Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hi all!

I've recently returned to 40K and bought myself a Tau army. I have started work on piecing together my "Get Started" box and I'm noticing a problem I didn't suffer with ten years ago; I shake a lot! There're medical reasons that have caused it but it's quite a hindrance to gluing certain parts of Tau and what I was wondering is if anyone else has this issue? If so how have you gotten around it?

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

I tend to work on a tabletop that's at chest height, brace my forearms against its edge and the base of my hands against each other where possible. Its not fool proof but it works well enough for fiddly stuff (and painting).

Yes, bracing your arms helps. I have a genetic thing (thanks, dad!) that causes shaking that is only going to get worse as I age, and I simply have to not turn my hands in certain ways to avoid shaking.

Also, I don’t know if it will work for you, but my doctor told both my father and I—and I’m not joking here—to have a stiff drink before doing something that requires a steady hand. I’m not talking about getting drunk, but one beer or a shot of whiskey or something like that. I don’t really drink at home so I’m going to hold off on that until it gets bad for me.

not sure if you can jury rig something like

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-painters-mahl-stick-2577635

I'm thinking of a towel rail attached to the desk where the model hand goes under and the brush hand can rest on top of the rail to keep it steady.

I used to play 40K with a guy who had a hard time painting cause his hands would shake. But that was because he was an alcoholic and needed a couple beers before he could pick up a paint brush.

Gw make a painting handle with helping hand clips on adjustable arms that might help you with assembly.

Quasistellar wrote:
Yes, bracing your arms helps. I have a genetic thing (thanks, dad!) that causes shaking that is only going to get worse as I age, and I simply have to not turn my hands in certain ways to avoid shaking.

Also, I don’t know if it will work for you, but my doctor told both my father and I—and I’m not joking here—to have a stiff drink before doing something that requires a steady hand. I’m not talking about getting drunk, but one beer or a shot of whiskey or something like that. I don’t really drink at home so I’m going to hold off on that until it gets bad for me.

I'm in favor of this idea the most but I was gluing Tau heads at 5:30 yesterday morning before work...

Thank you all for the advice, I'll be giving resting my arms correctly a try when I get back home tomorrow as I have lots of fiddly little details to glue on.

I invested in a painting handle but my brain hadn't come up with using it for helping glue parts.

Check how jewelry maker workbench looks, it could give you some ideas how to prepare steady hand table.
In my case I replaced normal chair for a kneeling chair, now I can put my elbows on the desk, and it helps a lot. Also I don't have problems with my back anymore (kneeling chair forcing straight sitting).

Oshii wrote:
Check how jewelry maker workbench looks, it could give you some ideas how to prepare steady hand table.
In my case I replaced normal chair for a kneeling chair, now I can put my elbows on the desk, and it helps a lot. Also I don't have problems with my back anymore (kneeling chair forcing straight sitting).

Ah this is good advice too. I personally use an office chair set to its lowest height so I can rest my elbows on the table and still sit up straight to avoid back issues.

I’m starting to get shaky hands, it’s mild right now but it’s really starting to spook me. GW’s kits have gotten more and more detailed with tiny joins that are becoming actually challenging to work with.

A couple of things have helped me: blue tack and KISS.

I have gotten into using bluetack to hold a join together rather than rely on my hands. I’ll go to glue a tiny shoulder socket together and it’s becoming a little harder to get it in there straight. I use a tiny bit of glue so I don’t smear it all over the place, lay the join on some blue tack to hold it together and very carefully flow some plastic glue over the join to help seal it.

Another thing I’m unfortunately finding is keeping conversions a little more simple. The Easy to Build kits are often cheaper (especially on eBay if you’re building something like a GSC army) and there’s fewer fiddly joins if your hands are that bad. I never really got into green stuff sculpting but keeping it simple can help reduce the number of times your hands are moving all over the place.

GW now makes a paint handle with two alligator clip arms, you might see if someone local has on to see if that helps hold pieces a little steadier while you work.

This wasn’t an issue for me when I started the hobby back in 3rd edition but now in my late 30’s I’m starting to get a little worried. I feel you :(

I've heard the "stiff drink" advice before in regards to doing macro photography (where tiny motions are a pain) so its certainly advice that does the rounds as giving some aid. However that is for people without any medical issues - if you've medical conditions then it might not help or could make things worse.


The other key is to realise that the average home table is pretty rubbish for close up detail work. You want a high table so that you're not swashing yourself on the ground and can sit comfortably with your back as straight as you can. A padded platform to rest your forearms on so that you're leaning on the table; thus meaning that the entirety of your arm up to your wrists is basically still. That cuts out a huge amount of natural body shake already.

I've seen some jewellers workbenches and the like for sale like that, but they come with a pretty high price tag (very limited market) so you might have to put something together yourself.

 Fajita Fan wrote:
I’m starting to get shaky hands, it’s mild right now but it’s really starting to spook me. GW’s kits have gotten more and more detailed with tiny joins that are becoming actually challenging to work with.

A couple of things have helped me: blue tack and KISS.

I have gotten into using bluetack to hold a join together rather than rely on my hands. I’ll go to glue a tiny shoulder socket together and it’s becoming a little harder to get it in there straight. I use a tiny bit of glue so I don’t smear it all over the place, lay the join on some blue tack to hold it together and very carefully flow some plastic glue over the join to help seal it.

Another thing I’m unfortunately finding is keeping conversions a little more simple. The Easy to Build kits are often cheaper (especially on eBay if you’re building something like a GSC army) and there’s fewer fiddly joins if your hands are that bad. I never really got into green stuff sculpting but keeping it simple can help reduce the number of times your hands are moving all over the place.

GW now makes a paint handle with two alligator clip arms, you might see if someone local has on to see if that helps hold pieces a little steadier while you work.

This wasn’t an issue for me when I started the hobby back in 3rd edition but now in my late 30’s I’m starting to get a little worried. I feel you :(

Thank you for sharing this. It's nice to see someone in a similar position with their concerns. We're now bound by an unbreakable but always shaky bond.

@all I spent about eighteen hours gluing my Tau over the weekend and for the most part a folded towel for my forearms and my hands braced close helped. The Battlesuits however are quite er... Gluey? The three from the Get Started box have a lot of excess glue on them in joints as I was really heavily shaking when putting them together. Sadly it lead to one of them developing a bad lean as I couldn't hold it properly when trying to pose it. The painting handle with arms might be a really good shout as it will help pose the legs which were the trickiest modelling kit I've glued outside of Battleships.

 Pumbledore wrote:


@all .... Sadly it lead to one of them developing a bad lean as I couldn't hold it properly when trying to pose it.

Superhero landing ... he's gonna do a superhero landing !!!

 Reanimation_Protocol wrote:

 Pumbledore wrote:


@all .... Sadly it lead to one of them developing a bad lean as I couldn't hold it properly when trying to pose it.

Superhero landing ... he's gonna do a superhero landing !!!

Sacred feth! That gives me an idea for basing!

Have you considered physical therapy?

https://www.livestrong.com/article/449077-how-to-cure-hand-tremors-by-exercising/

it could be a matter of strengthening certain areas helping stability. that article mentions strengthening your hands, but i'd even suggest strengthening forearms, upper arms and shoulders too.

I know you mentioned medical issues initially so if this is invalid just ignore me.

My hands shake like a Battle Sister at a Slaaneshi party. I use one of those keyboard cushion efforts to brace my wrists on the edge of a table.

 Pumbledore wrote:

 Fajita Fan wrote:
I’m starting to get shaky hands, it’s mild right now but it’s really starting to spook me. GW’s kits have gotten more and more detailed with tiny joins that are becoming actually challenging to work with.

A couple of things have helped me: blue tack and KISS.

I have gotten into using bluetack to hold a join together rather than rely on my hands. I’ll go to glue a tiny shoulder socket together and it’s becoming a little harder to get it in there straight. I use a tiny bit of glue so I don’t smear it all over the place, lay the join on some blue tack to hold it together and very carefully flow some plastic glue over the join to help seal it.

Another thing I’m unfortunately finding is keeping conversions a little more simple. The Easy to Build kits are often cheaper (especially on eBay if you’re building something like a GSC army) and there’s fewer fiddly joins if your hands are that bad. I never really got into green stuff sculpting but keeping it simple can help reduce the number of times your hands are moving all over the place.

GW now makes a paint handle with two alligator clip arms, you might see if someone local has on to see if that helps hold pieces a little steadier while you work.

This wasn’t an issue for me when I started the hobby back in 3rd edition but now in my late 30’s I’m starting to get a little worried. I feel you :(

Thank you for sharing this. It's nice to see someone in a similar position with their concerns. We're now bound by an unbreakable but always shaky bond.

@all I spent about eighteen hours gluing my Tau over the weekend and for the most part a folded towel for my forearms and my hands braced close helped. The Battlesuits however are quite er... Gluey? The three from the Get Started box have a lot of excess glue on them in joints as I was really heavily shaking when putting them together. Sadly it lead to one of them developing a bad lean as I couldn't hold it properly when trying to pose it. The painting handle with arms might be a really good shout as it will help pose the legs which were the trickiest modelling kit I've glued outside of Battleships.

Use a bottle with some blue tack to rest the model against while it cures. I had to do this big time doing my Adeptus Titanicus models.

Some great suggestions so far I just want to note a few things about tremors:

1) Depending on how old you are you may develop a subtle hand tremor later in life. Depending on when it appears and how it behaves it may be either a totally benign or a more-alarming sign, so please look up "tremor types" or talk to your doctor if this is something that is impeding your daily life. I know you said you had medical reasons why this may be happening, it's always a safe bet to check with your doc.

2) Keep in mind this may just be your hands/body readjusting to the fine motor skills needed for assembling/painting if you haven't used those motions in the last few years, in which case this is likely temporary or will decrease with use and practice.