VLOG: Kings Of War Empire Of Dust Hobby Tips
September 9, 2016 by dignity
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What a fun and informative VLOG. Nice to see a bit of content in here, instead of just talking about what is planned.
I did miss one bit of information; How to stick all the different materials together? Superglue works for a while, but in my experience it eventually dries out and the pieces come apart again. I’m always struggling with the proper adhesive for different materials.
Seeing the models in this kit are top-heavy, metal torsos on plastic legs, I’m reluctant to get into it. I remember the nightmare that was the old Tau Broadside battlesuit.
Try using superglue and a little bit of green stuff.
Yes, I tried that on a few models, with better results.
superglue should work fine all the time, I’ve hybrid models GW did in the late 90s that are still attached, there are two issues I can think of, firstly mold release on the parts before you glue them, and secondly the glue itself. Otherwise there should be no issues.
@bucketknight score the mating surfaces when using super glue, especially when its a mixed material joint i.e. metal to plastic. It increases the surface area which is what you need when using a super glue, as it works by forming polymer chains so knits together, rather than poly cement which melts the surfaces and welds the parts together (which is why you should always use poly cement over super glue for hardplastics unless drying time is an issue). Speaking of drying time if you can get away without using accelerator with super glue you will get a stronger joint. Finally if its really big and heavy pin the joint.
If the joint is really malformed/warped a tiny blob of 2 part putty (milliput, green stuff) pressed onto the joint then dry fitted will give you a decent surface to glue on, downside is that its best to let the stuff cure before you carry on, you could also use a two part epoxy glue like araldite which cures hard takes a while to go off though (the quick set stuff is a pain to work with as its a sod to remove excess partially cured glue, acetone or isopropyl alcohol works well for tidy up…)
Quality content like this makes backstage a no brainer. Great work boys.
Love it.
Great Vlog!
I’m not a fan of hybrid kits and therefore avoid them where I can but from experience I can only second @johnlyons, dry fitting is your best friend.
Looking forward to the painting Vlog 😎
Glad for the video, sometimes you need to see someone else work on a project to get a kickstart on your own! Can’t wait to see them painted!
Great vlog guys. I’m definitely interested in seeing this army finished. Assembling and painting rank and file armies can be a real challenge especially when you’re used to skirmish level games. When I did my Forces of the Abyss army, I started the project looking for perfection. But after assembling and painting the 30th lower abyssal with 90 left to go, I went to good enough.
I thought I heard Warren say in a previous weekender that he was thinking about painting up a Mantic Undead army all in ghostly green tones? Did that ever happen?
Not yet, we talked about it today though, so its not off our radar 🙂
it would give something for @lloyd to push his romans against 😉
Nice VLOG, guys!
I have a box with an untouched KoW Undead army sat in it. Every so often I open it up, stare at the mass of metal and plastic and then run away in fear.
This video has gone some way to calming me down!
Videos like this made me glad I went ahead and became a Backstager. I have only been a BSer for a short time but I am very pleased with my subscription.
nice , the basics can get overlooked .it can be difficult if your used to plastic not metal .
Great “Vlog”, really enjoyed it and found it to be very informative. As this system will work with any army big box set, which will probably now get a few of the guy`s on here reaching for there filed away get back to at a later date armies.
One thing i was thinking about while watching the Vlog was this, why don`t the companies put on there site`s the instruction leaflet`s for all there model kit`s in PDF down loadable formats. In this way the hobbyist can nip on and get the instructions, and not have that hair pulling moment of…….this bit fit`s where, and where do i stick this.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. I read Poosh’s original post and my heart sank, as i was intending to get the starter army ( as I do have a soft spot for Mantic and the army intrigues me) . Now I have read Poosh’s posts before and hold him in some regard as being a sensible level headed bloke. So I thought okay … I won’t go there (with some disappointment).
This has inspired me to a give it a go, so I thank you (and Ronnie probably thanks you too, as another impulse purchase by me from his company is impending).. I have a couple of questions, did John use any pinning, or just superglue???
like many others here have said this is a great piece of content and I have never regretted my decision to support this site by being a backstager.
cheers lads
No pinning, we discussed it before making the vlog and our intention was to go “right, back to basics” So the focus in my mind was, how do you do it if you aren’t a hobbyist with a lot of tools/time/experience. 🙂
Great vlog, I think I must be in a minority, loving working in metal. I basically cut my hobby teeth on metal. I love how metal models go together, pining, the whole works roughing pieces up for better adhesive coverage. I have always washed all minis I buy, plastic sprues, metal and an extra good scrub on resin. Release agent is not your friend. I use a little technique with resin if I think release agent will be a problem. I put the mini into a plastic container and then proceed to cover the mini with salt, then pop a lid on and leave it for a couple of days. Why? I hear you cry ! Well release agent is mainly oil based, the salt sticks to the oil and soaks it up. After a couple of days take out your mini give it a rinse in lukewarm water to remove the salt if any has stuck. Then with liquid soap give it a good scrub ,rinse and leave to dry. This may be a bit long winded but the pieces go together easier and you should have no dramas with paint not sticking to the mini, plus it should go on nice and smooth. Sweet
Very interesting vlog chaps, nicely done. I, for one would love to see the army worked up to completion. Assuming you have the time of course.
I’d rather save myself valuable hobby time and spend the money on a set of nice miniatures that I don’t have to devote so much time with just assembly. Secondly never liked the look of Mantics miniatures. They look oddly proportioned and there is much better minis to use than those. Kings of War looks like a good rule set now they need to get some new sculptors and deliver some top notch minis to go with it. Just my opinion.
great video guys.
you can take pictures of each part number them and have a great downloadable sheet saying what part can go with each other for folks to follow? @warzan
Guys, this is AMAZING! I was gonna start a Empire of Dust Army. Very informative and fun. i am looking forward to the next vlog on the army!
I’m waiting to see the part where the models get attached to the scenic bases.
It’s a question that’s used up a few brain cycles over the past year and I’d love to see how it’s done!
Wow, thanks for creating this video for us all, it was very well done and informative! You really got most of the info you needed from start to finish. I didn’t really think instructions were necessary though as it’s pretty obvious where everything goes, so I won’t hold that against Mantic 😮
I only bought the spearmen skeleton regiment as a tester (I did almost buy the mega army from Wayland, fantastic discount for an already cheap army). If you’re just sticking them together then yes they do “fit ok” but I wanted the skeleton’s torsos to fit up perfectly which wasn’t too much to ask: sure, you can fit / glue them together without any major issues but only if you’re prepared to have many of the models with very noticeable gaps and defects (as you say, “cover it up with the shield”). You mention the gaps etc. so i think you’re aware of the issues I had (though one of the given metal torso variants has a chunk of mental inside that needs to be cut out). My panic was in trying to fit them together perfectly without having to hack and file and green stuff through all 100 or so models I’d like to get. The metal parts themselves are top notch for the price.
“Economy” isn’t an excuse. Keep in mind GW’s plastic current skeletons are a nightmare as well to glue together due to the small spine being where you ahve to glue the torso and legs together. Mantic make plenty of quality products – and have made nice hybrid kits before.
After some experimentation I did find the perfect combination of torso to legs, if anyone is interested I’ll post it in the original forum topic with some photos. It will require you to have an additional plastic skeleton sprue but they’re easy to pick up on ebay for pennies. I hope the other hybrid kits are similarly fixable.
The idea behind the purchase was to mix the Mantic models in, with GW’s now oop tomb king skeletons.
Gentlemen! I love that you are doing Scenic bases for Kings of War; we need to see more of that! I’m a big fan and build multi-unit bases myself – but here is my problem with that approach… the bloody dwarves (and your skeletons, I see) come on those round bases… how are you going to deal with the plinth they stand on with those beautiful scenic bases?
I set up a jig on a scroll saw to try to just cut the bases off, but that takes forever (or it melts the plastic leaving you with a bloody mess and -1 blade) – I need some good, old-fashioned BoW ingenuity here!
@warzan, @dignity, @johnlyons
Nice tutorial… can’t wait for part 2 🙂