Bayonet breakage

[huntersmoon]

Hi

I've broadened my figure collection over lockdown and purchased a good amount of Artizans Afghan range, the issue I'm having is bent rifles and the bayonets snapping off, any tips or solutions to this or is it acceptable to just lop off the fragile bayonets?

Cheers

D.

[flatpack]

I would personally just get rid of it, and crack on painting them.

[Oldboy]

I do not have an answer, only to say that twice I have attempted to collect this range and each time have had the same issue. In the end I binned both orders. Shame really, excellent figures otherwise and comprehensive range.

[Atheling]

Hi

I've broadened my figure collection over lockdown and purchased a good amount of Artizans Afghan range, the issue I'm having is bent rifles and the bayonets snapping off, any tips or solutions to this or is it acceptable to just lop off the fragile bayonets?

Cheers

D.

If the bayonet is bent due to bad packaging then get in touch with the manufacturer /vendor take a picture and ask for a replacement. You are entitled to this, at least under UK law. "Not fit for purpose".

[Johnno]

I do not have an answer, only to say that twice I have attempted to collect this range and each time have had the same issue. In the end I binned both orders. Shame really, excellent figures otherwise and comprehensive range.

That's terrible. I got a few packs for Christmas and they were great.

[has.been]

When much younger I followed Peter Guilder's example &
soldered small bent pins onto muskets, having cut off the cast ones first.

With my eyesight having become worse over the years, I now agree with
Flatpack.  Cut them off & get on with the painting.

[NickNascati]

I think for the British and Sepoys, fixed bayonets are a must.  If you are having a problem with breakage, do as suggested and contact Artizan.

[WillieB]

Depends on where the break occurs. It is really not all that hard to drill out both ends with a 0.3 drill  using the fleshy part of your thumb as a drill guide.
First clean both end with some sandpaper.Lay one next to your thumb and press it in somewhat. Do both sides and insert 0. 3 florist wire or 0.3 brass rod with a small drop of superglue.
I've repaired dozens of bayonets this way.

[Mad Guru]

When the Artizan Second Afghan War range first came out I ordered several units worth of British and Indian troops.  A couple of packs worth of my Punjabis arrived with broken bayonets.  As suggested above by Atheling & Nick, I emailed Artizan and got a couple of packs of replacement figures, whose bayonets were intact when they arrived, and thankfully have remained so since.  I may be wrong, but I don't think the Artizan bayonets are particularly badly cast, I think they're just XXL size, making them easier to get caught, stuck, etc., resulting in them breaking off.  For me they were also a pain to base, since I use single based figures, and the extra long bayonets can make it difficult to arrange troops in base-to-base "Close Order" formations.  On the bright side, my experience getting replacements for figs with broken bayonets from Artizan was fast and painless.

[NickNascati]

Damn, I wasn’t even aware this range existed!  That being said, the bayonets look pretty solidly cast.

[Mad Guru]

NIck, not wanting to derail the OP, but RE: the Artizan range in general, as someone obsessed with the 1878-1880 Second Afghan War, its big selling points are the only historically accurate 92nd Highlanders for the war (wearing 1857 pattern equipment), a variety of British infantry figures wearing poshteens over their uniforms, and the only recently sculpted Indian infantry I know of wearing "Punjabi" turbans.  Oddly enough, years after its introduction, it still doesn't include Gurkhas, certainly one of the most iconic troop types of the era.

[NickNascati]

Mad Guru,
                Luckily my interest is more in the era of the Third Afghan War.  Beautiful figures still, and yes it is odd that there are no Gurkhas.  I actually painted the Man who would be King set for a commission.  Great figures to paint.

[Atheling]

When the Artizan Second Afghan War range first came out I ordered several units worth of British and Indian troops.  A couple of packs worth of my Punjabis arrived with broken bayonets.  As suggested above by Atheling & Nick, I emailed Artizan and got a couple of packs of replacement figures, whose bayonets were intact when they arrived, and thankfully have remained so since.  I may be wrong, but I don't think the Artizan bayonets are particularly badly cast, I think they're just XXL size, making them easier to get caught, stuck, etc., resulting in them breaking off.  For me they were also a pain to base, since I use single based figures, and the extra long bayonets can make it difficult to arrange troops in base-to-base "Close Order" formations.  On the bright side, my experience getting replacements for figs with broken bayonets from Artizan was fast and painless.

If I've received a badly miscast or broken miniature via mail order and there has been some "snappage" I have always got in touch with the manufacturer/vendor and asked for a replacement. It does feel a little weird making a complain about something "so small" but if I'm honest, and this might just be me(?), I would have wasted the money on what would amount to be hundreds of miniatures if I had not complained.

Just be nice about it, polite and courteous and I don't think you will have a problem at all in getting a replacement