Ball-headed Dress Making Pins

[Mr.Marx]

Hey ho,

Has anyone ever tried using the little ball-headed pins that you can buy in sewing shops for modeling projects?

You know the ones, the steel pins with the plastic or metal ball on the end?

Particularly, do they have horrible mold lines? Do they take (and hold) paint well? How regular are they in size?

MM.

[Orctrader]

Yes.

I use pins of all types for replacement swords, spears and the like.  Be careful though.  They are very strong and if you are cutting them, take industrial-strength precautions with eye-protection.   

[Mr.Marx]

Yes.

I use pins of all types for replacement swords, spears and the like.  Be careful though.  They are very strong and if you are cutting them, take industrial-strength precautions with eye-protection.   

Good to know (will remember to try and not blind myself) but I'm more interested in the 'ball' end. Particularly, I want to add some spherical gubbinz to something.

[has.been]

 I use the mapping pins, much shorter pin. They are good for various effects, such as stone balls on top of gate pillars. They push in very easily into foam board, though I always secure them with a spot of wood glue. The cast lines are a pain to remove, but you can make a feature of them, e.g. when I made some into wall mounted security cameras the cast line made it very easily to paint one half as a base & the other as a perspex cover. I have never had a problem getting paint to adhere, but worth cleaning them first.

[Juxt]

All of the ball headed pins I've ever come accross have had terrible mould lines or mis-aligned mould halves meaning they aren't particularly spherical. I wonder if ball bearings would work better for you?

[SotF]

The biggest thing I used them for was attaching several to bases for the Star Wars RPG and painted them as Remotes.

[dampfpanzerwagon]

I've used them as cannon balls. See this post.

http://dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/a-napoleonic-redoubt-wargames-soldiers.html



Tony

[AndrewBeasley]

The ones on the table in front of me (and in the dress my good lady is working on) are free of mold lines but most have a small dimple from the casting injection point.

We have lots of different sized balls all very tough plastic that can shatter - I think these are dependent on the manufacturer rather than deliberate choice.

Never tried painting them - they are very very shiny so I would be tempted to use enamel or a good undercoat first.

[cgh]

I've used them with great success for terrain building.  I bought brass ones so I didn't need to paint them.  No mould lines or anything on them but as mentioned, they can ping a bit when cut.

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=89718.msg1107632#msg1107632

3rd picture down shows them off.

[FifteensAway]

In my favored scale, I used one to form the core for replacing a miscast figure lacking a head.  Poor guy is bald as a billiard ball.  But it worked out - though he's known for having a 'big head'.

[Hammers]

You have never considered ball bearings or lead shot? Perfectly spherical and not expensive via Ebay.