Straightening Finecast

[kturock]

I have a finecast Necron Cryptek. The staff is warped.
Anyone know how to straighten it out? It's curved like a flattened "S".

Thanks.

[3eland]

Put it in a bowl of really hot (but not scalding) water. let it sit for like 5-10 minutes and then bend it back. The other thing I do when I am impatient is use a hair dryer on low setting, keep it far enough to heat it but not close to melt it. Either way works though so dependent on how impatient you are in fixing it.

Just make sure you are patient with the actual bending, you will feel when it is ready to bend, and in most cases it'll start to bend just from the weight and gravity.

[s_o_r_r_o_w]

To straighten things like this, I use near-boiling water (though you have to be alert to having it soft and flopping around).

Heat it up, soften it, straighten it--and then, vitally, dunk it in an ice-cold water bath to "fix" it in place.

[kturock]

I took a small plastic container, an old margarine container. Filled it to 2/3's full and put it in the microwave for 60 seconds.
When it was done, I put the piece into the water and let it float a few minutes.
It was then limp as a noodle. I straightened the piece and held it a few seconds. It mostly cooled so I heated it again and held it again.
I then put it under runing tap water and that cooled it.

Thanks for the advice. I've heard something about hot water before, but not how.
I didn't think it'd be too hard. I've heated plastic before making armour, but it was a different type of plastic.

[3eland]

Yeah always good to ask before you try something. I have found that out the hard way many times before!

[vurumai]

Give up. Clip it off and replace the staff with a plastic part.


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[kturock]

I used the same princple to straighten some yhetee legs and feet. Now they fit flat on the bases.

I'm gonna try it with some spare Necron lords that I'm going to convert.

[efalsken]

Check out this podcast episode, it's all about Forgeworld modeling: http://theindependentcharacters.com/blog/?p=3441

to save you time, you basically heat it up gradually (almost-boiling water is the most common). Put weight on it or hold it in shape as it dries and cools. Then, the real trick is to heat it a second time in the same position and cool it again.

[NuWishA]

So what do we do if the model is already painted, but the figure is now waving a giant wet noodle around?

[kturock]

The hot water shouldn't affect the paint. You could also strip it and then straighten it and repaint it.

[s_o_r_r_o_w]

So what do we do if the model is already painted, but the figure is now waving a giant wet noodle around?

Depends on the paint, but it should be at least water resistant.