Well, after almost a year of no modelling, painting, etc I decided to start up again. I'm going to make an Eagle army with Gwaihir and 4 eagles.

One thing I messed up on the plastic Wraith+Fell Beast was the top knob on the stand snapped off. I ended up shoving the whole thing through the hole, with a blob of glue at the top so it would anchor on the inside and stay positioned. Now I'm looking askance at the eagle stands...it seems to me that the ball doesn't fit inside the hole unless you glue it first, but then spreads the torso parts and becomes a PITA to prime and paint around.

Or should I assemble, prime, and paint, and then trim away enough to nestle the ball in the hole? Will it keep its position properly?

Thanks for any advice, I'm not very "crafty" and don't want to mess it up.

My suggestion is to prime and paint first, then you can slowly work the post to fit very snuggly by filing down the junction area. I'm not a fan of gluing flying models to their bases as it just ultimately leads to the brittle plastic on the base cracking and breaking inside the flying beast.

I agree with IsleStaggerholm about not gluing flying models to their base. Especially since the eagle is so large and the plastic piece to keep it together is seems so fragile. (This is just what I did) I primed mine, painted it, and then magnetized him to the flying stand after I had finished painting him. That way I could take him off the base for transport and storage, but also could use him on the table and if he was knocked around, he would just fall off the magnet and nothing would break.

P.S. If you do think about the magnets, 1/8" x 1/16" cylindrical rare earth magnets fit snugly in the hole where flying stand is supposed to be.

I hope this helps!

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My WIP: viewtopic.php?f=50&t=26482

I built my eagle, painted it, and then inserted the base. If you assemble the body right then the base doesn't need glueing. I left them seperate for ease of transport. The base does not need to be glued to support the model.

When you think about where that base is going, it's no wonder the models have such grouchy expressions on them.

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Thanks all, I don't think I'll be doing the magnet thing, but if I can refrain from gluing I will. I guess the main answer to my question is "don't glue first"