Any solutions for figures who won't hold their weapon?

[Rowsdower]

Hi,
I just recently got into 1:18 scale and I have about fifty or so unopened BoB series two and Market Garden figures.

I've opened a few of the MG figs, namely Cpl. Sutherland and Cpl. Hilarie and neither one will hold their weapon.

I've gotten them to stick using a tiny ball of Plastistick but it looks very unnatural. So is anyone else having this problem? If so, what solutions have been found and are the BoB figures just as bad?

BTW, this is a hard forum to join, I had to make three names before it finally sent me the verification email lol.

[Razor17019]

Nice to have you here on the board.
Hope the 3rd name was one you liked?
(Love your avatar pic -Tom Servo MST3000, way cool!)

How exactly are the OMG figs not holding on to their weapons?
Trigger hand or the other hand??
Each hand will rotate (be careful) to adjust it to hold the weapon correctly.

[Rowsdower]

Thank you for the cordial welcome and I'm glad you recognized Tom, I'm a big MST fan. The name I had wanted was TomServo but I never got the verification link. I used my Hotmail for this one and it worked fine, so for now at least, Rowsdower it is.

Anyhow on to the figs. Hilarie just can't seem to hold on to his Thompson. the grip is way too small. Even with the other hand rotated around to support the front of the weapon, it usually falls right out. Sutherlands carbine will stay on but falls to an odd angle though the show him holding it one handed on the card. Is one finger supposed to actually fit into the trigger guard?

Sorry if I appear to be super noob here, maybe I am being to gentle with these guys, they seem so fragile.

Thanks for the help!

[parrish333]

Thank you for the cordial welcome and I'm glad you recognized Tom, I'm a big MST fan. The name I had wanted was TomServo but I never got the verification link. I used my Hotmail for this one and it worked fine, so for now at least, Rowsdower it is.

Anyhow on to the figs. Hilarie just can't seem to hold on to his Thompson. the grip is way too small. Even with the other hand rotated around to support the front of the weapon, it usually falls right out. Sutherlands carbine will stay on but falls to an odd angle though the show him holding it one handed on the card. Is one finger supposed to actually fit into the trigger guard?

Sorry if I appear to be super noob here, maybe I am being to gentle with these guys, they seem so fragile.

Thanks for the help!

I'm with you...I get frustrated when they can't hold their weapons quite right. It's a pretty mixed bag though. Most of my XD and BBI guys do just fine with their weapons, but for a number of others it gets tricky to make it work just right.

For guns with pistol-like handles (e.g. the Thompson), wrapping a thin piece of electrical tape around the handle will give it a snugger fit in a loose hand.

For many of the WWII rifles that don't have a handle, I often drill out the trigger area to allow the firing finger to fit better (this takes a very small drill bit, a steady hand, and a bit of patience!).

I've even had a few BBI guys whose arm movement is too restricted by the shoulder joint to allow them to properly hold their weapon. Then I use my exacto knife to scrape away plastic from the ventral (front) side of the shoulder socket to allow a greater range of motion.

Then there's the mitten-wearing figs that have too open of hand for much hope of holding a weapon. There it is best to swap out their hands for a better one (they pop off if you're careful or use hot water to soften 'em up). I also sometimes use an exacto knife to cut out a trigger finger from a mitten-like hand. This also works pretty well on other brands that don't provide trigger fingers (e.g. newer GI Joe figs).

Another option is to heat up the hands in boiling water, reshape them, and then hold them under very cold water to set the new mold (this has varying degrees of success).

Hopefully that gives you some ideas to mess around with.

[fuddmiester]

I was gonna be a smartass and say acouple days in the stockade!!

[Rowsdower]

I was gonna be a smartass and say acouple days in the stockade!!

Lol, you know I was thinking that exact thing after I named this topic lol.

That is a good idea about the electrical tape parrish333, I think I will try that out. It is a nice feature that parts can be exchanged. I'd like to build a small army by swapping heads and such and a little customization. My only gripe is that there aren't enough Germans lol.

I have the BBI Paratroopers series and the XD Marines coming in soon as well. I think the bulge series is my favorite so far.

[krieglok]

It seems to me, some of the figures in the past, came with two sets of arms. One set was jointed while the other was fixed in a firing position. The fixed position arms usually have better hands for holding weapons. I have given some of my troops bare hands from older figures since they hold the guns better. If you collect these figures, you will end up with a multitude of extra arms, ect. Hope this helps.

TJ

[Rowsdower]

Thanks all for the ideas. I opened up a few more figures and tried one of the unjointed arms krieglok mentioned. The fit is much better, of course the donor is out of luck if he can't hold his weapon either lol.