Halp! Need ideas for a workaround!

[Sgt. Rock]

So I've recently developed tendonitis in my left thumb. An odd place for it, and I have no idea how it happened. What it means is that trying to grip something with said thumb is an exercise in great pain. As can be imagined, this makes it very difficult to assemble models. I'm considering getting one of those little handles with the grippy clips that GW is selling these days, but does anyone else have any ideas for a workaround? The injury doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon, and I'm not about to give up my hobby just because of one lousy effed up digit.

[Ish]

Blu Tack on an old paint pot or an empty pop bottle?

[Sgt. Rock]

It's less about holding it to paint, so much as even holding two pieces of a model together while I'm gluing it. Just the act of putting pressure on my thumb is painful. For painting, I've got a couple of those paint handles GW makes, but I don't have anything to help me hold stuff while I'm trimming, cleaning, and gluing.

[Ish]

Would something like this work? Clip the larger part of the mini to the clip, stick it in the rack, and then use your good hand to hold the smaller bit your gluing on...

For trimming and cleaning, you should be able to rotate these with your injured hand without putting too much pressure on your thumb.

[Sgt. Rock]

It might. I picked up one of the GW widgets tonight, gonna see how it works out. Where did you find that gadget?

[Ish]

27 minutes ago, Sgt. Rock said:

It might. I picked up one of the GW widgets tonight, gonna see how it works out. Where did you find that gadget?

I’ve always been interested in all the gadgets, doodads, and techniques people use in our hobby... Which leads down all sorts of rabbit holes if you spend enough time in book stores, libraries, and the interwebs.

As I recall, I stumbled across these doohickeys via my uncle and grandfather, who were huge into R/C airplanes and spent the better part of the Nineties working on a painstakingly detailed scale replica of my grandfather’s WWII Hellcat. They used a doohickey like the above for painting all the bits and bobs that would go into the cockpit. But, I digress. I didn’t remember what it was called, but if you throw enough search queries at Google, it eventually gives you what you want.

It’s actually kind of weird how little cross-pollination there is, these days, between the wargaming hobby and model railroaders, model car makers, R/C plane guys, etc.  Seriously, spend some time poking around in a really good, dedicated model train shop some day... They’ve got gadgets and gizmos that do things for making terrain types or model effects that gamers tend to consider impossible... and do it easily. I recall a bolter and chainsword thread years ago where someone went to incredibly complex lengths to add LED headlights and a spotlight to his Land Raider. He was bread boarding his own circuits from scratch, soldering bitz to bobs, and all sorts of nonsense. He probably could bought a kit for it at a train shop for $15...

[Sgt. Rock]

Oh, yeah, there's a model train shop on Division that's really great. I should go stop in there. Maybe the Hobby Town down in Clackamas, too. 

I just tried the little GW thing, and while I'm sure it will work for some things, it's not all that helpful for Space Marines. Considering how many pieces you have to assemble with your fingers just to get a piece big enough for those little clamps to work on, it's maybe not going to be helpful for my Crimson Fist infantry. Vehicles, maybe, and probably Infinity models. I'll have to keep looking.

[Guest]

On 11/18/2019 at 10:58 PM, Sgt. Rock said:

So I've recently developed tendonitis in my left thumb. An odd place for it, and I have no idea how it happened. What it means is that trying to grip something with said thumb is an exercise in great pain. As can be imagined, this makes it very difficult to assemble models. I'm considering getting one of those little handles with the grippy clips that GW is selling these days, but does anyone else have any ideas for a workaround? The injury doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon, and I'm not about to give up my hobby just because of one lousy effed up digit.

Amputation is one option. Probably not worth it. Some sort of hard shell over the thumb (not unlike a cast) over the thumb might be enough to avoid the pain while holding things.

Could train up the alternate hand. Could try to alter the way you hold things. Could get a vice or other tools that are functionally hands. Could get a child or grandchild to help you assemble models. Could focus on only buying already assembled models.

 

[Ish]

Games that have smaller numbers of models might also be a good option. You’ll get that feeling of accomplishment from completing a full force, but only need a dozen models instead of a hundred. Necromunda, Frostgrave, or Infinity only need 10-20 models. Gaslands and BattleTech only need about 4-8 models... 

And have you heard the Good News of our Lord and Savior known as Saga: Age of Vikings and/or Saga: Age of Crusades?

In the standard Six Point game format for Saga, it’s actually mathematically impossible to have more than 73 models in an army (six points of 12-strong Levy units and the free Warlord leading them... and that’s gonna be a [big bad swear word]ty army that no sane person would ever play). Usually you’re looking at about 30-40 models. 

[Sgt. Rock]

Ish, I have more Infinity models than I can count. Well, no, I actually can count that high, but I have several sectorials across three factions. And honestly, those models are harder to assemble than GW plastics because they're metal, so you have to hold them together longer with the glue. I want to check out Gaslands, for sure, and Battletech as well, but a man only has so much time...

At this point, I can get through one, maybe two Space Marines before the pain becomes too much. I'm going in to see an occupational therapist on Tuesday to hopefully get the ball rolling and get this at least treated.

 

[Ish]

Gaslands doesn't require anything other than buying a Matchbox or Hot Wheels type toy car and taking it out of the packaging. Gluing guns, rams, spikes, and other implements of carnage to them is certainly a fun part of the game, but its not necessary. Crazy conversions and elaborate customizing is also good, dirty fun, but not necessary either.

On the other hand, it should require much exertion on your injured thumb to due some simple Gasland'ing of toy cars.

The car below was made by gluing four pieces (ram, gun, square plate on the hood, sheet metal on the rear window) to a car, no other modifications to the standard Hot Wheel car besides super-gluing the wheels in place. The ram, gun, square thingy on the hood, and rear window armor were painted gold, then dirty washed in sepia. (Oh, I drilled some holes in the rear window plate to look like bullet holes) The net over the driver's window (which was the same clear as the windshield originally) was painted black, the sides were painted black to cover up the large Hot Wheels comet logo, then I coated all of the car with a sloppy thick layer of red wash which I intentionally allowed to pool. A generous amount of Stirland Mud texture paint on the sides and the leading edge of the ram... and done. Even counting glue drying and paint drying times, it took maybe two hours. 

[Sgt. Rock]

Ugh. Gaslands seriously looks like so much fun. I can't wait until I have time to try it. I also wish I hadn't cleaned out my old bits box, there were a lot of gubbinz in there that probably would have been super useful. Oh well. Do the rules differentiate between what type of car it is? Or is a pickup the same as a muscle car?

[Ish]

7 minutes ago, Sgt. Rock said:

Do the rules differentiate between what type of car it is? Or is a pickup the same as a muscle car?

Yes, the rules have different stats for different types of vehicle. The have different amounts of Hull (a.k.a. hit points), different maximum Gear (speed), equipment slots, crew values, and so forth. You can look at this Quick Reference Sheet to give you a good idea of what the vehicle categories are, even though you've never played the game you're a gamer, you should be able to figure out in general what the stats mean since they all are pretty straightforward in their naming. 

The categories are intentionally a little fuzzy, both to account for the myriad styles of toy cars out there and because people will make all sorts of kooky conversions. Having said that, the game isn't officially WYSIWYG, so you can use a pickup truck toy and call it a Truck, a Car, a Performance Car, or whatever you want. I think common courtesy and good sportsmanship should encourage us all to make our in-game vehicles be more or less like what they look like they are. A Matchbox Ford F-250 should probably always be used as a Truck, a Hot Wheels Ford GT40 Mk II should probably always be a Performance Car, and so forth. But because of conversions and kitbashing, there's no real hard and fast rule here... Just use common sense and ask yourself "What do I think other people will think this looks like?"

I'd say the only four official Vehicle types that really can't be considered as anything but what they are would be the Motorcycle, Motorcycle with Sidecar, War Rig, and Truck-o-saurus. Maybe the Monster Truck too (it should definitely have big ass tires). These all have some very specific ways that they move and the way measuring is handled, so it'd be hard to use anything for them that was radically different from the suggested scale and size. (I used to think the same about the Gyrocopter, until I saw someone convert a Matchbox Delorean to look like the flying time-machine from Back to the Future, Part II...)

 

[Ish]

In the meantime, I've got oodles of cars that I'm more than happy to share.

[Sgt. Rock]

I'll try to swing by after Thanksgiving on game night, see if I can get a demo in. I'm totally down for getting into another game if it's that cheap.

[Ish]

One of us, one of us! Gooble gobble, gooble gobble. We accept him, we accept him. One of us, one of us! 

[RobynMM]

On 11/19/2019 at 8:59 PM, Sgt. Rock said:

Oh, yeah, there's a model train shop on Division that's really great. I should go stop in there. Maybe the Hobby Town down in Clackamas, too. 

I just tried the little GW thing, and while I'm sure it will work for some things, it's not all that helpful for Space Marines. Considering how many pieces you have to assemble with your fingers just to get a piece big enough for those little clamps to work on, it's maybe not going to be helpful for my Crimson Fist infantry. Vehicles, maybe, and probably Infinity models. I'll have to keep looking.

I have some arthritis or something in my right thumb which gives me similar grip issues at times. I recently got a whole bunch of little clamps to help with assembly.  The smaller ones are sewing clamps which came in a box of 110 for 10$, the larger orange has neat swivels on the contacts for easy adjusting - box of 20 was 11$.