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I have done something VERY silly.....

Like a fool when i first bought my XV8's I had glued in the weapons that I desired for my current list (albeit a good set up in my opinion) but times call for changing weapons and I am kicking myself for this horrible mistake.....Most of which problems are fusion blasters and missile pods (the latter i believe can be sliced off easily though the FB's will prove to be quite a challenge without causing any permanent damage).

So I would like to pose a question to everyone who may be able to help me, what is the safest way to take off the weapons and then modify the arms for interchangeable weapons.
(they are mounted on the arms).

By the way....like a goof i have used modeling cement and i was a bit on the generous side...

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Are you sitting down?


You might want to sit down.


Plastic cement, as you've found out, is not a glue. It is a chemical which breaks down plastic at the molecular level on both sides (model and the arm) and then once it dries, what you have is a fused piece of plastic.
Glue, like superglue or white(pva) glue, hardens to a paste in between the two surfaces, binding them together.

Since you used plastic cement, the only real option you have is long, wracking sobs of self pity and anguish, tinged with a hint of "well that was a learning experience"

Your best bet is to scrap the arms and save the body. You can cut the arms off as close to the body as you can, and hope to salvage them later by covering it with bits/armor scraps/ greenstuff. You can also just cut like a mad scientist and not plan on saving the arms, but shave more carefully when you get to the body.

You can try putting iit in the freezer to make the plastic brittle, and then snap the arm off, but like you said you used a LOT. This will most likely damage your models body, which costs more than the arms.

Good luck, and I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you you have to cut your baby's arms off it you want it to live.

just cut it off at the join and then GS over any damage

If you have a sharp knife you can slice the weapons off relatively easily. just take is slowly and carefully. the plastic should start to split ince you get most of the way through as the mounting points aren't that thick. You don't need to take the whole arm off, certainly.

You might end up with some excess material on the arm that you can file down. To allow for future flexibility I would then recommend picking up 3x3x0.5mm magnets and fix them over the mounting points. This will help disguise the damage and can also be used to fill in any damage caused to the weapons during removal.

Some options:
1.) Wait for the next Codex that might be released within a year.
2.) Buy the superior FW suits and magnetize the arms/weapons.
3.) Use a sharp knife (maybe heated a bit) and slice the parts off your current model, then magnetize.

Thanks for the advice everyone

i am amazed how fast i can get good modeling advice from this place....truly a good find hehe

i have managed to get all my weapons off....the plasma rifles and fusion blasters were the worst since i could not get a knife in there and i did not want to hack at it
I......again like a goof found a nice spot on the arm joint to fit a thin metal prod that i could pry off with leverage.....and it worked...somewhat the weapons did come off...relatively clean.

i was stupid before and didnt pay attention to other places my hand was applying pressure and broke off 2 arms at the base of the body (one arm on two different models)....sigh....but with a bit of modeling glue its back on like nothing ever happened (tamaya plastic cement)
if it sticks on there as strong as these weapons were to come off....I think it will last a good while...and if it doesn't well then i can always take a page from the metal models book and try pinning with some epoxy / green stuff

thanks for the help and advice everyone it was a traumatic experience but i think the experience was well worth it....now in the future i will plan before i execute a plan
that being said now i am off to magnetize my models. thanks again