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As the title suggests I had the base (which had to be glued in for stability) break off of my Ravenwing Darkshroud at the point between the stem and hole during transport, the plastic glue I used to stick it in the hole (also the only glue I have/had) didn't seem to do the job for repairing it.

Here's the vehicle and the base together:


Here's a closeup of the stem:


Here's a closeup of the hole:


I figure the solution basically comes down to "just glue it" but any details/specifics would be appreciated.

Best suggestion that I can think of it flatten the contact point between the model and base, drill into the base, and then pin them together (you can use part of a paperclip)

Another option would be to drill out the old hole (should be a 2mm hole) and just get another stem for your stand. Do they still ship with 2, a tall and a short one?

I had some issues with some of my landspeeders, and had to do some replacement work myself. I had the spare parts, so it was just easier to replace.

The pinning option seems out of my league, I don't have a drill and I've never pinned anything.

I do have the spare stems, though I'm not sure I want to use them, I'm worried about using the wrong ones. It actually caused me a bunch of issues when I was first putting them together.

If you want to fix it right and have it actually stay together, you're going to need to drill and pin. Just tossing glue on it isn't going to get it even slightly stable, it's going to keep breaking off over and over.

Pinning is really actually quite easy. There's also a secondary technique I've found for Large units on flight stands that I'll discuss afterward.

What you need are a pin vise (Tamiya's pin vise is cheap, and very useful, I have one, they aren't expensive) to start with.

Now people have their materials they like. Many use paperclips. Because I know it's a standardized diameter, what I use personally is 20 Gauge Wire. You can get this for a decent price at a hardware store, far more than you will need for quite a long time, for a couple bucks.

Next, you need a drill bit. Again, this is with my choice of wire, I use a 1/32" drill bit. It's thin, and it can be a bit fragile, so be gentle. It's not a Perfect fit, so you'll need a little pressure with your pliers to get it in, but it DOES grip firmly.

Drill down into the stem of the flight stand, and fit your wire point.. You don't need a deep stick, but the wire is more resilient and will bend a little to give it some better performance.

Once you have that, clean up the glue mess from your previous work, and find a good spot to drill in. Protip - you don't have to put it in the same spot as the original drill pin socket.

Drill into the model where you plan on fitting it, and once the two mate up nicely, bob's your uncle.


Now, this is a slightly advanced technique I picked up working with Eldar Falcons and the like. It's useful to get a slightly larger drill bit on hand, suitable for the base-stem-end of your flight stands. Conveniently, they give you two lengths with each flight stand. This is for the longer one. Do the original stand with the short stem, and then drill another spot into the base for the longer stand. It'll probably go at an angle, but if you pin them both, but don't glue them, you can not only remove the stand from the model, you'll find it sits much more stable in place on the table.

If you're working with the Ball and Socket style flight stands, another trick is to get a drill bit that'll fit snug in the socket, and simply drill the socket a little deeper, it'll sit much more snugly that way.

 CrashGordon94 wrote:
The pinning option seems out of my league, I don't have a drill and I've never pinned anything.

I do have the spare stems, though I'm not sure I want to use them, I'm worried about using the wrong ones. It actually caused me a bunch of issues when I was first putting them together.

It is a lot simpler than you think




Otherwise, as someone who spent untold time re-gluing his Dark Eldar Raiders, this will be a continual feature of this model

There is a key point though: I actually don't have a drill.

Getting a pin vice is a good idea in general. For things like this, setting magnets, drilling gun barrels, etc. I think the Army Painter branded one I go cost like $12, and works fine. GW probably sells an overpriced one. (just checked, they do, for twice the price)

It’s not a mandatory tool to own, but is highly recommended.

Before I got it I used a full sized power drill for hobby work. Way more power then I needed, and quite awkward.

So the pin vice is actually the thing used for the drilling?

Yep, you're looking for a pin vice (that refers to the handle which is used to grab and hold the bits). Most pin vices will come with a selection of bits.

They're quite cheap and as mentioned you'll end up using them a bunch.

Another option is to drill a small hole using a sharp exacto knife and then cutting the flight stand to fit. It won't be as structurally sound. This kind of issue is why I avoid the flight stands from GW in general and make my own using brass pipe or the inverted tri-pod method.

You could try filing the top of the stem flat, and gluing something flat on top of it, and then gluing that part to the bottom of the speeder.

http://www.luckymodel.com/scale.aspx?item_no=TA%2074050

There's the one I have.. works quite nicely.

 Bi'ios wrote:
You could try filing the top of the stem flat, and gluing something flat on top of it, and then gluing that part to the bottom of the speeder.

Well I gotta say that if this works it would be a lot simpler for me. Any particular suggestions for what to glue on top and what type of glue to use?

I would use plastic glue to form as secure of a bond as possible, and probably just a thick strip of plasticard, or, if you have a spare one, you could take one of the top doors from a rhino and just cut it a bit so it doesn't stick out too far. Just something flat and sturdy

I don't have any plasticard or Rhino parts, but I do have some Land Speeder doors and other miscellaneous bits so I might be able to pull it off. Does sound a bit simpler than having to learn about pinning and such.

Might leave it for a bit though, get some other stuff done first for more time to think it over and in case there's any further input.

It really does sound like more than it is to learn with pinning, I promise. The learning curve is real short, it's just a little learning how to drill them smoothly, how to mate up the two pieces, and from there it's really quite simple.

Another solution that does not require you to buy anything..

Step 1: Go outside.
Step 2: Go for a walk and look at the ground.
Step 3: pick up a rock of roughly the size of your base or shroud.
Step 4: Find a few more, just in the case rock1 does not look right under your shroud when you get home.
Step 5: Enjoy the rest of your walk and time outside, when your done head home. If you have that pokeyman go thingy, maybe you can catch something while your on the walk.
Step 6: lay out your treasures on the table near your shroud.
Step 7: find the rock that fits the shroud the best.
Step 8: Use as much of your normal plastic glue as you need to secure the shroud to the top of the rock.

Enjoy a shroud that will not fall over and never have to worry about the tiny little post to support the weight of the shroud.

I'll edit in pics once i find my camera if it helps.

ssisal wrote:
Another solution that does not require you to buy anything..

Step 1: Go outside.
Step 2: Go for a walk and look at the ground.
Step 3: pick up a rock of roughly the size of your base or shroud.
Step 4: Find a few more, just in the case rock1 does not look right under your shroud when you get home.
Step 5: Enjoy the rest of your walk and time outside, when your done head home. If you have that pokeyman go thingy, maybe you can catch something while your on the walk.
Step 6: lay out your treasures on the table near your shroud.
Step 7: find the rock that fits the shroud the best.
Step 8: Use as much of your normal plastic glue as you need to secure the shroud to the top of the rock.

Enjoy a shroud that will not fall over and never have to worry about the tiny little post to support the weight of the shroud.

I'll edit in pics once i find my camera if it helps.

I hope you ain't serious there... Plastic glue does not work on stone. Hence why it is called plastic glue.

To OP: Believe me, a little drill is the best investment you could make. It has saved so many of my old models with pinning. Eldar Jetbikes, Falcons, Waveserpents, hell I've pinned a complete Wraithlord since it was falling apart the entire time. And by falling apart I mean the arms and legs popping off.

maybe not "plastic" glue but crazy glue sure as gak does work on stone and plastic. ive got 13 thunderwolf cavalary mounted on stones, 45 fenrisian wolves and 2 dark shrouds mounted on stones with the same dollar store glue i use to put my figures together.

happened to some of my speeders and a tau tank.

Simply drill a hole wide enough to fit the broken stand and stick that thing in there. works effortlessly.

The Grumpy Eldar wrote:To OP: Believe me, a little drill is the best investment you could make. It has saved so many of my old models with pinning. Eldar Jetbikes, Falcons, Waveserpents, hell I've pinned a complete Wraithlord since it was falling apart the entire time. And by falling apart I mean the arms and legs popping off.

By the little drill, do you mean the pin vice thing everyone brought up, or something else? Just need to make sure.

ssisal wrote:maybe not "plastic" glue but crazy glue sure as gak does work on stone and plastic. ive got 13 thunderwolf cavalary mounted on stones, 45 fenrisian wolves and 2 dark shrouds mounted on stones with the same dollar store glue i use to put my figures together.

Are you implying something with those quotes? Because plastic glue is very much a real thing and I've had a lot of success with both the Citadel and Revell versions now (both are pretty much the same).
And there's no way I'm gluing things to random rocks, even with the right glue.

Aeri wrote:happened to some of my speeders and a tau tank.

Simply drill a hole wide enough to fit the broken stand and stick that thing in there. works effortlessly.

Hmmm, I do have my reservations but I see how this could work. If it comes down to drilling stuff I'll keep this in mind too.

You can use a full sized drill on minis. I’ve done it in the past. You just need to have a very light hand on the power, as they have far more of it then out little minis can take.

Annoyingly, you may find that any fixes or your flying base problem are temporary at best, since that transparent plastic is notoriously more brittle than the opaque stuff. Something small like a gun drone is unlikely to break based on its own weight, but the Darkshroud is big enough that especially a sideways wobble imparted on the model during gameplay can snap the stem at the join. This is why flyer stands are much bigger with that X cross section.

For permanent results, you might want to look at a thicker rod made of something like perspex, or suspendng the model on metal rods instead (painted black, and together with crreative basing, they're not much more obtrusive than the clear ones). My two Landspeeders, for example (one Guard, one Marine) are both on permanently attached 2mm brass rods, which are significantly more durable than their original clear stands, something which is doubly important for metal models or those with significant imbalance that might put strain on their bases.

For the biggest skimmers in my collection, Dark Eldar Raiders, I found that making the flight stands removable was good for storage, but they also required the use of two stands, since otherwise they were liable to spin around the base during gameplay, looking silly.

When this happened to my millennium falcon in X-Wing, I put a magnet on the stem and a magnet on the ship, it worked well for that, might work here as well.

All my flying bases are magnetized with identical polarities.

Use good sized REMs (1/4" minimum except jetbikes or drones or something like that).

1. File the post off of the flying base. Make sure it's flat. Consider using green stuff below the magnet to build it up.

2. Drill out the bottom of the vehicle. Place mag +/- greenstuff.

Couple reasons I like the magnets:
1. Very convenient for tourney set ups and movement.
2. Absorbs energy by flying apart when you drop it from waist high onto the floor. Physics dictates that a collision that involves deformation of the object will serve to decrease the impulse force on the object. The magnetized base will serve as a "crumple zone" for your model and make it less likely to break the next time you drop it... which you will.

My two cents.

Are you implying something with those quotes? Because plastic glue is very much a real thing and I've had a lot of success with both the Citadel and Revell versions now (both are pretty much the same).
And there's no way I'm gluing things to random rocks, even with the right glue.

Its not plastic glue that i use, its this stuff in the first image. it works amazing for putting minis together and vehicles. far cheeper then GW glues and just as effective. at 1 dollar for 5 tubes.

And thats totally your call about mounting them to rocks or not, I was just offering a suggestion for ya and others who have run into the same issue. so ya all didnt have to go out and buy anything. its worked for me, the wolves have held up fine for half a year so far, the darkshrouds, ive just finished them a few weeks back.

Buy a pin vice (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Proops-Piece-Micro-Twist-Swivel/dp/B00LX17XXW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474678049&sr=8-1&keywords=pin+vice) & a circular needle file (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sivitec-Needle-File-Jewellers-Files/dp/B00DFP6SS0/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1474678109&sr=8-7&keywords=needle+file). You'll find both useful in the future for all sorts anyway so a good £11 spent imo.
Drill out the old stem.
Use the file to make the hole bigger.
Jamb onto the current stand - as the stand is conical it will friction-fit really well. You could glue it in place or not. Not means you can take them apart for transport.

use magnets, hated those stands since they have weak points and break easily, with a good stand and magnet combo you can remove the model from the stand when storing for ease and avoid breaking it.