A friend of mine gave me a bag of 1/32 WWII soldiers that were made and painted in the 1970's. The soldiers are in pretty good condition, but the tips are broken off most of the rifles. These rifles are glued to the bodies so replacing them would be a problem. Is there anyway to repair or glue the tips back onto these. I'm hoping some of you Pros have a secret recipe for this. Thank you in advance for your opinions.

JohnT

Hey John, I'm not what I consider a pro but I've been around model figures for awhile now. Simply glue them back together. It's a pain and requires a steady hold on the parts but really the only way to fix them. When I moved, my D-Day landing vignett got shuffled around once too many times and I had 3 broken off rifle ends and a pointing finger. I used the crazy glue that is a gel. Just a tiny bit works as you don't want a glue blob poking all around the small parts. Since that adventure, I now glue my figures weapons into hands with Alines thick tacky glue. Holds great, doesn't run dries clear, and if needs arise, I can pop them off and usually not peel off paint. Hope this helps you in your fix. bob d.

Thanks Bob for your reply, and sorry to hear about your D-Day dio. You have a good idea, but 95% of the rifle tips were not in the bag. I guess I'll have to use a whittled toothpick or something else skinny.

JohnT

Get yourself a good set of mini drills, all the way down to #80. Drill down into the rifle, add a piece of appropriate sized hypodermic needle. Aircraft guys do this all the time on their builds.

Hello John,

To add to Robert's advise, you can also drill into the two ends
of the broken part, insert fine brass rod and cement with CA
or liquid model cement, depending on the material.
The fine brass rod will add strength to the joint.

Cheers,
Joe

Great ideas Bravo & Joe; I never thought about mini drills or hypodermic needles. It looks like I have a new weekend project coming up.

Thanks,
JohnT