How do I Re-position Reaper Bone Material?

[ErikB]

I got a unicorn for my daughter.  It looks great but the horn is bent to the side.  I've tried warm water and bending it but it keeps returning to this awkward, 45 degrees-off position.

Any ideas? 

Thanks!

[petercooman123]

I use a lighter.

Just be very carefull!!

I squeeze the model between my fingers until it gets the prefered position and then quickly pass it through a burning lighter, very quickly! I do this as many times as needed untill i get the result i want.

Don't know if it will work on something as delicate as a horn though!

Maybe coating it in superglue after you use the warm water would help 'set' it ?


Also, i have noticed that if you just put it in the position you want results in 'going back' a bit. You might want to try to 'overdo' it. Reposition it 45 degrees to the other side, that way if it comes back a bit it will be straight.

[Fitz]

I've had good success straightening thin parts of Reaper Bones miniatures with a hair dryer. I've also boiled them, where thicker parts have been distorted. The plastic will take a fair amount of heat before melting; I've baked Sculpey with them at 130° with no problems.

Heating will return the plastic to its original configuration, but if the miniature was distorted while it was still hot from the mould, that distortion is its original configuration. In that case, no matter what you do in the way of heating, unless you actually take it to the point of melting to realign its molecular structure, it will keep returning to its original distorted state.

If that's the case, you'll have to engage in more advanced surgery — cutting, pinning, and filling. Green Stuff works fine with Bones. Sculpey won't stick to it of itself, and will have to be glued. Milliput sticks, but cures a lot more rigid than the Bones plastic itself and can break away from its anchor points if the miniature is flexed. I haven't tried Procreate yet, but I suspect it might suffer from the same issues as Milliput.

[zizi666]

I've only bent 1 reaper bones figure so far.
I put it in hot water (near boiling) for a minute or so, took it out , straightened it and immediatly submerged it in a bowl of icewater while holding it in the desired position so it would harden fast. (did the same thing for those ghastly Sedition Wars minis too)

[Dr.Falkenhayn]

I use a lighter.

  i'm doing the same,works fine though   Melt Wizard Melt!



on another Note:Am i the only one thinking Reaper Bones are shite?i can see the Advantage of the Material on big Miniatures but overall the Casting Quality is shite imo,i wont buy anymore that said  

[syrinx0]

As a backer of the second bones KS I hope my experience is better. 

[petercooman123]

on another Note:Am i the only one thinking Reaper Bones are shite?i can see the Advantage of the Material on big Miniatures but overall the Casting Quality is shite imo,i wont buy anymore that said  

I think it's fairly good. For the price you pay for it i don't mind the extra hassle of straightening and stuff.

You can never beat a metal model but i have better experience with it over that stupid failcast.

[Rob_bresnen]

I've only bent 1 reaper bones figure so far.
I put it in hot water (near boiling) for a minute or so, took it out , straightened it and immediatly submerged it in a bowl of icewater while holding it in the desired position so it would harden fast. (did the same thing for those ghastly Sedition Wars minis too)

I did this too...worked ok

[Dr. Zombie]

The hot water then cold does the trick.

Also check this out: http://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/48667-bones-frequently-asked-questions-unofficial/

[ErikB]

Is there any loss of detail due to the hot water?

For example, clothing folds or unicorn twists being flattened and fingerprinted by the pressure from your hand?

Just wondering before I actually do this.

[zizi666]

Not really, but I only had to soak the feet in the hot water, not the whole model.

[dwbullock]

I think Bones is complete crap.  I'm a table top quality painter, I admit it.  And I read all the 'how to paint bones' articles.  I tried painting without priming.  The paint wiped off.  I tried washing it, scrubbing it after soaking for a day in soapy water, even used simple green.  Painted it.  Paint wiped off.  Tried spray priming a few test models, they remained sticky for days, with the primer coming off on my hands and not sticking to said scrubbed models.  Finally, I tried priming with Gesso.  That seemed to work.... until I painted this:



It's been a long, long time since I painted a model that looks this crappy.

All those little white splotches are places where the paint simply will not stick.  I have tried, and tried again.  I've watered down the paint to reach those details, and it worked ... until the next day when I looked at it and saw the same white spots.  I have inked, painted, even said screw it and GOBBED paint over the white spotty areas.  Next day, same thing.

So yes, they are cheap.  But I think I might just give mine to my daughter and let her paint the damn things.  Or just pretend all of them are ghost models.

[dwbullock]

Also, the tentacles were bent on this thing so it stood at an angle, and I finally had to putty up the base to compensate for the bend. 

[Henrix]

The almost boiling water and then dipping in ice cold water has worked fairly well for me as well.


But I'm no friend of bones. All I've seen are pretty poor casts. And they do need priming, not matter what Reaper says.

[zizi666]

I always prime. preferably with grey Motip primer (GW primer is very good, but too expensive for my taste), I've got gesso too, but I keep that for mdf laserkits (those things suck more fluid than a starbing vampire sucks blood...)

this is that one figure I mentioned before :



It painted up without noticable problems.
Is your primer still good ? (the local DIY recently stopped carrying Motip in favour of their housebrand : Sencys and after a couple of tries I discarded the cans as the product is crap)