GRNDL:
Anyone have any suggestions on how to bend a monster’s arms without breaking them, or cutting and pinning them back together? I had thought about using a candle to heat the metal to make it more pliable, but I’m reluctant to try it without knowing it will bring results.
The model in question is an Otherworld miniatures “Otyugh” and the arms are really, really wide. I’ve already built one and attempted to bend the arms into a complex curve, but one of the arms broke and needed repair. Now I’ve got another 2 to go, so I’m looking for some help.
Grimbold Blackhammer:
I’ve discorvered that bending models is a lot easier when the model is suitably warm. I’ve tried candles, boiling water, and a heat gun but they don’t work especially well for me. My best solution to evenly heat the entire model is actually straight forward - put the model on the dashboard of your car in the summer sun, wait until mid-day when the model is thoroughly and evenly heated, and bend away. It works surprisingly well!
Grimbold Blackhammer
zobo1942:
I’ve heard of people using two padded pairs of needlenose pliers - making a small bend, then moving the pliers along a bit and making another bend, etc…
However, I have never tried it.
EDIT: terrible sentence structure.
snowblizz:
Heating the arms up is probably going to be key.
I know how I’d try to do that. I have a round nosed pliers that I use, gently, very gently. But does still leave marks to some degree. I’ve used a piece of leather as padding when gripping with the pliers sometimes and that works rather well.
GRNDL:
I’ll give heating it a go then. Thanks for the suggestions.
I have figured another technique, but its a bit more work, on the other hand it won’t require pinning. I was thinking of pre-stressing where I wanted a curve by cutting away metal on the other side. Then after the bending was complete, fill the gaps/cuts with GS or something.
snowblizz:
I was thinking about mentioning cutting. If you want really acute bends then that’s probably the way to go. Comes with the additional benefit of it being how an arm would really behave. Though on a Deamon model, who knows how arms bend…:o
Anonymouse:
two techniques come to mind:
- heating & bending: since you need to heat the metal evenly, an oven or the already mentioned dashboard could do the trick (although the heat might not be enough to weaken the molecular structure enough to bend it without breaking it). Try it at different temperatures. Since it’s white metal we’re talking about, I assume it an alloy of tin + something.
Tin needs to be 232 C to melt, so as long as you keep the temperature below that, your metal won’t run + drip 
Bending: use pliers but wrap them to avoid dents in the metal when you apply pressure.
technique 2: - cut and greenstuff 
Not much of a tip really, but it’s a matter of anatomy: if you know where the elbow is and how the bones behave in a joint, aim for the point where they meet, cut away muscles and greenstuff them back inplace. This could mean you’d need to cut away a biceps and remodel it completely (due to bulging etc.)
Not much more help I can help you with, unfortunately :s