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I'm looking over my Warriors of Chaos army and all the stars of chaos undivided that I need to lose as well as getting rid of the 'skulls on skulls'.

Anyone using a dremel multi-tool for cutting and sanding and so on on their minis and if so, how do you find it? I'm just thinking it's going to cut down on a considerable amount of time for me to get those things sanded down or cut off.

If it's plastic you're doing then a scalpel & needle file should be fine.
Also try a pair of clippers to take off the majority of the skull.
Even with a metal mini I would avoid using a dremmel on such a small area - they have a tendency to 'skip' & you'll end up ruining another part of the mini.
Hope that helps & sorry that I don't think a dremmell will help with this particular job.

bubber wrote:they have a tendency to 'skip' & you'll end up ruining another part of the mini.

if the dremel skips you don't have a firm enough grasp on it or the part, or it isnt spinning fast enough or the tool is too worn.

Just remember when cutting that the discs have a tendency to wobble a little so you will cut a wider gash than you would originally think.
/uses dremel plenty.

Wear goggles!!

I use a Foredom. Usually for precise drilling or the grinding of metal. I rarely use it on plastic, even though the nature of the tool allows you to really slow down the spin to the point where it shouldn't melt the plastic.

the heat from the parts working will also melt the plastic around the edge... make a nick, pull back, make another, pull back, make another, pull back.... essentially, do not maintain pressure, or you will melt/cut more than you want to get rid of.

I have a dremmel and I have used it for this kind of thing. The advice to wear goggles is really good! I always wear safety glasses, but goggles are even better.

Also I recommend using a cutter! not a grinder or sander because those are to friction based and they leave melted course looks. Also go easy Dremmels operate in the 5000 and up RPMs, try the slower settings first with acutter, maybe 5000 RPM, you can use more but its pretty easy to eat out a gouge at the massive speed and it heats up very quickly with grind/sand tools and leaves melty edges where material is removed, be gentle, you can always cut off more, you can never cut 'on'.

Technique wise I recommend plunging cuts using this cylindrical cutter:



A 115 high speed cutter.

http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Accessories/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=115

A cylinder gives you a planar surface when you plunge cut and a curve, when using the side, so you can match curves as you go with the side and make flat surfaces by pointing the Dremmel perpendicular to the surface and plunging into it.

Sometimes I like to hold some pieces with a hemostat instead of my hand, so that if the high speed cutter slips, well it hits a tool, not my hand.

Also be careful not to drop the spinning tool, its hard to shut off quickly and boy does it wind up fabric and hair super fast at 5K + RPM! Not that uh... that's EVER happened to me... Yea, never.

Good luck.

Screw holding it with your hands those things hurt if you happen to slip and the metal figures get hot anyway. If you don't have one pick up a bench vise.

I use a a dremel frequently and on occasion even a bench grinder to remove that which must be removed. Sometimes a jeweler saw works for bits that stick out- followed with a dremel for more "detail" removal. I place the model on my workbench and then use my off hand to hold it down- be very careful or you will ruin a figure or damage flesh. I started slowly- using the dremel or grinder on larger areas- things that need more material removed.
I once took a Bjorn the Fell handed metal Dread and removed all of the space wolves iconography and turned it into a Dark Angels veteran dread instead- it took lots of dremel cuts, grinding, saw cuts and filing to clean up the figure- I then took the jewelers saw to two terminator arms and cut off the crux terminatus before a pass on the grinder to flatten the back and then drill, pin, glue to attach to the arm of the dread and the front of the dread. Kinda long-winded here but I wanted to explain and offer my experience.
Be careful- whether metal or plastic- you can get HOT material off the figure.

To give you an example, I want to sand the chaos star off these, about 30 of them.



I wondered if a small sanding head on the dremel might work to save masses of time on that, along with long term uses on metal minis and other applications.

I would be nervous using a sanding bit on those, they're pretty thin and may heat up too much.

Honestly I would carve them off with a very sharp hobby knife, then GS up any imperfections.

A file and a hobby knife is prob the only thing you need a dremel would be a little over kill and risky.

Would be cool if there was a big dremel resource and techniques site... hmmm googlor strike!

a sanding drum will melt that plastic, the round cutter (machinists call them end mills) will do better but you'll still want to use a file to clean up and smooth out the last bits.
I get "sanding sticks" at a local hobby store. They're like paint brush size pieces of laminated sandpaper of different grits and those are what I use for the finishing
I use my dremel often on metal and plastic. I hold everything by hand because a vice would be very difficult to actually hold a miniature in. Yes, I've goofed and had the cutter skip over my knuckles a few times but I haven't injured myself nearly as bad as you can with an X-acto. Metal minies will get HOT very quickly and hold the heat. I keep a coffee cup full of water on the bench and dip them when they start heating up
Yes, you can do most modelling tasks with hand tools. Hobby saw, files etc but once you learn to get comfortable with a dremel (or similar rotary tool) you'll never want to go back.
(except for the hobby saw, that's still way better than a disc cutter for many uses including anything pewter)

Augustus wrote:
Technique wise I recommend plunging cuts using this cylindrical cutter:



A 115 high speed cutter.

http://www.dremel.com/en-us/Accessories/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?pid=115


Good luck.

I would recommend a round nosed cutter, if you are even slightly out of flat you can dig the top corner of a cylinder into the part. Cylinders are best for fixed work like in a drill press or mill. If you use one free hand keep a good eye on what you are doing to keep from gouging the part.

MeanGreenStompa wrote:To give you an example, I want to sand the chaos star off these, about 30 of them.



I wondered if a small sanding head on the dremel might work to save masses of time on that, along with long term uses on metal minis and other applications.

I actually did this once when i collected a fantasy chaos army. I did it with a hobby knife and files. Took a bit of work but turned out well. I also recently picked up a stylus dremel to help with bigger projects.
Its mainly gonna be for rough work that I will have to clean up later as the heat from friction can melt/warp the plastic. So the choice is yours both will take work and both will require some cleaning up after.

NO! NO DREMEL!!!! knife and file/sand paper ONLY, or you will kill it.

I wouldn't use a Dremel or a knife, those tools only effect one part of the surface at a time, so you would risk making it all uneven (unless you can manage lathe-like precision with your hands. What you want something to clean it all off evenly.

They look pretty easy to clean off, just lay a big sheet of sand paper on a flat suface and polish them off (maybe cut the spikes off first with a knife). The only thing I see being an issue would be the ringloops through the edges of some shields. If you were careful you could avoid then by using a table edge, or just sacrifice them and have completely blank shields.

Regarding the multi tool buying topic... I have one, I use it a little bit, but it isn't as useful as I thought it might be. The heat it generates often melts plastic, and burns your fingers if you're holding a metal mini. It's also quite clumsy for minitures, even though a multi tool is small, it's hardly a pencil. I tried drilling gun barrels with it but it didn't work well (dentist drill would be better here I think). Also for odd jobs around the house it's pretty crap since the motor is pathetic, even cutting thin plastic cause it to jam.

I can see how it could be a useful tool, but if you do decide to get one... Make sure you get a good one that has a bit of power behind it, and a way for adjusting the speed.

I use dremels on damn near everything. When it comes to taking off detail and leaving a nice finish, you need a dremel with speed control for sure. If it has 1 speed its either to fast or too slow when ever you need one or the other. Also good dremel bits are key. If they get worn out, for goodness sake replace them. Its like a shapr xacto knife versus a dull piece of junk youve been hacking on things with for over 6 months.

I'd also recommend the dremel drill press add on that you can get. I bought one and for fine control it's hard to beat. Clamp the dremel in, start it up and move the model piece rather than trying to move the dremel over the surface.

I fear that the dremel would heat the plastic a little quickly so may not be what you're after for taking those chaos stars off the shields.

I have a dremel. I've had it for around 10 years.
It's overkill for plastic details though.
For those shields, a board, some thumb tacks and some sandpaper will do the job. You get to learn stuff, too. Like how much is too much and stopping before you go too far. With a dremel, it's a short step between "not enough" and "whoops!".

For metals that have shoulder pauldron details that need removing, I CLAMP the metal piece in a vice so that it can't move and use the stylus attachment.

I recommend using a sharp knife to shave off most of the offending bits, and sanding to remove/smooth the rest.

You have a lot of shields, but you're just going to have to take it one-at-a-time. Using a dremel on those things is asking for a giant disaster.

with a curved shield like that you are going to want to do it by hand

with a flat surface dremel is king.

KingCracker wrote: When it comes to taking off detail and leaving a nice finish, you need a dremel with speed control for sure. If it has 1 speed its either to fast or too slow when ever you need one or the other.

Thats a good point. The variable speed model is a must for modeling. Single speed better left to household/garage projects.

I'd just use a razor replacement blade and use theflat parts of the shield as a guide, just planing it through. Its not that thick of plastic, and will result in less bumpyness than sanding/dremel/filing.

nectarprime wrote:Wear goggles!!

I second this! I was hit by a broken piece of a disc once..lucky it just hit me in the chin instead of taking out an eye!

Izeya82 wrote:

nectarprime wrote:Wear goggles!!

I second this! I was hit by a broken piece of a disc once..lucky it just hit me in the chin instead of taking out an eye!

A guy at my work just had to have surgery to remove a cataract and install an artificial lens in his eye. All from a chunk of plastic getting caught in a dremel.

Heh, I normally wear glasses.
With the dremel, it's safety glasses over the top of them (the lenses are expensive and safety specs are cheap - and even a flung bit of plastic is capable of scratching the antiglare coating.)

Tris get the dremmel with the digital speed control ( you must sell them at work ) and have it on the slowest setting with a fine standing drum on it . And clamp it some how then move the shield around the standing drum so you get control . It fine on plastic if you take it slow . And under no circumstance use your thighs as a work bench ! lol

Had to get those stars off a fair few shields myself and really I'd stay away from using a dremmel as I found the heat can cause to many problems with plastic and those shields are thin so they die quickly.

I cleaned off mine with a scalpel and files, got a few cuts on fingers along the way but it worked. Not exactly a pristine finish but enough to paint designs on or do GS work.