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I have just had the good fortune to find and purchase a Citadel Finecast Librarian in Terminator Armor at my local hobby shop and I wanted to do something extra epic for his base. I already painted some lightning bolts around the outside of the base (which I have yet to flock) and I wanted to put some wire around it in a spiraling electric arc. Only problem is, I have NO idea how I could accomplish this and make it look natural. So I was wondering if anyone had any tips for me?

Here is my concept for the Librarian:


Here is an image of what I want the arcs of electricity to look kind of like:

Cool, eh?

Jewelers/threading wire would work just fine. You could probably use 20 or 18 gauge, but much larger (16g) might look a little out of scale for what you're trying to do.

Just bend it up with flat-nose jeweler's pliers to get it into the right design/shape and glue it in place with superglue. It will need proper priming to take color though.

Sounds excellent. I'll pop on over to the craft store tomorrow and see what I can pick up. Thanks for the tip! I'll post pictures as he comes together.

Hate to double post, but here's an update:


I found some cool pre-dyed 20 gauge copper wire which looks good enough (imho) to be lightning.
I just need to fix those CRAZY eyes on the Librarian's face! And just generally finish his paint job. Will post updates as he is finished!

I like the idea 100%, but I do think it looks a little thick. Either that or you need to put a whole mess of tiny bends up and down the lightning so it doesn't just look like wire. I think it would be easier to achieve those sharp little bends with a slightly thinner wire. Have you thought about doing some OSL on him so it looks like the lightning is putting out light? It would add to the realism. Just a couple thoughts, interested to see it finished.

I'm with Thare. As nice as the anodized wire looks in general, it's a bit thick for this purpose and the bends aren't nearly sharp enough. I might try and find something a bit thinner, even if it means painting it (actually, that might be preferable - you'd be able to vary the color for visual interest and to match what you've painted on the base rim).

If you want to try and salvage this without getting new wire, you can try and sharpen up the bends you already have. Ideally, a metal-jawed vice or sharp anvil edge would be used, but you should be able to manage with pliers - basically, you just need to grip the wire firmly next to the bend and gently work the rounded curves into sharp turns with a hammer. Multiple, light taps with the hammer are preferable to a single sharp blow. be sure to grip the wire firmly, because if it slips and rotates in the jaws, you'll scratch off that lovely blue surface.

Try copper wire. Thin ones can be found cheaply inside extension cords and unused electric appliances.

I have seen this before and I love the idea EVERY time

heartserenade wrote:Try copper wire. Thin ones can be found cheaply inside extension cords and unused electric appliances.

Well, this is copper wire, and I've definitely extended my hobbyist budget for this pay period buying this fancy stuff

But I can definitely make the edges sharper. I found that the original shape that I had given the wire didn't quite fit around the arm carrying his staff, so I am going to make a longer piece that will accomplish the task of going both around the staff and around his person.

I am not averse to the idea of painting the wire to make it match, and I'm excited at the prospect of doing source lighting because I've never done that before and I'm not quite sure what that entails as far as actual technique. But now that it's mentioned, I can't think of any other way for him to be painted so it is a technique I will learn with a quickness.

dpick28 wrote:

heartserenade wrote:Try copper wire. Thin ones can be found cheaply inside extension cords and unused electric appliances.

Well, this is copper wire, and I've definitely extended my hobbyist budget for this pay period buying this fancy stuff

But I can definitely make the edges sharper. I found that the original shape that I had given the wire didn't quite fit around the arm carrying his staff, so I am going to make a longer piece that will accomplish the task of going both around the staff and around his person.

I am not averse to the idea of painting the wire to make it match, and I'm excited at the prospect of doing source lighting because I've never done that before and I'm not quite sure what that entails as far as actual technique. But now that it's mentioned, I can't think of any other way for him to be painted so it is a technique I will learn with a quickness.

I'm sure there are thinner kinds of copper wire. I've seen thinner ones while peeling off the plastic from extension cords.

Cant go too thin though or it will be to fragile to play. Unless of course its just for the display case