Recently, my FLGS hosted a swap meet so that club members could gather, trade, "sell", and otherwise have a fun time getting hard to get models or a starting army for a new game.
One of my deals was picking up a full unit of Warmachine Nyss Hunters. I was excited, but after a couple of days soaking in Purple Power... I was confused. The owner had told me he had gotten the models in a trade a year earlier and just never got around to putting together the 2 blisters that had come with the assembled and painted minimum unit.
My discovery was a shock, the models' arms had not been attached with super glue or any type of actual adhesive; they had been held together by a small spot of Green Stuff. In fact, the green stuff wasn't even mixed well... it had large swirls of blue in it.
More over large sections of the model still were covered in black paint even after vigorous scrubbing. With the slightly weaker formula of Purple Power (Purple Power used to have the same recipe as Castrol Superclean, hence the name. However, Castrol sold its license of the generic and the formula shifted slightly as a result. With about $3 difference in the pricing for a gallon, its a tough call in the strength vs. save money area.), the only thing paint remaining on the model means is that there is a high amount of superglue the paint has bonded to OR that spray paint and not an actual primer was used.
I tossed the Nyss into a small tub of acetone nail polish remover along with my other score of the swap meet, a Warhammer 40K Bjorn the Fell Handed, cast in GW's original lead. Bjorn came out beautifully as I peeled away small clumps of glue. The Nyss... went back in with a sneer of utter disgust on my face.
The black areas were indeed glue. Whoever the original owner was, he did not but into the concept of "less is more". About 75% of the model is covered in glue. Apparently, the quiver, scabbard and heads were liberally glued to the body. Which makes me question as to why Green Stuff was used to palace the arms. My guess is he simply ran out of glue.
While I am completely anal about pinning my models, there are some times when it is impossible. Other times, especially with polystyrene plastic, a plastic cement/glue is all you need. (As an FYI plastic cements are the next step over basic plastic glue, causing a greater thermo-reaction so the plastic melts together on the spot creating one solid piece.)
I typically never grumble about a cheap deal on traded models, but this honestly baffled me. I lost the six plastic bases they were on which gripes me about getting replacements, but I think I have a pack somewhere.
On a happier note, I am launching a new blog dealing with the conversion and painting commissions I will be doing in the future. The new page is called Imperial Painting and Conversions (http://imperialpc.blogspot.com/). The page will list out the basics, options, rates, and other aspects of having some models worked on by me.
Until next time guys. I should have more Rök soon.
