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I decided to get into Infinity during the Miniature Market sale a while back, and bought what could be described as a shedload of PO and Nomads. I'm looking forward to painting them (or trying), but first I gotta assemble the bastards.

I am not too proud to admit that I am finding this step to be an enormous pain. I'm used to plastruct plastic weld fusing pieces together quickly and easily, I haven't done much with metal. For these guys, I'm using zap-a-gap. The bond is strong, which I guess is the most important thing; it just takes FOREVER to set. And so I'm pressing these two tiny pieces together for what seems like forever, and then I shift slightly and they come apart, and then I'm not sure if I need to reapply glue, which I don't want to do, or can just keep sticking them together and ARGH.

I don't really want to use an accelerator, because I hear that weakens the bond. Is this just the nature of the beast? Is there a better glue I should be using? I used a gel super glue at first (Loctite, I think), but the bond ended up being very weak.

I had originally planned to leave some figures half-assembled to facilitate painting, but at this point I think I'm just going to fully assemble everything - I shudder to think of screwing up the assembly on a fully painted figure.

Some comments on having worked with metal minis for 2 decades:

1- Metal surfaces take longer to glue together than plastic.
There are multiple reasons why; Some glues melt and fuse plastic, some glues bind things together with a strong glue bond that is based on excellent adhesion properties with organic materials (lots of carbon, N, O in plastic). Metal surfaces on the molecular interface level tend to have a smoother surface and it is harder to have certain chemicals react with them, many glues fall in this category.

Metals have different release agents due to different temperatures metals are cast at, these release agents remain on the outside of the model when you buy it and do have a negative effect on 1 gluing time, and 2 glue adhesion.

2- due to the nature of metal glue bonds versus how glue affects plastic, metal will always bond weaker, ie if I drop a metal figure there is a better chance the parts glued together will break where they are glue together than for a plastic figure.

With these things in mind here is the way to get the fastest gluing, and best hold of your models.

1- Take a large bowl, or bucket, put soapy water in it, get an old toothbrush. Scrub your models gently with soap water for a few minutes, then put them in the bucket overnight, next day scrub them for a few minutes, rinse them and put them on a towel/paper towels to dry. You have probably remove the release agents in the mold at this point- your glue will now create a stronger bond and work a little bit quicker.

2- Pinning. Buy a box of small paper clips, cut them with wire clippers into small pins. Drill small holes with a pin vise drill into the area you will glue, both parts. Insert pin, make sure pin is not too long. You want it long enough to go into both parts a little bit but not too much. Put pin in one part, glue other part, connect the two. This decreases glue drying time, and increases the bond strength greatly. For some larger areas I like to use a lower powered dremel (battery model, not corded) to drill holes with an engraving tip.

Thanks! Lots of great advice. I had planned to wash them after assembly, as I was more concerned about the release agent interfering with the primer, but I guess that was silly. I just have to keep the bits straight...

I'm going to try and pin the TAGs (lining up the pin properly is a concern), but I haven't gotten around to them yet. The pieces I'm finding most frustrating at the moment are the little antenna and what not.

Metal models really benefit from pinning jobs. Nearly all of my Infinity minis are pinned owing mainly to the very fiddly bits involved.

Also, I prefer Gorilla Glue with the blue cap for superglue use. Very strong, and pretty quite to set,

Pinning and gorilla glue for all my Nomads.

As a counterpoint to pinning, I've built a lot of these buggers including three TAGs, and haven't pinned a single model. Hasn't been an issue.

I was told of a method of using green stuff. A dab of glue on one piece, then a tiny piece of green stuff, and then another bit of glue on the main piece of the model.

Never pinned anything, everything holds up perfectly, even the Anaconda, even the 4 (4! 2 Combat and 2 Mobility) Su Jians.

Seriously, Dakinis and Garudas are a child's game compared to the Swift Sword of Chinese Hell.

 AduroT wrote:
Also, I prefer Gorilla Glue with the blue cap for superglue use. Very strong, and pretty quite to set,

I'd like to second this. Zap-a-Gap has always taken a long time to set with metal miniatures, Gorilla Glue doesn't take as long (10-15 seconds usually). With the metal pieces be sure you've cleaned them as it helps with the bonding. I've rarely had to pin them and I've never used an accelerator compared to other metal miniatures. Also be sure you use a small amount, usually with plastic you use more because of fusing but with metal you don't need to use a lot.

 infinite_array wrote:
I was told of a method of using green stuff. A dab of glue on one piece, then a tiny piece of green stuff, and then another bit of glue on the main piece of the model.

Don't think I'd do this for Infinity models. They are a Tight fit. If you're super concerned about having to hold parts too long, put a dab of glue on one piece, and Lightly lick the other. Or dip the other in water and shake it off good. The extra bit of moisture can help it set quicker, though remember that anything you do to make it set quicker can also make it more brittle.

 aldo wrote:
Never pinned anything, everything holds up perfectly, even the Anaconda, even the 4 (4! 2 Combat and 2 Mobility) Su Jians.

Seriously, Dakinis and Garudas are a child's game compared to the Swift Sword of Chinese Hell.

I hardly have any minis that are pinned either, and the ones that are are usually ones that have been broken and had to be fixed. If you have a decent super glue most of the infinity models are small enough that they won't need pinning. My Su Jian was also holding up fine without any pins until it got knocked off a shelf!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 AduroT wrote:

 infinite_array wrote:
I was told of a method of using green stuff. A dab of glue on one piece, then a tiny piece of green stuff, and then another bit of glue on the main piece of the model.

Don't think I'd do this for Infinity models. They are a Tight fit. If you're super concerned about having to hold parts too long, put a dab of glue on one piece, and Lightly lick the other. Or dip the other in water and shake it off good. The extra bit of moisture can help it set quicker, though remember that anything you do to make it set quicker can also make it more brittle.

You probably don't need to do it on the newer models which have much better connnections but the older models have some pretty sucky connection points. It can be useful to add a bit of green stuff to 'fill in' the connection point and provide a bigger contact area for the bond. Also helps if you are doing any arm swaps between models that aren't quite meant to go together.

 infinite_array wrote:
I was told of a method of using green stuff. A dab of glue on one piece, then a tiny piece of green stuff, and then another bit of glue on the main piece of the model.

This is a good tip. I find it helps when you have to try and glue three points of the mini at once (usually, two arms and a rifle) and need all three to line up. That scenario is the classic for gluing your fingers together, a tiny dab of green stuff on the contact points just gives you a little bit of extra stability to hold the joints together in the few moments where the glue is drying.

If you must use an accelerant, DO NOT spray it onto the join - apply to ONE side - using a cotton-bud (q-tip) of the join and apply superglue to the other.

Be VERY careful, as it WILL grab instantly and you will NOT have time to reposition it if you screw it up. On the bright side, the bond is EASIER to break and responds even better to the "freezer" method.

 aldo wrote:
Never pinned anything, everything holds up perfectly, even the Anaconda, even the 4 (4! 2 Combat and 2 Mobility) Su Jians.

You're a wizard!

I try to pin as much as possible. Mandatory chanting Litany of Bonding and applying secret ingredient along too.

On a pretty closely-related subject, how are the seam lines on the models? Do they require any GS filling? Also, how well do the models take to additional sculpted details?

Older models might require. CB is trying to have clean fits on the new generation (older generation tended to have more loose fits). Some GS might be required on three part assembly pieces such as torso-hand-arm/weapon. I'd recommend small amount of GS on PanO antenna-helmet. It's not needed but it does help with stabilising the part until the glue dries. Otherwise the lines are hardly noticeable, except on larger models, noticeably less than with GW line (Warwalker, Wraithlord, Dire Avengers for instance).

None of the PanO or Morats I've built so far I thought required gap filling at the seams.

Pinning is great for metal models. I've dropped larger, heavy pinned models on the floor and they don't chip (they were sealed after being painted), don't break, etc. If they bend they can be bent back.

If a plastic model is dropped there can be breakage or snapping of sharp or thin parts.

If a resin model is dropped.... !!

I personally like metal the best. My only suggestion is after the model is prepped, cleaned, pinned, glued, and painted, make sure you seal it with a matte sealer. Otherwise paint will wear off metal models with handling if they aren't sealed.

I prefer plastic/resin for larger models, such as TAG or motorcycle. You generally don't require pinning such material, they are light and easy to transport. Tin is my preferred material for smaller models.

So either because I scrubbed the hell out of the models or because I'm using Gorilla Glue, things are going MUCH easier now. Thanks for the tips!

I haven't pinned anything yet, but I may try it with the TAGs.