Congratulations on building your very first mini! I found it really funny how intimidated you were starting out. It's just plastic after all. As for sticking better to the base: Roughing the surface might help. Also use a good amount of cement on the feet and a bit on the base where you want it to stick. Wait a few seconds for the plastic to melt, then press it firmly together for maybe half a minute. Should be firmly stuck after that.
Thank you! Haha, I think it's easy to worry about the things you don't know. But, as with most things, it's easy once someone explains it to you - for one, without the guide I was using, I definitely would have had the wrong glue. I went to edit this video down into just me doing it properly, and realised I was missing the point of being able to show that yes, you can be intimidated by it, but look, even I can do it! 😂 Amazing, I will give it a try! I've assembled a few since but the base didn't work again on one of them so I gave it up as a lost cause. Will try again. Thank you!
One tip for basing your model is to look at it from the top down, and try to centre your model on the base. I don't mean having their head in the centre, but the centre of their mass. Models with outstretched weapons might need to shift back a little on the base, for instance. This helps minimise the amount of overhang your models have, which will be important once you begin playing and moving them into base contact with other models.
Overall, you did a great job. AMG bases can be a bit tricky, so don't worry to much about that. If it gets too fiddly, swap to some superglue to attach them to the base. As for the ease of assembly, model design has come a LONG way. Computer design makes it easier to 'cut up' a finished model into parts that will go together cleanly and with only a few pieces. If you look at some of the old 40k Space Marine plastics their connection points were flat surfaces with almost no keying. It meant they were a bit more easily posed, but also fiddly to get right. A word of warning for the rest of the Shatterpoint box - the B1 Droids WILL test your patience. The connections are small, and the heads come in two parts. We found it was easier to assemble if you left one part of the head on the sprue, glued the other piece to it, then cut it off.
Thank you! That's really helpful, I'll give super glue a go. I've done a few more now, but haven't had any more luck with the bases, and haven't got as far as the droids yet. I went a bit rogue with the assembly order. I'll remember that tip though, very much appreciated!
Building is what i enjoy the most. Both Terrain and Miniatures. Converting them is great fun too. I think modern plastic minis are remarkable in quality and but also much harder to build so I agree that it can be intimidating. For beginners I would recommend to invest in a good clipper and scalpel from the get go. Don't bother with super cheap stuff. Remove these frustrations when you still learning to build stuff or you don't like it much. Regarding Tamiya glues I recently bought one for the first time and found out the hard way that my partner is brutally allergic to the fumes. So if you have a history of reactions to solvents or alcohols better stay away from it. (There are also very different components in the various Tamiya glues. - so this might not even be an issue with the one in the video. )
I'm really starting to see the pull of the build. I thought I'd be doing it just to get to the painting side, but there's something exceedingly satisfying about putting it all together. I'm not artistic enough for conversions, but I do enjoy watching Blinded by Daylight! How would you define good clippers and scalpels? Or better, how can you tell a good one from a bad one? These Army Painter Clippers seemed to do the job fine, but I inherited these rather than picked them. Oh hope your partner is okay! A good warning though, thankfully I was okay, but I'll stay cautious. Thanks for this comment 😊
@@TabletopGamingMag Thx for your reply! I might ramble a bit. First about good clippers and scalpels. The scalpel handle there are basically two important factors. One is rather obvious how well it fits your hand and posture. That is something you need to try and will find out over time. The more important aspect is the how it holds the blade. There are two styles the ones where you use a little screw to fasten the blade and one where you use a screw on the grip to a hand or electric drill (sorry, i am German don't know the proper words for it.) In most beginner kits there are cheap handles that have a tendency to untighten the screw while working. Happened to me a lot in the beginning and did led to a few wounds as well. So if possible get one where the crew mechanism is in the back of the handle. They can be pricy though. For the blades the only real tip i have is to try the many many different kinds and change the blades every few build sessions. (if you build a lot change it several times during a session) There are many interesting blades including chisels, mini saws and others. I personally just use wide very long and point straight blades. Nippers can be a hotly discussed topic. I personally would say that three aspects are important. - A straight cutting edge and a straight back. - good handles that don't hurt after a few cuts - fragging sharp - while plastic doesn't really resists much it helps with stress reduction of your hands. For nippers i stay in the 15 Euro range. You can go much higher than that with specialised nipper for model building in the 50-70 Euro area but I have not taken that plunge yet and I am sceptical its worth the price. I am a big proponent of starting something with good tools. Bad tools or sup bar tools can kill the enjoyment of something that is actually well fun. // Warning Rambling ahead // First don't put yourself down! Artist skill is exactly that. skill. It can be learned is normally acquired through osmosis just by doing stuff - anything really. The are some technical skill that come over time and thanks to youtube there is great knowledge available if you feel ready to have a look. But there is massive factor that makes Kit bashing less accessible than in the past. older kits - and kits from smaller studios - where build very differently then modern main stream games. I think you can see some elements of it with the battle droids for example. Older models basically followed this scheme you had one sprue with 4 different sets of legs, torsos, arm pairs, a bunch of heads, weapons and equipment and other stuff. The made the models more static of course but it made people kit bash automatically. Every Mini was a little story. You collected all the knives from all the sprues and put it on one guy with a crazy face. The box didn't come with a machine gun no problem just glue two gun together to make one. There were also no instructions. because the models where so simple it wasn't needed and that made it easy to deviate from the path. Then you bought another box and the parts where compatible you had more poses and arms and more bits and bobs and with every purchase your bits box grew. You could really make your models your own story. I find that much harder know. I mean if I am already interested in kit bashing and building that's no biggie. I will find sources and parts. But what's missing is that slow natural progression and taking away the fear of changing the models. Thankfully there are so many amazing people out there sharing their journey with us. I hope you try some more building and maybe some kit bashing. I recommend terrain its a good start. Maybe I will do a three hour deep dive video about this one day.
Congratulations on building your very first mini! I found it really funny how intimidated you were starting out. It's just plastic after all.
As for sticking better to the base: Roughing the surface might help. Also use a good amount of cement on the feet and a bit on the base where you want it to stick. Wait a few seconds for the plastic to melt, then press it firmly together for maybe half a minute. Should be firmly stuck after that.
Thank you! Haha, I think it's easy to worry about the things you don't know. But, as with most things, it's easy once someone explains it to you - for one, without the guide I was using, I definitely would have had the wrong glue. I went to edit this video down into just me doing it properly, and realised I was missing the point of being able to show that yes, you can be intimidated by it, but look, even I can do it! 😂
Amazing, I will give it a try! I've assembled a few since but the base didn't work again on one of them so I gave it up as a lost cause. Will try again. Thank you!
One tip for basing your model is to look at it from the top down, and try to centre your model on the base. I don't mean having their head in the centre, but the centre of their mass. Models with outstretched weapons might need to shift back a little on the base, for instance. This helps minimise the amount of overhang your models have, which will be important once you begin playing and moving them into base contact with other models.
Oooh okay, great tip, thank you!
I started with building the battle droids! 😅 man that was a mission! lol great video!
Hahah you think it can't get any more fiddly, and then it does! 😂 Thank you, this was a LOT of fun to do!
Overall, you did a great job. AMG bases can be a bit tricky, so don't worry to much about that. If it gets too fiddly, swap to some superglue to attach them to the base. As for the ease of assembly, model design has come a LONG way. Computer design makes it easier to 'cut up' a finished model into parts that will go together cleanly and with only a few pieces. If you look at some of the old 40k Space Marine plastics their connection points were flat surfaces with almost no keying. It meant they were a bit more easily posed, but also fiddly to get right.
A word of warning for the rest of the Shatterpoint box - the B1 Droids WILL test your patience. The connections are small, and the heads come in two parts. We found it was easier to assemble if you left one part of the head on the sprue, glued the other piece to it, then cut it off.
Thank you! That's really helpful, I'll give super glue a go. I've done a few more now, but haven't had any more luck with the bases, and haven't got as far as the droids yet. I went a bit rogue with the assembly order. I'll remember that tip though, very much appreciated!
Building is what i enjoy the most. Both Terrain and Miniatures. Converting them is great fun too.
I think modern plastic minis are remarkable in quality and but also much harder to build so I agree that it can be intimidating.
For beginners I would recommend to invest in a good clipper and scalpel from the get go. Don't bother with super cheap stuff. Remove these frustrations when you still learning to build stuff or you don't like it much.
Regarding Tamiya glues I recently bought one for the first time and found out the hard way that my partner is brutally allergic to the fumes. So if you have a history of reactions to solvents or alcohols better stay away from it. (There are also very different components in the various Tamiya glues. - so this might not even be an issue with the one in the video. )
I'm really starting to see the pull of the build. I thought I'd be doing it just to get to the painting side, but there's something exceedingly satisfying about putting it all together. I'm not artistic enough for conversions, but I do enjoy watching Blinded by Daylight!
How would you define good clippers and scalpels? Or better, how can you tell a good one from a bad one? These Army Painter Clippers seemed to do the job fine, but I inherited these rather than picked them.
Oh hope your partner is okay! A good warning though, thankfully I was okay, but I'll stay cautious.
Thanks for this comment 😊
@@TabletopGamingMag Thx for your reply!
I might ramble a bit.
First about good clippers and scalpels.
The scalpel handle there are basically two important factors. One is rather obvious how well it fits your hand and posture. That is something you need to try and will find out over time.
The more important aspect is the how it holds the blade. There are two styles the ones where you use a little screw to fasten the blade and one where you use a screw on the grip to a hand or electric drill (sorry, i am German don't know the proper words for it.)
In most beginner kits there are cheap handles that have a tendency to untighten the screw while working. Happened to me a lot in the beginning and did led to a few wounds as well.
So if possible get one where the crew mechanism is in the back of the handle. They can be pricy though.
For the blades the only real tip i have is to try the many many different kinds and change the blades every few build sessions. (if you build a lot change it several times during a session)
There are many interesting blades including chisels, mini saws and others. I personally just use wide very long and point straight blades.
Nippers can be a hotly discussed topic. I personally would say that three aspects are important.
- A straight cutting edge and a straight back.
- good handles that don't hurt after a few cuts
- fragging sharp - while plastic doesn't really resists much it helps with stress reduction of your hands.
For nippers i stay in the 15 Euro range. You can go much higher than that with specialised nipper for model building in the 50-70 Euro area but I have not taken that plunge yet and I am sceptical its worth the price.
I am a big proponent of starting something with good tools. Bad tools or sup bar tools can kill the enjoyment of something that is actually well fun.
// Warning Rambling ahead //
First don't put yourself down! Artist skill is exactly that. skill. It can be learned is normally acquired through osmosis just by doing stuff - anything really.
The are some technical skill that come over time and thanks to youtube there is great knowledge available if you feel ready to have a look.
But there is massive factor that makes Kit bashing less accessible than in the past. older kits - and kits from smaller studios - where build very differently then modern main stream games. I think you can see some elements of it with the battle droids for example.
Older models basically followed this scheme you had one sprue with 4 different sets of legs, torsos, arm pairs, a bunch of heads, weapons and equipment and other stuff.
The made the models more static of course but it made people kit bash automatically.
Every Mini was a little story. You collected all the knives from all the sprues and put it on one guy with a crazy face.
The box didn't come with a machine gun no problem just glue two gun together to make one.
There were also no instructions. because the models where so simple it wasn't needed and that made it easy to deviate from the path.
Then you bought another box and the parts where compatible you had more poses and arms and more bits and bobs and with every purchase your bits box grew. You could really make your models your own story.
I find that much harder know. I mean if I am already interested in kit bashing and building that's no biggie. I will find sources and parts. But what's missing is that slow natural progression and taking away the fear of changing the models.
Thankfully there are so many amazing people out there sharing their journey with us.
I hope you try some more building and maybe some kit bashing. I recommend terrain its a good start.
Maybe I will do a three hour deep dive video about this one day.