Chaos Chosen from separation to assembly.

Cutters and plastic glue along with an x-acto knife or mold line remover are essential tools for de-spruing and assembling plastic miniatures.

During separation always separate the pieces for each figure. I like to keep them on a paper plate or a post it note to keep all pieces accounted for.

Once you've removed and separated the pieces you will want to inspect each piece for flash lines. Flash lines are the thin line from where the Sprue was in the mold.  You don't have to remove them but the different between an okay model and a great model is removing those flash lines.

You want to be very careful when you do this, too much pressure when sanding or trimming can spell disaster.

There are two ways to remove flash lines.  

If the lines arent pronounced you can usually use a little fine grit sandpaper or Emory board. I prefer an Emory board because I can trim it to size to fit right spaces.  Just sand and keep checking until the area is smooth.  Be careful not to sand out details.

The other option to remove flash is more advanced but one you will use more often. Using a mold line remover or X-acto Knife gently press the blade between the model and the flash. You should start to see the flash peel away. Once you've removed as much as you can you can finish to the first method to finish.

 Once you've done that it's a good idea to actually take a small container, fill it with warm soapy water and wash each mini individually in the tub. This will remove any remaining powder that would be on the figure from the molding process.

To assemble the miniature you will use the Citadel Plastic glue. Simply use a light amount of glue on the connecting points and press firm until the bond seals.

The glue is pretty forgiving allowing you to reposition for a few minutes before setting.

Be advised though the glue is actually cement so once it's bonded you cant separate the pieces. Cement melts both piece of the plastic and fuses them together. The reason the models look so seamless is because they literally fuse together.  A properly bonded mini is one solid piece.

Here is an assembled Chaos Warrior. Very easy to put together. Literally 4 total pieces. Just a follow the instructions and you'll be fine.

A line of assembled beastmen ready to be primed. The difficulty here was in both gluing the horns as well as not breaking the delicate horns when taking them out of the mold.

A steady hand and patience in abundance are a must. Also like clipping toenails these pieces can go flying!  Always use a dry paper towel or piece of paper for to shield the Sprue when you clip small pieces. That way IF it goes flying it will be caught in the towel or paper and not end up ground into your carpet.

If you want to experience hell try and find a piece of a gray model on a gray carpet.

I hope these tips find you well, next post we will cover priming!