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I bought a buttload of Necrons to start on my third army and I have a serious gripe with modeling the infantry which I've never had with my other armies (CSM and Tyranids).
The ball and joint sockets where their legs connect to their torsos is just out of proportion. The ball is way to small to fit in the joint and as a result the models are very wobbly when assembling them.

Any tricks to prevent this? if I'm going to glue together 50 models, I don't fancy holding every one of them for 10 minutes for the glue to dry.

What glue are you using that requires you to hold them for ten minutes? Use polystyrene cement and the bond should be almost instantaneous.

They're suppose to be like that so you can pose them

 filbert wrote:
What glue are you using that requires you to hold them for ten minutes? Use polystyrene cement and the bond should be almost instantaneous.

10 minutes might be exaggerating things but I use Citadel thin plastic glue and if I don't hold em for 2-3 minutes, they'll wobble when I apply a little force (by glue'ing an arm on for instance).

 CrownAxe wrote:
They're suppose to be like that so you can pose them

Suposedly, yes. But the problem is they'll slide out of pose, regardless of good intentions.

I don't usually have an issue with their torsos.

Their arms on the other hand...

My best glue is army painter sticks in seconds with plastic.

Yes, the Necron Warrior plastics are very badly designed - GW have this strange mental block on skeletal joints that means they feel that they have to do 'realistic' ball and socket joints for skellies. The same problem comes up with the Fantasy line, although at least there the torso/leg connection has been shifted to the spine instead of the hips.

If it's that frustrating, what you can do is carefully use a craft knife to cut the ball in half. Glue the little hemisphere to the torso, then use the flat sides to glue the leg to the now sensibly-shaped surface on the pelvis once it's dry.

Easy fix: do it like me and model over 100 Necron Warriors to stand up straight!

...except that it's not easy. And not fun. But it looks damn awesome.

Eh, you should be fine if you do all the legs first, then all the torsos. That gives the earlier ones a bit of time to dry so they don't go out of alignment when you start the fiddly business of adding the arms.

The genuine bit of awful design in that box is the skulls which are attached to the sprue by the cheeks, making it nearly impossible to neatly remove and file them.

It's because you're using citadel plastic glue, which is aweful. You want a proper polystyrene cement which will bond much much quicker.

I use Revell Contacta plastic glue and can stop holding my Necron models after about 20 seconds latest. You're simply using the wrong glue.

I use what I think is Testor's brand plastic cement, comes in a black bottle with a long, thin applicator tip on it. I would use Revell Contacta since I've heard good things about it but I don't know where or even if I can get it around here.

 Sigvatr wrote:
Easy fix: do it like me and model over 100 Necron Warriors to stand up straight!

...except that it's not easy. And not fun. But it looks damn awesome.

Piccies? Please?

changemod wrote:
Eh, you should be fine if you do all the legs first, then all the torsos. That gives the earlier ones a bit of time to dry so they don't go out of alignment when you start the fiddly business of adding the arms.

The genuine bit of awful design in that box is the skulls which are attached to the sprue by the cheeks, making it nearly impossible to neatly remove and file them.

Do it like this and it should solve the problem. Waiting until you need them to clip and file the next pieces pads your setting-up time a little bit too.

It´s just that you´re using Citadel plastic glue. It doesn´t dry/whatever as fast average basic superglue does.

 docdoom77 wrote:

 Sigvatr wrote:
Easy fix: do it like me and model over 100 Necron Warriors to stand up straight!

...except that it's not easy. And not fun. But it looks damn awesome.

Piccies? Please?

Not posting pics. There are a few images you can find on google:



I straightened out their necks, though, to make it look less awkward and re-modeled the arms to be more straight and also straightened their backs. They look like a soldier standing straight with the weapon in front of their chests.

Not really getting the citadel glue hate: Plastic glue makes for a much more solid bond than super, and I've never had so much inconvenience that there's any point sourcing an alternate plastic glue.

On rare occasions I'll have to either hold something for several minutes or prop it up against something, but that's generally because I picked an elaborate pose for a top-heavy model.

Worst case was my Pylon conversion, but Night Scythe wings ain't designed to prop against the sides of a Doomsday Cannon. That was obviously gonna be a pretty finicky hold.

I really hate the Necron shoulder pads. They always leave a massive gap.

changemod wrote:
Not really getting the citadel glue hate: Plastic glue makes for a much more solid bond than super, and I've never had so much inconvenience that there's any point sourcing an alternate plastic glue.

Citadel plastic glue is known to be much lower quality than other plastic glues.

As for Necrons, yes, they are terrible models. The shoulder joints are terrible, the sprues are too tight so it's hard to clip the models off without damaging them, the sprue attachment points for the heads are on the cheeks so are a pain in the arse to clean up. I hate the Necron Warrior models, they are typically super fast to paint but any time you save painting them is taken up assembling them.

BUT... I've never had a problem with the torso joint. I use Testors and Revell plastic glues, I just hold them for a 5 seconds or so, do them in batches of 4 models and I never even considered it could be a problem until this thread.

If you're having troubles I'd recommend swapping to a better plastic glue, make sure you are assembling 4+ at a time so the joint has a couple of minutes to cure before you start assembling the upper body or swap to a good quality superglue like Loctite for those joints that need to cure faster. Some cheap and crappy superglues do tend to fall apart more easily, I've never had a problem with Loctite.

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

changemod wrote:
Not really getting the citadel glue hate: Plastic glue makes for a much more solid bond than super, and I've never had so much inconvenience that there's any point sourcing an alternate plastic glue.

Citadel plastic glue is known to be much lower quality than other plastic glues.

Then I guess you don't really need much quality from a plastic glue then. Ready to base spray and paint in a couple hours, and whenever something breaks for me, it's the plastic rather than the join line.

Citadel plastic glue is notoriously awful. I've used Mec Pac I think? And currently a revell thing, and they both bond very quickly, and again, when the join breaks,it's the plastic not the bond. But the citadel glue I used just kinda went crystaly and didn't really stick.

changemod wrote:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

changemod wrote:
Not really getting the citadel glue hate: Plastic glue makes for a much more solid bond than super, and I've never had so much inconvenience that there's any point sourcing an alternate plastic glue.

Citadel plastic glue is known to be much lower quality than other plastic glues.

Then I guess you don't really need much quality from a plastic glue then. Ready to base spray and paint in a couple hours, and whenever something breaks for me, it's the plastic rather than the join line.

Or maybe you got lucky. It's not hard to find lots and lots of stories on the internet of armies falling apart after using citadel plastic glue. People claiming that joints are more brittle, that the glue doesn't melt the plastic. Because of that I will always recommend Revell or Testors over GW plastic glue, both of which are solid products, I used a pot of Testors for about 10 years and it always worked great before swapping to Revell when the Testors finally ran out.

Given the OP said he's using Citadel plastic glue and has to hold them for 2-3 minutes, I am happy in recommending a different plastic glue or a quality superglue to try and solve the problem.

Jimsolo wrote:

changemod wrote:
Eh, you should be fine if you do all the legs first, then all the torsos. That gives the earlier ones a bit of time to dry so they don't go out of alignment when you start the fiddly business of adding the arms.

The genuine bit of awful design in that box is the skulls which are attached to the sprue by the cheeks, making it nearly impossible to neatly remove and file them.

Do it like this and it should solve the problem. Waiting until you need them to clip and file the next pieces pads your setting-up time a little bit too.

Yup, the GW suggested method of assembling infantry is to do it in 3 parts: lower torso, upper torso (including arms and weapons) and head assemblies. It was illustrated in the WD that introduced Dark Eldar. Essentially, do each section separately, then attach lower and upper torso, pointing the weapon as you wish. Finally, pointing the eyes is very important to the model's look (looking down the gun's barrel, looking back, or perpendicular to the gun).

RunicFIN wrote:It´s just that you´re using Citadel plastic glue. It doesn´t dry/whatever as fast average basic superglue does.

Pretty much the case of all plastic cement vs superglue, though. Medium thick superglue bonds in 10-15 seconds, and thin stuff in... 3 seconds? One thing medium thick or thick superglue is better for is that it's gap filling, so if you're not inclined to finish 2 surfaces that cleanly meet, superglue might work better. I also us superglue often on pieces that are hard to hold in place.

Oh, and a lot of people forget that plastic cement works very poorly on painted surfaces, so superglue if your pieces are primed or painted!

changemod wrote:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

changemod wrote:
Not really getting the citadel glue hate: Plastic glue makes for a much more solid bond than super, and I've never had so much inconvenience that there's any point sourcing an alternate plastic glue.

Citadel plastic glue is known to be much lower quality than other plastic glues.

Then I guess you don't really need much quality from a plastic glue then. Ready to base spray and paint in a couple hours, and whenever something breaks for me, it's the plastic rather than the join line.

I've never used Citadel's, but of the various brands I've used, I never really noticed one to be much different from another. The one I've kind of settled on is Mr Hobby, but not really for any logical reason.

Yeah but you don't really even wanna superglue painted parts; the weak part of the bond then becomes where the paint meets the plastic/metal, and the joint is weaker as the paint can just come away from the model. Also, superglue can cause the area around it to go all white which you don't want on your painted model. Really you should leave any parts you're gonna glue unpainted (I use a bit of blu Tac to cover them when I prime). And I'd always use plastic glue on plastic models, it makes for a much stronger join and I have a habit of supergluing my fingers to everything so I avoid that haha.

Talys wrote:
Yup, the GW suggested method of assembling infantry is to do it in 3 parts: lower torso, upper torso (including arms and weapons) and head assemblies. It was illustrated in the WD that introduced Dark Eldar. Essentially, do each section separately, then attach lower and upper torso, pointing the weapon as you wish. Finally, pointing the eyes is very important to the model's look (looking down the gun's barrel, looking back, or perpendicular to the gun).

This is actually more annoying with Immortals:

An Immortal's gauss blaster is so large that it pulls him over to lean forwards and to the side the barrel is pointing. I recommend stacking a few coins to hold up the end for the first few minutes as he dries.

Not as much of a problem with Tesla Immortals or Warriors.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 ImAGeek wrote:
)And I'd always use plastic glue on plastic models, it makes for a much stronger join and I have a habit of supergluing my fingers to everything so I avoid that haha.

Few days ago I superglued my tongue to my teeth. Luckily it's not quite as strong as people say it is, or that'd be more than a bit of mild panic.

changemod wrote:

AllSeeingSkink wrote:

changemod wrote:
Not really getting the citadel glue hate: Plastic glue makes for a much more solid bond than super, and I've never had so much inconvenience that there's any point sourcing an alternate plastic glue.

Citadel plastic glue is known to be much lower quality than other plastic glues.

Then I guess you don't really need much quality from a plastic glue then. Ready to base spray and paint in a couple hours, and whenever something breaks for me, it's the plastic rather than the join line.

Then you've been lucky and haven't yet had the experience of getting a bad bottle. When you do, it's not glue. You'll think it is when you put it on. Then when you go to play and pick up a model a few days later, its arm and head will fall off at the slightest touch. The 'glue' just crystallizes into brittle crappy grit and has absolutely no holding power. I've got a good 500 points of chaos models still recovering from my run in with the stuff. Can't remember which ones are which, they just occasionally fall apart with a 'crunch' and I have to go about disassembaling them, cleaning the gunk off, and reglueing them with better stuff.

changemod wrote:

Talys wrote:
Yup, the GW suggested method of assembling infantry is to do it in 3 parts: lower torso, upper torso (including arms and weapons) and head assemblies. It was illustrated in the WD that introduced Dark Eldar. Essentially, do each section separately, then attach lower and upper torso, pointing the weapon as you wish. Finally, pointing the eyes is very important to the model's look (looking down the gun's barrel, looking back, or perpendicular to the gun).

This is actually more annoying with Immortals:

An Immortal's gauss blaster is so large that it pulls him over to lean forwards and to the side the barrel is pointing. I recommend stacking a few coins to hold up the end for the first few minutes as he dries.

Not as much of a problem with Tesla Immortals or Warriors.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 ImAGeek wrote:
)And I'd always use plastic glue on plastic models, it makes for a much stronger join and I have a habit of supergluing my fingers to everything so I avoid that haha.

Few days ago I superglued my tongue to my teeth. Luckily it's not quite as strong as people say it is, or that'd be more than a bit of mild panic.

Hahaha I've done that too! It's gross, had superglue on my tongue and teeth for ages. Tastes gross too and the fumes...

Regarding the cheeks on the heads, you want a craft knife or a round file. Just gently shave off the sprue marks by dragging the blade across the curved surface perpendicular to it until smooth.

I'm actually starting to despise building my necron army - the kits are horrible.

Immortals - seriously, their pauldrons break every time you try getting them off the sprue, even when you're being exceedingly careful and specifically trying to NOT break the damn shoulders. Also when you're putting them together, their pieces never align correctly.

Doomsday/Ghost Ark - one of the worst kits as well. Pieces don't align up correctly and the model is a bitch to paint.

Revell has the top-notch plastic glue. Should be available on Amazon.