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Hi, I have purchased a cerastus knight Acheron, a few characters, and a xiphon interceptor. I've never done large-scale forgeworld before, and so am pretty nervous about the whole thing. Are here areas in the Acheron I should pin? If so, where, and with what? For the xiphon, I see people clamping the model parts together. Should I buy clamps and do that as well for as long as the superglue completely cures? Also, any tips for assmbling characters? I looked forward to this for a long time, but don't want to this up. Lastly, is there anything I should look out for when building the Acheron? Are certain piece likely to be warped so I heat treat them?

Thanks for listening to my tirade of questions!

The Acheron was actually a decent kit but the pauldrons can get bent on the ends (easy enough to fix) - the only things i found which needed some work was the two separate blades for the chain-fist arrangement, and the carapace needed some boiling water and love to seat properly.
Got them sorted easily enough, but i can't recommend cleaning every last trace of mold release off the bits enough!

Get a bottle of fairy regular washing up liquid or something similar (buttery commissar did a brief write up somewhere on dakka about which chemical in the stuff you're after) and apply it neat to the model and scrub the parts with a brush like its got wax on it - watering it down just dilutes the chemical which does the work and the mold release agent is not water soluble.

None of my knights have pins, you can get a good affixation with quality super-glue and never need pins imho. ymmv of course...

For sure need to wash off the mold release, that is a big step for you. As for building, all I can say, is take your time in clean up, test fit every piece to make sure it has a good fit. Superglue or some 2 part epoxy is even better for the bigger kits. I use loctite 2part epoxy for some Titans I have.

I would recommend clamps of a few different sizes, and let it sit over night so you get a good setup on it.

Most models don't need pinning if build right and have good glue holding them together, but it doesn't hurt to add pins either. Up to you if you think that it is needed. I usually only pin the major joints, just to add that extra bit of support.

Thanks so much! That's a great help! I'll just go and grab a file kit and a hobby knife and I'll be pretty good right? Also I'll look for the chemical. Thanks!

Biggest tip for me is let any bent pieces soak in hot water for a long time before you tried to bend it. I got impatient with my Fire Raptor and broke the fuselage... Twice... Because I'm an idiot.

lliu wrote:
Thanks so much! That's a great help! I'll just go and grab a file kit and a hobby knife and I'll be pretty good right? Also I'll look for the chemical. Thanks!

A pair of good quality clippers which are flush to one side are essential - it's significantly more difficult to remove the mold vents when your hand is providing the fulcrum point as well as the effort.

On that point, the vents which attach to the edges of the pauldrons are very difficult to remove without breaking some of the edge of the pauldron off with it and the clippers help a lot with that.

Patience and sharp knife and clippers.

FW has improved a lot in the recent years, but resin is still brittle and gates/vents are still in the worst possible places.

A proper "fine detail" saw is very useful aswell, just don't saw too close to the areas of the model.