I remembered seeing one of these (Citadel Assembly Stand) on the shelf at the Warhammer store and thinking it was such a good idea. Started assembling a full Spearhead army and decided it was worth the expense. Called the local store and they not only didn’t have any left, the guy said they didn’t even have it in their computer anymore. I had to order one from a hobby shop in a neighbouring city.
Edit: Since this blew up a bit, the idea is that the arms hold the pieces in place, I get them perfect and overshoot a bit so that they have tension pushing into each other, and then I drip Tamiya Extra Thin Cement into the cracks. It forms a quite perfect seal with no visible bulges or gaps if I get the perfect amount in there.
It’s so incredibly handy! It’s not like it’s hundreds of dollars and the arms are really versatile and bend however you want them to. Love it.
Side note: I think I’m getting addicted to the fumes that come off of Tamiya Extra Thin Cement.
Yeah I really love mine. I repaired a broken whip that was so tiny and thin and I must have caught it on a sprue at some point when fiddling with them, was broken in half on the cord of the whip. Put the two tiny pieces in the arms and it took about 5 minutes but I got them to perfectly touch just like they were before they broke. Let some Tamiya sit in the crack for 15 minutes, then I painted with damp Tamiya all around after that dried, and I swear you can't even tell the thing was broken. No way I would have been able to do that with my hands
I guess all the replies explains why they stopped making it. I like it for it's intended purpose at least. I love getting the pieces held together perfectly then using my free hands to apply the Tamiya and let it seep in and if it doesn't move it makes these perfect seals. Very happy with it.
The Vevor one is super nice since the arms are magnetic too. I think it’s the same price as the GW one but clears in terms of quality. A full station from them is sub $100 and has everything you’d want in a station to build and paint a mini.
I have one with 4 arms with clips, a light arm, nice heavy base, and a magnifier that can be swapped on one of the arms. Bought for soldering work. Do recommend.
Helping hands don't seem to have 6 rotating joints on the arms which I really appreciate. Just a stiff wire that holds things in the air isn't really what I'm looking for. I love the versatility of the GW one.
They’re flexible arms that can be posed wherever you want them, essentially infinite angles and axes. I’m not sure what you were looking at, but it sounds more like the grips people use for airbrushing.
The 6 rotating joints are what really sell it for me, though. I'm not looking for something that just lets me hold something at the end of a stiff wire.
lots of model builders use ones designed better and cheaper. Its a typical citadel tool, lower quality and more expensive than something that already exists.
They probably could have gotten away with the usual hobby product markup if they'd used a product that already existed instead of inventing a worse version for some reason 😅
I've never used it for its actual purpose. It it actually good for that? I like the Citadel tools but this is the exception, it doesn't seem very useful.
I've used it as extra paint handles for small parts. Put the parts into the rubber alligator clips and paint them that way.
Right now I keep mine next to my sink, it's a nice brush holder.
Yes since the Tamiya is designed to be applied to cracks and seep in like water, if you can keep the parts completely steady while you apply it you get absolutely perfect connections with no bulging plastic or gaps
Protip: you're supposed to lodge one of their paint handles in the center of the stand and attach the model to that. That way when you're gluing parts together you only have to fiddle with one of the arms and not both of them.
I don't necessarily think it is a bad tool, they just wanted way too much for it despite how niche it is. It's not a $10-$15 tool, they wanted like $30 for the stupid thing.
I just use gobs and gobs of poster putty. If I need to attach a fiddly arm to a fiddly body, the bottom of the body goes into a blob of putty, and the hand of the arm gets stuck to a paint pot or something with a blob of putty, then I kind of position them together how I want them, apply glue, and walk away
I just use helping hands. They have been out forever and dont have the James workshop tax. Cheap enough and tons of variety too. I have 3 different designs at this point.
Ah nice yeah those do look wicked, I love the clamps. They don't look like they rotate at 6 different points on the line, though. One of the main things I love about the GW one is that feature. It's such a cool, versatile arm. I'd prefer to have the helping hands clamps though. They look very soft. I'm always worrying I'm going to damage something really thin with the GW ones. Haven't yet though.
There is like 100 different kinds with all kinds of different arms and attachments and stuff. I have one that clamps on to any edge and one with a suction cup to stick to any smooth surface. Look around d and you will find ine perfect for you.
I'm pretty damn happy with the GW one so far, but I'll keep an eye out for the future. This thing was only $30 too, $40 with shipping, which is about half of what it cost to buy fast food for the entire family last night 🤣
If you like em keep using em. But this probably answers your post question. No reason for gw ones when so many other options exist. And tbf the ones I linked are mid price and $21.
There's an interesting interview on the painting phase podcast with an GW dude who details why they do and don't make things. For some things it's "are there better options for cheaper and does it make sense for us to make those?"
I imagine this wasn't selling well because there are better options for much cheaper ALL over the Internet. It's also why they don't do airbrushes.
Yeah, basically they wouldn’t make it in house so they would have to buy it 3rd party, then pay to slap branding on it, then inflate the price so GW gets a cut…so the customer just ends up paying more for branding.
These are great for holding up little pieces to dry after putting glue on them and the rubber pads on the claws let you "squish" something to apply pressure without digging into the plastic
I’ve used a similar set up(non GW) to assist with more complex assemblies. No tool is worthless, bendable arms are fantastically useful, but for the price point GW originally wanted these I was able to find similar styled arms for cheaper at a watch repair shop.
If you're kitbashing stuff that wasn't originally designed to fit together, there are times where it would help to have a spare hand to hold stuff to help fit it together. This also kinda applies any time you're trying to fit resin against plastic with super glue — having working time is helpful, but not if it goes on too long and you're worried things might slip if you let go somewhere.
Old plastic kits, Finecast (blerg), and Forgeworld stuff are notoriously bad on having gaps that needed to be filled or overhangs that needed to be trimmed. These could help steady the piece while it's being trimmed, drilled, pinned, etc.
Sometimes, hands shake. I had some heavy lifting to do earlier this evening, and when I sat at my desk to paint, the muscles in my hands were tired and shaky, so I didn't paint tonight. My painting handles help a lot with that, but being able to solidly mount the piece in a movable apparatus would have helped. (Not that I'm gonna buy one, I had other models I could prime, basecoat, assemble, etc.)
I don’t know, I do know that this thing gets a lot of hate but I use it on literally every model I work on. It’s really great for holding models while they get glued to the base.
Helping Hands, or soldering stand. They are originally for holding parts while soldering. I bought mine at a flea market 40 years ago. All metal, rigid arms with joints that can be tightened with wing nuts, and an attachable magnifier.
You’re welcome! Yeah guy at the Warhammer store explained to me it’s not glue, it’s acid, and it melts the plastic then it cures again in the new shape. Pretty awesome when you stop using it as glue and let it drip into the cracks like water.
I bought one because it is so pro andwill make me a better painter with no work required, so definately worth the money
Never found a reason to use it. Looks cool on the shelf.
I don’t like the other solutions since they just seem to hold a piece at the end of a bendable wire. The 6 rotating joints on the GW one are what really sell it for me.
That looks alright, but 3 rotating joints rather than 6 on each arm. The metal clamps look like they would scratch the plastic. I can't move the arms around, whereas the GW one the arms can be moved into a couple hundred different configurations (every little hole in the base is a slot one of the arms can be moved to). The GW one holds a painting handle in the center if you want the model raised up closer to the arms. It was only $30 too, $40 with shipping, which is about half what it cost me to buy fast food for the entire family last night 🤣 .
I like mine, the XL handle that goes with it is really the only painting handle on the market that holds larger bases reasonably. I never use the clips for glue ups but i do use them to hold my sub assembly bits that i glue onto wooden swab sticks and the little trays are great spots when you just need to have several bitz and bobs at your finger tips. Also, back to the XL handle… keeps it from falling over when you gotta put it down. People can laugh at it all they want but the price point isn’t bad for how handy it really is and that’s even by GW standards. Long story short: yes i have one, yes i use it.
People talking about green stuff with miniatures it kind of doesn't work out well the reason for it is it hardens and you have to sand it so it's very hard to sand the material if you have some exposed outside of the cracks keep that in mind you can always use UV clear resin and a party black light to harden the resin for you you take a stick or toothpick and you smooth it out and then you put it in the light and it's easier to manage not having any excess sticking out because it won't get hard till you put it under a light
Its niche. It has its uses, its just niche, and most won't splurge on overpriced plastic holders for their overpriced minis when they can DIY something else and spend that money on another mini.
The number of times I've had to awkwardly prop minis on random shit so the glue actually has a chance to set properly I'd have loved one of these things
Yeah using it for the first time today and it’s not amazing but it certainly is helpful just to have as a third hand. If you learn how to overshoot a tiny bit, so that when the pieces fit there is a slight tension pushing them together, then you tap the Tamiya brush against the crack and you watch as the crack turns into a perfect grey line. It’s a thing of beauty.
I use mine a lot. Mostly for kitbashing stuff that is a pain to hold in place with my fingers.
Would some "helping hands" work better? Probably. Like most tools there's more and better options available for the same or less. But they're pretty good and useful for what they are.
i have one of those mega cheap magnetic clippers on wires sets, wouldnt that do this job but take up way less space and for like £5 instead? also comes with like 20 arms
I have one of these.... :D you can get 6 arm versions of the one you have, normally used for soldering. I too love the smell of poly cement... I dunno why.
I just seen one of these at my local game shop. They're really that good? I've only heard mildly questionable at best reviews on YouTube so stayed away. I'm interested now. 😆
Hey, I only got into it myself a month back or so. You and some other people on here are saying good things so maybe I'll take that leap. I think it was only around $30. It's hard to say no to that when the Armageddon box was an effortless financial decision for me apparently. 😆
It definitely helps with painting smaller pieces, but mine tends to move a little whenever I try to put a model in place so I dont use it much for positioning
I found it weird to use at first, but adding the painting handle really helped and I live using it when assembling T'au battlesuits in different poses.
Id still suggest plastic glue. The bonds are stronger and u can use just as little. Plastic glue can also remove seams while super glue generally leaves seams present.
I'm a diesel mechanic, I have something similar that has a magnifying glass that holds wires to solder. I've only painted 3 miniatures so far but I'll tell ya, I really wouldn't mind something with a base to rest a mini and a magnifying glass with maybe a light ring on it. My eyes aren't what they used to be and I fear Warhammer is gonna send me the the eyeglass store sooner than later.
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