Need some help with gluing broken figure that has been professionally painted already

[ekipage]

I purchased a figure (actually won the bid on ebay recently) and when the figure arrived it had a few issues, the figure had broken off from of the base and part of the weapon handle broke off. They are clean breaks, but I am not sure how to best get them back together without messing up the paint job. I know that it was a resin figure, so I am guessing that super glue will work to put it back together, but do I need to try to clean off the old glue (at least the part where the feet were attached to the base) as I don't think the weapon handle was supposed to be two parts, but it might have been as well. If I do need to clean off the old glue, anyone have any good suggestions for how to do this with out messing up the paint job as there is no way I am going to get it looking as good as the person who painted it (I am just no where near that level yet). I could probably pin the weapon handle and just use the glue on the pinsning, but it is a built up base with cork and maybe resin and I am not sure what else, so I am not sure if pinning would work with that or if I would have to try to drill all the way through the cork/ or resin and down to the wood plinth. If pictures will help, I will try to put some up tomorrow to show what the issues are.

 

[Webmonkey]

You should be able to just use new glue without necessarily having to remove the old stuff. That being said, use the glue sparingly. As it tends to dry whiteish. And you may need to touch up with paint.

 

[ekipage]

Thanks for the info Webmonkey. I did pick up some glue with a brush so hopefully that will help in applying it sparinly.

 

[bullfrog]

Maybe try some superglue debonder if you find you need to remove it afterall. I've only ever used it on unpainted military vehicles before so I'm not sure if it affects paint or not. Hopefully someone with more experience can weigh in on this one. Try it on a small painted area of an old mini first although if it's just to remove the glue on the feet it shouldn't matter. Apply it neatly with an old brush.
I'd pin the feet to the base even though it's cork. I use corks to push my pinned minis into to paint them. I've never used glue to secure them as the grip seems to be tight enough to hold the pinned part tightly even with heavy metal parts. Just make the pins a little longer than usual to dig down into the base.

 

[ekipage]

These are the pics of the damage to the mini. I think the base is cork or wood (guess I need to recontact the seller), but trying to figure out if I can fix this with minimal damage to paint as I don't want to ruin a good paint job with my current level of painting. Pinning might be the best option as I wouldn't necessarily have to glue it or just add glue to the pinning and not the model. (and sorry, didn't realize photos would be this large, need to figure out how to reduce them some for this site)
View attachment 56829View attachment 56830View attachment 56831View attachment 56832

 

[Splurch]

For the feet I'd definitely agree with pinning, will be pretty easy to put large pins in there. I'd recommend you clear up as much of the glue from the feet as you can and flatten it as much as possible on the base. It seems less like glue to me though and more like some kind foam or epoxy the painter used to easily flatten the surface for an easier connection. Keeping everything flat is going to be the tricky part and using a very very thin layer of green stuff or something else to fill in gaps in addition to just putting glue on the pins will probably be safest. I'd also recommend painting the edge of whatever gets left on the base before connecting the two pieces, prevents the risk of painting the feet once the model is connected as you clean up the colors. Edit: Just realized, if the glue there still matches up perfectly then don't remove it at all, paint the edges on the base and pin it with large pins so it is easy to match up.

For the weapon if you're just going to display this then I'd say just glue it back into place with just a tiny dab in the center so that any potential crazing (the white residue from superglue fumes) is minimized. If you plan on handling it then pin it, but it's going to be very tricky to match up 100%. Odd that there is paint on the inside though, maybe its a spot that broke during painting? There's no reason it should have paint on it if that's a fresh break.

As for picture size, you can load an image into the default paint program that comes with windows and then just reduce it by %.

 

[ekipage]

Yeah, when I put the figure back on the base, you can match up the footprints with the feet and you don't see any of you yellow glue or epoxy that is on the base. I don't know maybe the weapon was two parts to begin with hence the paint on it where the "break" was. I am just going to put this in a display case, so I think that might be the best way to go about it (pinning the feet and re-gluing the ax handle) since it isn't going to be something I am handling very often if at all once I get it back together.

 

[BloodASmedium]

Here's a trick I use...a good glue should be what we feel it should. Able to hold something in place while you swing it violently through the air. So here is two adhesives that can stand up to that test. 1) LOCKTITE GEL!!! Talk about a string hold yeah this does the job.do not get it on your hands as you will NOT get it off. 2) liquid nails...bought at Home Depot. This after it sets in 10 minutes and fully dries after 24 hours this is even stronger!!!

 

[ekipage]

Thanks for all the feedback. Now I just need to figure out which one I am going to do (more so because I am afraid of messing it up!). I think I actually have some of the Locktite Gel at home, may have to look into the liquid nails though.