Sunday 17 April 2011

Paper Halberds

Strange how things happen sometimes. I was painting up the Miniarts Swiss infantry and I wanted to add a few halberds to the mix. The ones that come with the set, like the pikes provided...are in a word..crap.
If you want to use them you have to fit them with a "collar/sleeve" affair which doesn´t really hold...and looks bloody awefull. I tried to weld the halberd heads onto the florist wire but no joy.
Anyway..I came up with a solution and got on with it, and at the more or less the same time,  so did Will from Will´s Wargames!!!
The same idea!! :-D


This is my solution.
First the stuff needed. Normal Paper, a length of Forist wire 0.5mm, a sharp blade, some wood glue and some liquid plastic glue. By liquid plastic glue, I mean the stuff that is used in Kit making. I used both Pattex and Revell, both had the same result.
Fold a bit of paper, open it up and smear with  woodglue. Lay the florist wire  on the paper and fold the paper over, glueing the wire between both sides.. I´ve found the maximum length of wire than should be glued in is 0.5cm´s...any longer and it looks a bit daft. Press the paper as close as possible along the sides of the wire using a thumbnail.
When fully dried, use the sharp blade to cut out a halberd shaped head. When you´ve got the right shape and size, soak the head in liquid plastic glue. This (like with the toiletpaper cloaks) makes the paper turn virtually into plastic, and when that´s fully dried you can shave any little bits off as you please
Attach to the bods and paint. 

16 comments:

  1. Looking forward to seeing more ideas how this technique can be used. I did not know we could make our own effective plastic so easily. This opens new doors.

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  2. It does work quite well. The points of the halberds are quite stable and the paper, being "plastified" takes paint well without it going soggy.
    Cheers
    paul

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  3. Well done Paul, well written and to the point. The results are lovely. I like how you can get a lot of variety in halberds with minimal effort and time. I imagine something like this could be done for rudders and tail-planes on string-bags. Fold the paper in half and cut on the "loose" edges first to get your general shape and symmetry while the fold runs along the rear. The only difference is the wire would not be exposed, and you use multiple pieces to simulate the the ribs. it should give you the look of doped linen on a wood frame.

    Cheers

    Will

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  4. Now that´s brilliant!!!! That could be used to make the wings ...vitually everything on a scratch built WWI plane!! Different thickness wire etc. I like that. Also it could be used to...aha!!! Now I have a good idea ;-D Thanks mate.
    Cheers
    Paul

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  5. You really have a gift for adapting and overcoming problems, really nice work.

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  6. Thanks Fran...though it´s got a lot to do with being a skinflint, :-D
    Cheers
    paul

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  7. Ha ha that's a great solution.

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  8. Nice idea and pictures. Have you tried this at 15 mm?

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  9. I'll join the chorus for this one. Another weapon in the armoury.

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  10. What a great idea, you are a clever Bod!!

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  11. very cool!
    brings back fond memories. one of my closest friends, and the guy who got me into minis & wargaming, long ago converted a unit of goblins from the warhammer 3rd edition multi-race plastic goblins into a "2-handed weapon unit" in just this way- making all kinds of exotic shaped pole arms: wire, paper & super glue.

    Great stuff!

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  12. Good idea, they will look good painted.

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  13. Bril idea. I just learned something!

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  14. a very brilliant idea and i have just tried it and it works fantastic. Thank you very much for this tip!
    Wolfgang

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  15. Wonderfull tip Paul! This opens more doors for figure conversions!
    Thanks for sharing mate!

    Greetings
    Peter

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