Vogon:
Not sure if this is the right section for this question but…
Does anyone know the melting point for the alloy that GW use for their miniatures (the metal ones not finecast or plastic)?
Thanks
Vogon
Thommy H:
About 200 degrees Celsius.
Vogon:
Great, thanks.
This message was automatically appended because it was too short.
Time of Madness:
Should I ask why you wanted to know this…Melting down your models and selling the precious metal? 
Time of Madness
Taurian:
Yes, curious.
Unless you’re turning minis into ingots (which I couldn’t rule out for someone who was intent on ‘punishing’ his minis for a loss. After all, I’ve heard of people similarly destroying dice that failed their rolls) then the only other application I could think of for which this information would prove useful was if you were ‘baking’ the paint onto a miniature. I’ve heard of people trying this before, but the story that I heard involved someone who apparently thought the melting point was higher and supposedly found puddles of molten metal when he checked on them. I don’t know if that’s really true or if he was just telling a story.
Vogon:
No I’m not melting them down.
All the talk of the finecast Hellcannons gave me an idea. I (after one was given to me as a gift) have 2 metal versions so I thought that if I heat one to 2/3 of the melting temperature (the rough forging temperature for any metal) then I should in theory be able to bend them to shape without too much difficulty.
A weekend project I think
Cheers
Vogon
Baggronor:
Melting point for most white metals (definitely the sort that GW would use) is around 300 celsius (softer varieties would be a bit lower). It’ll turn into a blob very suddenly at around this temperature so be vigilant - one minute it’ll look a bit bendy, the next moment it’ll be a shiny puddle. Do you have a way of measuring the temperature?
Keep your work surface bone dry - if molten metal comes into contact with water, it spits. You’ll be down the hospital if that happens. I know you’re not intending to melt it down completely, but like I say, it can happen very suddenly. Gloves, long sleeves and goggles, just to be sure
Also, keep a window open or do it outside. The fumes stink and are bad for you.
cornixt:
I’ve used a soldering iron to melt parts of GW models, and it certainly does go straight from solid to liquid very quickly. I’m not sure how you would evenly heat a model like the Hellcannon since it is so big. I’d stick with filling gaps with greenstuff.
Vogon:
I think the key is a decent soak time at a low-ish temperature (say 120°C) and see how it goes.
As long as the metal is heated well to the core it should be reasonable malleable without loosing too much strength or turning liquid.
Cheers
Vogon
cornixt:
But even if your oven goes that low (mine doesn’t), how would you manipulate it? Even rubber gloves get uncomfortably warm at 100C.
Nicodemus:
I think the key is a decent soak time at a low-ish temperature (say 120°C) and see how it goes.Just be careful dude! Obviously your liquid of choice won't be water then... so just take care not to disfigure yourself if you're heating up cooking oil or something to make your metal pieces more pliable. All that hot oil is going to soak into what ever golves you're using ;)
Vogon
Thommy H:
Honestly, it would probably work out cheaper (in terms of time, effort and personal injury) to just buy a Finecast one…
zobo1942:
I think you may have a problem.
Yes, metal gets pliable when it heats up. However, given the thickness of the hellcannon barrel, I would think that having the entire piece reach an appropriate temperate simultaneously would be improbable.
And - kudos to everyone who mentioned safety. It’s very difficult to paint when you’re covered in burns, or blind.
EDIT: Could you put it on a tray in your oven, and have your oven set to the temperature you wanted? That might work… Maybe… ?
Vogon:
Thank you all for your comments and thoughts for my safety.
I think that people have got the wrong idea about me using the word soak.
The idea is to place it in a small heat treatment furnace at work at a temperature of about 120°C and leave it for about half an hour. This is called a soak time (nothing to do with getting wet) and will ensure that the whole piece is an even temperature throughout the whole thickness (ruling section). The furnace controls to plus or minus 1°C so even if I were to leave it all day it would not get above 121°C and therefore will not melt.
I will then use a pair of insulated furnace gloves (safe to a working temperature of 600°C) to lift the pieces out and attempt to bend both pieces straight.
Trust me I’m a metallurgist 
Cheers
Vogon
P.S. My missus also says to tell you all thank you for thinking of my safety too
Da Crusha:
so, are you gonna do it.
Im a welder myself. I couldn’t get it to weld at all. it would instantly turn to a puddle when I applied the smallest amount of current. fortunately I only experimented with tabs. I was searching for a stronger alternative to pinning at the time. thought about trying brazing or soldering instead but I never got around to trying it out.
Vogon:
Success!
140°C (about 280°F) for 30 minutes and the pieces were soft enough to bend easily. There are still a few bits that will need to be filled with GS but on the whole I’m happy with the result
Before
After
I’m sure that the average household oven will be able to cope with these temperatures and a decent set of oven (or even decent gardening) gloves will be more than adequate to reproduce this effect
Cheers
Vogon
Baggronor:
Nice. My Hellcannon had the same problem, I took the long way round - filed and GS’ed it. Took a while…