As much as we'd like to live in a perfect world, the fact is that we don't. Things are not perfect, and that includes our toy soldiers.
Opening a new box of toys to find them missing pieces, or even broken, is always heartbreaking. However, these can be repaired.
When I received my fleabag riders from the Kings of War kickstarter (to be honest, these are not new pictures - because I'm talking about the FIRST Kings of War kickstarter, not the one for the 2nd edition) I went through the package, and discovered that three of the models were miscast or had been broken at the factory - they were missing the left fore paws.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidvzl0SnkzxLKXNll0CsNHOvg7Z-8na_Jc9_0_9KvuFmUWvWGHdELrWfiXGT4RI72ogzCm6kd_XN5KKS4cLkwoNctIK_bwmDzzcM-73imNPTBhHaREDg4NsUp3LBJZXq3leT_6VGEcppF2/s400/IMG_20130727_195231_789.jpg) |
One of the five models that was missing a paw |
Now some people say if your mount is lame, you have to take them out and shoot them. But that would be a waste. I could have contacted Mantic about replacements (their customer service is great about these things, if a little slow at times) but I figured this would be simple enough for me to actually fix.
I had picked up some
Instant Mold at Gencon, so now was a great time to try it out. This is a wax like plastic that is very soft and pliable when heated, and then stays in the new shape when cooled - so it basically makes a simple mold for cold casting (I don't know if it would work with resin or other material, but it works great with green stuff). You simply take a piece, put in in near boiling water for about a minute, then press the piece you want to mold into it. It was big enough that I did two of them at once.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_QZ6uf1j9Fxy5uAznejvdEWBb9iGpiCiUSIR-hazRwRGTs1H9NWJ2P1mudvQyu32kF7EVyRv55nN0r6yWDsiXAqdEbDlDHCO-hh_3Ee7_ov-zX6QPB1tvNxdH9-LO0z48JWjG2qRjtV0N/s400/IMG_20130727_195245_073.jpg) |
Creating a double mold based on the good version of the model |
You then let the molds set. When I removed the good minis, I had two molds of the shoulder, leg and intact foot. The one drawback is that these are single sided molds - so the inside details will be lost on the cast pieces. However I figured that since these were underneath and on the inside of the model, it would not be noticeable after painting.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikxyy2GWqTkrpjgxNWDBAjJ3z5WMGDcvjAyH3G-JBmIHet5EOw5CAKx5lcMXv78TCjwM7iLfywJ2K-a_mAEGklqwRYUmnmZXqy-p5Kjzg0Eq05qhm9Ien9ojh4JGB6L-Pdh7fsxIAODg4H/s400/IMG_20130727_195314_291.jpg) |
After the mold cooled, and the models were popped out |
Next I simply placed the miscast pieces into the mold
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3VMcBknSJAluXlbWvqkN4iRSVunC_M2LpnWd2PiIF4kT8sy4EI_lg3DwyQWqths0YMwK1oyxVoOc2vJ-wsWgTnIsED40oKvydLwnBVJe6Ydtipc5x2Rt_yK7owgyUWi0wd5UvwxLs4w7G/s400/IMG_20130727_195512_025.jpg) |
Now put the miscast models into the mold |
and then mixed up green stuff and pressed it into the mold for the feet, making sure it overlapped to attach to the good part of the model.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkWAxIyuofAdcR0BQUy1iYiXhsEdEQMvDJFpyK-ufswtV4MbTwlgfPwo3rYG_J0IRwrp9pWQFueX1AxgEuk4mnKn73-l5MKnrc6-1JtHoVMzJbRKh52lfGhdXn4vtq78Te_0mYpu8BvA_X/s400/IMG_20130727_195923_324.jpg) |
Fill the empty part of the mold with green stuff, let set for several hours |
Once the green stuff had set completely, the models easily popped out of the mold. There was a bit of excess green stuff around the new foot
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJAlkTyj-X-Er0eRGZLU8cXgFP7kY03zOpCn1obS87v2NdQktjeXe2D0cKsqwDnfLz4nPaeUiRXtUkSW2KGbzyc7EGt_uiRNScqWAN6vV7b9MmmiAl1Uz6DsH5ZPIOhklohBQdt5QpyfgB/s400/IMG_20130728_240228_335.jpg) |
Popping out the miniatures, now have legs with some excess |
however it was quite easy to trim the excess off with a hobby knife.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKYfSdUTXqZkmTz_HUxwg-w1Q41nJ7aXDGylH0ngOnC1s1cEH9UJ2NLUiT7oJgHqQQ6W5lpq1WovHWkc1Ob-DMbAumch7762GGc_zA_-25Lcc91HjVG6imMK3Q9Qg5zM6gxs-ySahh8axZ/s400/IMG_20130728_240558_749.jpg) |
Quick trim with a hobby knife and ready to paint! |
I then painted up the regiment and based it - and looking at them now, I can't find which of the ten models are the three that I had to recast the paw on!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhliL1QmgGGSqD46kXZhIqlw1pWd4ymggVXjc0p-QH63jccsg4ZxRndFDPZlqrOgFhAE4IVjjwDhtArLdfFAm4e7RuGPVK4iRPrqMjL97QWHjlOsb9lGo0WTzU5sgkLu_c0CAUelXKPXbaM/s400/IMG_20151001_223441052.jpg) |
Painted up and ready to go! |
Note: A version of this was originally posted on the my Mantic blog two years ago - I was thinking this might reach more people here (but then I saw that post had over 1400 views - so maybe not).
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