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I have had sevral flying models, and no matter how careful I am, they always seem to snap the flyer base off right at the end, so the tip ins inside the model. How do I get these little demons out?
I'm sure this has been talked about a lot, but I never really had any skimmers until now.

Doomsday Ark
Landspeeder

Thanks!!

You'll need something like a pin drill (http://www.games-workshop.com/gws/catalog/productDetail.jsp?catId=cat470006a&prodId=prod1095460 other hobby stores will probably be cheaper) to drill out the remnant of the flying base.

There are also other options for use as flying stems, like thin brass rods (hopefully others will add their opinions, can't think of more options at the moment).

I use a larger socket in large models that I can run a large piece of plastic tubing up into - paint it light blue and it works for me. It also lets me take the model off the base for storage or movement to the game site.

I haven't had too much problem with mine breaking off. The way GW designed them is pretty bad. The clear plastic is brittle, so what do they do? They throw a huge stress concentration in to them with the lips on the stem, both at the base and at the model.

When I was just pressing them in to the base and not gluing them, I had a few snap off at the base, since stress builds up at the lip. If you glue them to the base with a plastic cement, it welds the lip to the base so mostly removes that stress concentration and they won't break.

The same applies at the top, though honestly I've never had a problem with them breaking off at the top even when not glued. You could just drill the hole out larger, remove the nodule off the top of the stem and shove the stem itself in to the hole, but it might not be as stable then.

Some non-GW companies offer acrylic rod flight stands:
http://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=47_58&products_id=250
http://www.dragonforge.com/Painting%20service/for%20sale/sculpting_supplies.htm

I always alter my flying bases on any model that needs them, as they are hideously fragile, and usually far too small to support a model of the size GW always designs.

I first cut off the pin that is supposed to be inserted into the model, and then drill out the female hole in the underside of the model with a drill bit that's large enough so that the flying base will insert at least 1/8 of an inch into the model.

I do this for everything, whether it is for Eldar jetbikes and Grav-tanks, to all of my Battlefleet Gothic ships. I find that almost all the models I've come across that need flying bases will have enough space around the hole in the model to allow a larger hole, except for some of the BFG escorts- for those I drill a hole large enough that the flying stem can fit in at least a couple of 16ths of an inch, and then pin and glue the model to the flying stem.

I also have gone a new route for my Eldar in that I DO NOT glue the flying stem into the model. If you have made sure that the stem will fit in at least 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch, then you should find that slightly spinning the stem as you gently insert it will give you a perfectly strong friction fit, which allows you to do the reverse to remove the stem and base when transporting to stop the chance of breakage.

On my Grav-tanks because of their large hollow interior, I drill a hole large enough that the stem fits in a good 1/4 of it's length.