Assembly Notes: Gargoyle

Use Pictures!

You should look up pictures of the model in the Tyranid Codex as well as keep the box the model came in close by. The picture on the cover of the box and the pictures in the Codex will help guide you as to the intended posture and appearance, which can be very helpful, even if you want to convert the model.

Materials

• Needle files from the Testor's Model Masters set.
• 5-minute epoxy
• Any sort of epoxy putty (Kneadatite blue/white is good)
• A double ball sculpting stylus.
• Pinning supplies

Pre-assembly

Remove all flash and scrub the parts clean with dish soap and water.

Note: You can substitute epoxy resin putty or your favorite adhesive for "glue" as you see fit.

A. Pinning the wings to one another and the body

OK, pick a Gargoyle from the pile and clean up the flash.

Check the fit of the wings and pick a spot that falls well within the area of the thin metal septum on the belly that sits between the wings. Drill a hole for pinning.

Use a short piece of pin. This will be used for marking, not assembly. Ideally, the end will be a little rough and sharp.

Sorry about the blur, but here I am pushing the wing with the marking pin into the metal septum. Be careful to push the wing on in the proper position and orientation.

Here's the mark made on the septum. Is it perfectly centered? No. Is that necessary? No.

Here I have inserted a long pin just to show that there is now a continuous hole in the wing and septum.

Clip a short pin for marking. Now it has to be long enough to poke through the septum and touch the other wing.

Press the other wing on to mark it. Be careful to push the wing on in the proper position and orientation.

Again, there is a mark. It's not perfectly centered, but far enough from the edge to be safe. Drill a hole as above.

Make a pin of the proper size to connect both wings. Mix up some 5 minute epoxy. Dip the pin into the epoxy and insert it into one wing (I used needlenose pliers to hold the pin). Dip the other end of the pin into the epoxy. Also, slather some onto the surfaces of the wing bases that will touch the mounting surfaces of the underbelly and opposite wing. You want to be generous without slopping into details of the model. Now, HOLD THE MODEL IN THE PROPER POSITION FOR MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES! It's called five-minute epoxy, but come on, those are large pieces of metal held at tiny joints and the angle puts a pretty heavy torque on the joint with just plain old gravity. I hold it for at least seven or eight minutes. One of the few times TV is useful is when holding pieces together until they set.

Then I hang it to cure more thoroughly. The 5-minute epoxy I bought claims to completely cure in one hour, but I prefer not to test that unless there is a good reason, so I left this overnight.

B. Putting on the Arms

For these, I may want to move them later for painting/mounting, so I dab a little liquid CA glue into the shoulder sockets and press the arms into place.

C. Mounting/Pinning the Model to the Base

Like many things, the GW flying bases can be improved upon. Here are notes on how I made the bases I used for my Gargoyles.

I simply superglued them to the base because I wanted to be able to break them off later for painting (painting them on the base is awkward but I also want to play with them right away), if I need to make modifications, and to facilitate basing later.

I chose pole heights that would allow me to stack my Gargoyles side-by-side:

I found the taller bases were a little too top-heavy...more to come.