11 May 2016

15mm pikes

As the Testudo 30YW pikemen did not come with pikes, I had to find a supply of weapons for the figures.  So, I turned to an old method of mine, by using plastic rod for the pikes.

Way back on this post on my blog, one can see how I used the same technique to make the spears for my Tékumel figures (and some of those pics are better!)

First off, some raw material:



This package dates back to sometime in 1999...


And, some processing:



The rod is cut into 50mm lengths by just rolling the edge of the knife blade on it, then snapping the rod at the cut.


After a few minutes of cutting:



Next, the business end of the pike takes shape.  I place one end of the rod into some pliers with a flat tip, and give it a good squeeze, and then trim the flattened part to make a point.



This poor pic shows the three stages:



The point is approximately 2mm in length.  Very simple, very easy.


With a bit of super-glue, the troops have a new weapon:



The 1mm diameter rod fits in very well.  Now, to prime and paint...


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4 comments:

  1. Excellent method. I use wire, but I think this looks better.

    Cheers,
    Aaron

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  2. Thanks, Aaron.

    As none of my plastic pikes and spears have seen the tabletop yet, wire might be the better option as far as resilience goes.

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  3. I wonder if heating the pliers might help.

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  4. Hi Mark,

    With the thin rod that I use for these pikes, heating is not necessary. Now, with the relatively thick rod that I use with the pikes for my Shén, heating might be a good idea.

    ReplyDelete