How do you hold your mini's while painting ?

[Drakeoss]

hello all I have been working on this for a few years of different ways to hold the mini while working on them mostly I paint them seperatly from there bases. More so now that I'm doing more decrative bases and I'm running into the problem of holding the mini while workign on it for alot of my normal sized ones I just do the drill into them and pin them to a wine cork but working on my trollkin there a bit to big for that to work so I find myself trying over methods and saddly not to well, so this got me thinking surely I'm not the only one running into problems like this so why not as those with more expirince than i ?, so that leads me here to all of you in the great comunity of ares how do you hold your mini's while workign on them cork, plyers, spare bases what do you use to hold them and to make them sacure while you do so ?

[patisarat]

I have a crappy old beat-up wooden cylinder that fits nicely in my hand, and I just blu-tac the figure's base to it.

I also use a lot of decorative resin bases, and I usually paint them separately from the figure (pinning the fig to the resin base is the final step). So I just pin the figure to any old used base, then blu-tac that base to my bit of wood for painting.

I'm painting an Archidon right now, and with the 50mm base and the wingspan, my regular wooden thing has proven too unstable. So I've blu-tacked the Archidon to the plastic cap of an old spray can instead. Much more stable, still easy to handle for spraying/painting.

Hope this helps!

Also, organizing your thoughts using line breaks and punctuation will help you get responses. I guarantee it.

[drachenfels]

i dont generally do allot of work on the bases, and what i do on them is the last component, so i often hold it with my thumb and index finger of my left hand around the edge of the base, they way i can manipulate it in any direction i need (including spinning it) and i can get a good 180'+ around without hassle or touching the model.
also by painting the edge of the base last it also gives me a place to stabilize my right hand pinky while i paint so i don't get shaky hand.

[Blue Claw]

I blue tack the base to old reaper paint jars. To help keep them from tipping or causing me grief to hold I fill each one with 2 heavy nuts from home depot wrapped in tp so they dont loosely rattle around.

[ObsidianXIII]

I usually have the model glue onto the base already, so I can fill any spaces in the base and cover it with modelling rocks or sand. That way, I get the primer on the sand and rocks. Then I just hold it by the base when I paint and touch up the base edges when I'm done.

[QuadG]

A trick I've been doing is using caps from various bottles and the like. The larger gatorade bottle tops work well for larger bases, and the tops of the NOS energy drinks work well for medium and small based models. Just a dab of glue on the feet of the model is enough to hold it, and pop it off when I want to put it on the base later.

Note: http://www.productwiki.com/upload/images/nos_energy_drink.jpg
That's the top I'm stating. The little notches work well for finger holds and maneuvering it around in order to get those hard to reach spots.

[iurbina]

Pill bottles, filled with quarters if I need added stability. You could use something else for weight, but I had the change lying around.

[SkorneOnTheCob]

For 30mm and smaller I blue tac or magnetise the model bases to some old GW hex bottles I have (with paint that's still good, I might add) and for the larger ones, up to 60mm, I attach them to a couple of large pill bottles

[Autumn Stone]

Snip the tab
Pin the foot
Screw the pin into a pin vice
Hold the pin vice
Curse when the constant wear and tear faatigues the glue or metal fatigues the pin

Cheers
A.S.

[kc7sbp]

I got a large wooden dowel at the hardware store, cut it off at a length suitable for a comfortable grip and just use blue-tac. Works great for larger/heavier models that given enough time will cause my hand to fatigue and eventually cramp up.

[althai]

Snip the tab
Pin the foot
Screw the pin into a pin vice
Hold the pin vice
Curse when the constant wear and tear faatigues the glue or metal fatigues the pin

Cheers
A.S.
That's what I do, or sometimes the same but with a champagne cork to hold the pin(s) instead of a pin vice. And I haven't had any metal fatigue problems doing this. Sometimes the pin does come loose, but you can avoid that problem by using two pins and a champagne cork, so there's less torque on each pin. A champagne cork is really better than a pin vice most of the time.

[breadhead]

If I'm going to paint the base and miniature separately I will either pin the miniature into a cork (gluing coins to the base for balance if necessary) or pin it into an old camera film canister filled with plasticine.
The film canister has more weight and can hold pretty hefty miniatures safely (e.g. Metal Warjacks).

I've tried holding miniatures with a pin vice and just don't find it comfortable to use for any length of time.

[PPS_Meg]

I used to be a believer in blue tac but working with heavier models it doesn't seem to hold them as well. What I do, depending on what I'm working on, is glue one foot of the mini to a "working" plastic base and then use double sided sticky foam tape and tape it to the top of a spray paint can lid. It's easy, cheap, effective and you probably have a million spray can lids around and don't know what to do with them.

When I'm done painting the mini and want to transfer to a display base, just pop the foot off of the base, glue it on to the new one, do a few touch ups and done.

[lsuedd]

uhhhh, i just hold it, with my hands

[Dalthoraz]

I use something like the big one on the left in the pic below for medium and large bases. And 1" wooden dowel rods cut down to hand size for small bases: I use a liberal amount of sticky tac to hold them on but I might be using Meg's foam tape idea in the future. Just use something other then your hand the oils in your skin can make your paint flake off. Oh I use 35mm canisters fills with washers for weight too.
http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d99/DeadlyDesign/eyelashtube.jpg

[Azhdeen]

I have a pair of locking forceps, which I can either clamp on the tab or more recently; clamp it on the copper rod I will use to pin it to the base. Good 360' access, no needing to handle the model; until varnished and ready to be pinned to the base.

[darisus]

I hold it in my hand... That being said, i do have a method to this. I like to work from the inner most layer out like you dress, but most models have a seperation at the waist (belt, sash, etc.), which allows me to paint the bottom half of the miniature allowing me to hold the top half in my hand. When the bottom half is done i do the base. Then i affix the model to my finished base and can hold it while i paint the top half. I also tend to work in parts on larger models so i can paint into all the areas easier. Once the top half is done i clean the base edges and paint arc markers. Then seal the whole thing.

[ICleadpeople]

Hemostats Here, They are qwsome for everything. I use them on all bases and for the deep hobby knife cuts :P

[fishfleas]

I haven't seen anyone else do this, but some where I picked up some clamps like you would use in surgery. Scissor type that lock. They work amazing at holding the base tab. It's also quite comfortable holding it. I've only recently started using it, as I just found them in my storage of art supplies. unfortunately I have no clue where I got them...

[DieselDM]

I cut a 1-1/4" wooden dowel into 2" sections. Some double-sided foam tape holds even metal models securely.

http://dieseldm.com/Images/Warmachine/Ironclad/DowelPaintStand.jpg

[toku]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v472/skywaiter/DSC_0283.jpg

I did this because I cant find a wine cork big enough.

Cut the cork any size you want. Stack, stick, shape it to fit you hand. Done.

[Konan]

Poster puttying them to baby food jars work real well too

[ICleadpeople]

@fishfleas Those are Hemostats :P You can get them from most LGS. Or your local OR

[TheButchersHound]

Pin them, mount them to an old wine bottle cork, works great.

[Awk]

I used to be a believer in blue tac but working with heavier models it doesn't seem to hold them as well. What I do, depending on what I'm working on, is glue one foot of the mini to a "working" plastic base and then use double sided sticky foam tape and tape it to the top of a spray paint can lid. It's easy, cheap, effective and you probably have a million spray can lids around and don't know what to do with them.

When I'm done painting the mini and want to transfer to a display base, just pop the foot off of the base, glue it on to the new one, do a few touch ups and done.

This is more or less what I do. I glue the foot to a spare base and then hold the base when I'm painting. I can easily pry the foot off the base when it's time to transfer to the "real" base.....which is usually a resin one.

[fishfleas]

@fishfleas Those are Hemostats :P You can get them from most LGS. Or your local OR

Ah, google search and yep thats it. I think I might have gotten them from my mom's stash of supplies she gave me. She had random things she gave me when I was doing more modeling. I am really happy using them though. they work great.