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Hi Dakka, I've recently acquired a Brass Scorpion of Khorne and I need to pin the ever loving gak out of it. Does anybody have any pinning experience with this model or large resin models in general?

- What material should I use to pin?
- How thick should the pins be for large parts like the tail attachment vs the leg ball joints
- Any advice on a technique for lining the pin hole angles on both sides perfectly besides "eyeballing it"

 Darkwater wrote:
- What material should I use to pin?

Paper clips should suffice.

- How thick should the pins be for large parts like the tail attachment vs the leg ball joints

Standard 1mm paper clips should be more then thick enough. For large parts like the tail maybe consider using 2 spread out so they take the wait. Although honestly 1 should be fine.

- Any advice on a technique for lining the pin hole angles on both sides perfectly besides "eyeballing it"

-Drill holes in one side.
-Paint over that area leaving a little bit around the holes free of paint.
-Then press the two parts up against each other as if you were gluing them together.
-You should be left with an accurate position for your hole/s

I advocate the blu-tack technique for pinning.

Clean and degrease everything before working.

Drill first hole- no more than a 1mm pilot hole if you're going to use larger pins for very big pieces (titans)
Roll a small ball of blu tack.
Wet the hole with spit. (Do not use grease or lube- spit works and dries away).
Place blue tack over hole.
Press parts together firmly, into pose as desired.
Remove drilled part, the blue tack should remain stuck to the other part with a nub showing the location and importantly direction of the hole.
Use that to drill the hole on the second part, you can drill through the blue tack easily.

I'd also recommend the green stuff + superglue trick to strengthen the joint. I haven't actually glued anything resin that required a pin yet, my Zoanthrope is greenstuff + superglue and it's holding up fine, after I did it I tested the joint to see if it also needed a pin and it wouldn't break at any force I was willing to apply.

Oh and make sure you clean the parts. The superglue will hold better if it's not fighting with the mould release agents.

Yup, all great advice!! I use paperclips too. Yes do clean the models with something like a good dish washing soap and a toothbrush, rinse well after the light scrubbing...
Blu Tack is a great idea!! Thanks for that Winterdyne!

What they said.

Also, I used nails with the heads clipped off for mine.
I took some pictures when I built my scorpion:
http://stephanius40k.blogspot.de/2013/07/greater-brass-scorpion-construction.html

When I did my warhound I used paper clips and then nails for the legs.

When I did my reaver I didnt pin at all. So long as you can clamp... JB weld. Beats pinning but has a long set time. Other poxy has a shorter set time. The longer the set time the stronger the bond. JB was a set strength of a mig weld but wouldn't want to test that out. :-)

Privateer Press makes an inexpensive hand drill refill kit that comes with a couple of bits and some brass (or brassy-colored) rods that are a little bit of a step up from paperclips, in that the rods are stiffer (they won't easily bend), aren't scored (most paperclips have little nicks along them, that help them bend more easily), and are easy to hold on to while you cut.

I bought a pack once, but I think I've only ever used half of one rod... I just use paper clips, even for large models.

Talys - the paperclips I buy have no score in them - just plain metal without coating. Though I still do buy the Privateer Press pinning kit you mentioned for the larger brass rod in it.

Both paper clips and brass rod work well enough I've never tried nails before. I guess that makes sense for larger surface areas like a Titan.