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Hello, wise and experienced hobbyists!

I'll make it quick. Some years ago I acquired a massive Steel Legion army. Hundreds of foot troops, weapons platforms, tanks, etc, so I have no experience with SL stuff, or even any metal from that era tbh. I started working on them today and it turns out I'm going to need to perhaps drill or cut some of the models up since maybe 5 - 10 of them are bent/warped to some degree and I'd like to use everything.

I know that back in the day GW/FW used to use lead for some of their models, so obviously I'm concerned.

- Are the Steel Legion casts, from the troopers and sergeants to the weapons platforms ALL regular metal casts that are safe to drill and cut?

- I believe I've identified all of the lead stuff in terms of my armor, specifically the weaponry. Are these things okay to handle AS LONG AS THEY ARE NOT DRILLED/CUT? I have little cousins who like to watch me work on projects sometimes and I leave things out when I'm not home . . . curious inspection from them takes place sometimes.

- Does lead react in any way at all with krazy glue/hot glue?

- Sometimes this little tip shows up now and then on these forums, and my Google searches haven't found the explanation. Is it a few drops of water that will cause nearly-instant curing with krazy glue? I've tried it a couple of times today and I can't seem to figure it out - the pieces still need me to hold them for a while. Maybe it gets exaggerated when people recommend it here . . . ?

That's all. Thanks in advance, greatly appreciated!

Most of the SL models I've ever worked on are the lead-free pewter, I'm pretty sure that even the earliest were lead-free (though don't quote me). I do remember my RT era stuff was lead.

As far as cutting and pinning, you should be able to do it carefully with a jewelers saw, however, you should also be able to bend any bent parts back into shape without cutting or pinning (unless you're going for conversions or they've broken).

Hot glue I would not recommend for assembly for obvious reasons, but glue will not react in any way to the metal. Krazy glue and other cyanoacrylates (sp?) will work perfectly fine. I prefer zap a gap, or loc-tite gel myself.

Any super glue/CA is going to have a setting time, you can increase it with a zip-kicker, but it will still need to dry thoroughly for a strong bond, and I've heard that the bond isn't as strong as letting it dry naturally. That being said, I've never used a zip-kicker on CA glues.

With regard to the lead, as long as you're not sanding heavily, or sawing, which creates a lot of dust that is being inhaled (or eaten), you should be okay, as should your little watchers. If you maintaina clean space, wipe up the area with a wet towel to get the lead particles up, you should be fine. You can also handle the lead pieces, as long as you wash your hands after, and don't ingest it (same goes for the little ones).

I'm sure some others can speak more clearly on the lead issue. Look at me, I spent my early teen years painting and handling lead dnd/rap partha minis and eating cheetos and doritos at the same time, and I turned out just fine

Thanks for info and advice. Glad to hear the young ones will be fine, because obviously little kids aren't the best with handwashing and I don't want any lead being ingested. I always keep my workspace immaculate when I'm done for the day so it should be fine.

I only use hot glue to attach models to bases, makes the bond clean without super glue frosting on my nice bases after it dries, and also can be removed later easily if I rebase the model, etc.

Thanks again, friend.

Lead inhalation issues are mainly a problem with fumes from molten stuff (so don't do casting around munchkins) and ingestion (so don't eat it).

Keep the dust to a minimum (don't do lots of filing or sanding - drilling shouldn't be an issue, the bits that tend to come off that don't tend to get airborne easily.
And wash hands thoroughly afterwards.

So don't inhale molten lead fumes, don't eat the bits and don't huff the dust. Steel legion should be mostly lead-free as 2nd edition (where they date to) was when their lead free line was in full swing.

It's mainly the older RT stuff (and prior - there were space marines that weren't before there was a 40k game) that contained lead.