Assembling Ultramarines

I don’t only just paint miniatures on commission, I can also put miniatures together for you! Here we have a detachment of Ultramarines from the latest Warhammer 40K boxed set that has been sitting in someone’s house for over a year – unassembled and unable to be played with.

Looking at a big mass of plastic like this can be a little intimidating for the new gamer! First off, the right tools are essential. Here we have a set of snips, some small files, a craft knife and some polystyrene cement.

The best way to make sure you don’t make mistakes is to take your time and read the instructions fully first.

This page shows you how to identify which sprue contains which parts. The are all labelled with a letter.

And the corresponding letter can be found on the sprue itself, in this case the letter A (sometimes it is a little hard to find!)

I’m going to build the first space marine in the book. The instructions tell me which parts are needed – in this case parts 7,8,9,10,11 and 12 all from sprue F and a 32mm base.

Cut these parts out using your snips. Put the flat part of the cutters against the model to get a clean cut.

Shave off any excess plastic from the parts using the craft knife. You can also use the files to remove any obvious mold lines.

I like to gather all the bits for a model to test fit them before gluing.

Following the instructions I glue the main parts of the model together and then onto the base using polystyrene cement. This glue actually melts the plastic slightly before setting making an almost unbreakable join. Use the glue sparingly as if you get the glue on any details it will melt them too!

Almost there! Remain patient and let the glue set before gluing on the next parts.

Finished and ready for undercoating! Sometimes more mold lines appear once I’ve sprayed them but its not a big job to scrape them off just before starting painting.

If you’d like me to assemble your miniatures please get in touch for a quote!