bit, but I was curious as to whether or not the metal would affect the balance and if anything besides super glue was required.

mebobsayhi9 wrote:I used them for my IG vets, and I didn't have to do anything extra to make sure that they stayed in the right position, well besides a lot of patience. Also, if it's just the meltaguns that are metal you're adding to the fig, it won't affect the weight much

That's good news. Thanks for the help!

Natorum wrote:I've done the same to my meltavets but along with cutting the hand off I also remove the stock. Quick bit of filing to round the end off and a drop of superglue and it works fine, the weight isn't an issue as long as you're not using legs in a running pose.

Thanks for the help! I guess I'm going to have to buy a set of standard legs for my Assault Marines then so that he isn't too heavy off to one side.

What i did: get Bolter arm, cut hand, pin Melta + hand into place.

No mistery.

Natorum wrote:the weight isn't an issue as long as you're not using legs in a running pose.

I've made that mistake, it got my friends mad when my one guy used to just randomly fall over

Sounds easy enough, but I might have to try and balance the Assault Marine then or at least buy the normal set of legs for my Assault Marines. Thanks for all of the help.

I've always found gluing metal to plastic to be easier than metal to metal or plastic to plastic, ive never had problems

You might also consider adding some kind of weight under the base to keep the minis balanced.

I've also glued metal to plastic plenty of times, and I had no problems in the past (even with GW glue.)

jordanis wrote:I've always found gluing metal to plastic to be easier than metal to metal or plastic to plastic, ive never had problems

If its easier than gluing plastic to plastic then I don't think I'll have a problem since gluing plastic is quite easy imo.

Poofish wrote:You might also consider adding some kind of weight under the base to keep the minis balanced.

I've also glued metal to plastic plenty of times, and I had no problems in the past (even with GW glue.)

That's what I was thinking actually. It seems more cost-effective than trying to buy legs and it'll look more consistent with all of my Assault Marines.

Dark wrote:What i did: get Bolter arm, cut hand, pin Melta + hand into place.

No mistery.

I did the exact same thing, and it worked just fine.

One meltagun shouldn't tip a marine over, now the metal jump packs.. Those can be a pain.

I'f you're doing it how I think you are - holding it one handed and running - then the metal will be enough to unbalance him on uneven ground so either weight the base (some metal on the top, near the back or a coin underneath) or get a plastic gun*. But if you use the normal bolter position with two hands, he should be relatively stable.

Also, if it's one handed, pin the gun to the arm for extra strength on the joint.

*you can get a plastic melta from the bits section of GW in the old Space Wolves sprue with lots of extra bits which aren't too Woolfy

Yeah I'm already seeing how its going to affect the balance of the mini. A coin sounds like a good option. I hadn't thought of that yet. Unfortunately for 8 bucks I was able to get 5 MeltaGuns so in my opinion its a better buy than getting the Space Wolves sprue since I'm not going to be playing Space Wolves.