Prep before Painting I: Assembling a metal Warjack

Hey guys,

in this post, I will be covering how to assemble a metal Cygnar Hunter Light Warjack. Because of the build of the model, it lends itself to an assembly approach, where you don't need pinning for an effective bond. Instead, I will be using just superglue and a bit of green stuff to put the mini together.

First, you need to wash all the parts of the mini. During casting, the molds are coated with a mold release agent, a very fine powder, so that the plastic or metal won't stick to them and come out without any problems.

Some of the release agent can still be on the parts, once they arrive at your door. Because of the properties of the stuff, paint, primer or even glue won't bond with the surface. So the first thing you'll need to do before painting is to give all the parts a good rinse in warm soapy water. Then, just let the parts dry and you're good to go.

Start with mixing a bit of green stuff together. Green Stuff comes in a lot of different colors (green stuff, grey stuff etc.) but always has the same basic things to look out for. It's a two part epoxy putty. You'll need to mix the two colors together, so that you have a even mixture. After that, you have a work window of about two hours, before the stuff becomes too hard to work with. Always mix small quantities and just mix some more if you need it. Always make sure to have a bit of water handy when you work with GS. Dabbing your fingers into the water before kneading stops the green stuff from sticking to your hands and makes it much easier to work with.

Take a bit of the green stuff and put it inside the slot of the base. Then, put a dab of superglue on the part of the mini, that goes into the slot and press down. The mixture of green stuff and superglue makes for a rock-solid bond. Take your hobby knife and scrape of all the excess green stuff on the bottom of the base, so the base is flush with the table

Roll up some small balls of green stuff and press them into the sockets on the torso on the mini. Add a small bit of glue and press the balljoint of the arm into place. Hold it for a few seconds, so that the glue has time to get a grip and then just let it sit. When you add the arm, some of the GS will come out at the sides, because of the pressure - just remove the excess carefully with your knife or any other sculpting tool.

1. Push a bit of green stuff into the socket

2. Add a dab of superglue

3. Remove excess green stuff

And that's all there's to it. Keep in mind, this works best on smaller models that don't have to heavy parts. For everything bigger and more complex use pinning - which I will be covering on a later date.


I hope this is of some help to some of you,

as always, enjoy and have fun,


IK-Painter