Mortal Realms Issue 1 Advanced Building Techniques

Hey everyone, welcome to Fohammer. Today we're going to take a look at the Mortal Realms magazine, Issue 1

I'm going to take you through some advanced techniques to get the most out of building these models

So first of all, before we begin, I'd actually like to know if Mortal Realms is kind of

of your introduction into the miniatures hobby and Warhammer in general, or whether you've been

in it for a while, if you're in it for a while, what is it you're looking to get out of it

Do you want to go through the series of playing the game, or do you want to learn how to build and

paint models, or do you just want to get the cheap models that you get with the magazine

versus the retail prices? Whatever your reason, it'll really help me direct this series of

videos going forward. So if you can, just leave a comment below, and don't forget to like, share

all that, but I really want to know what people want to get out of this magazine

So the point of these videos, the reason I want to do a series is to kind of use

Mortal Realms as a springboard so that anybody coming into the hobby, even if you've been

here for a while, to be honest, to give you an idea of some of the more advanced techniques

you can use to build and paint your models. Now, I'm certainly no expert painter, but that's

not really what this is aimed at. And I think diving from this level, straight to expert painter

be a lot in the middle that we miss. So what I want to do is I want to use this series to kind

of gradually talk you through, okay, this is their way of doing it and then some more advanced

ways. So if you want to go through this, I'm not going to do like a planned series of anything

where, you know, follow a guide week to week, but it's more of a nudge of every so often

Here's the models. Here's their approach to doing it. Here's another way. So today what I'm going

to do is I'm going to start by showing you some of the more advanced techniques, kind of a good, better

the best approach to building your models and preparing them the best way you can for painting

So the first thing I want to talk about is cutting your models off the sprue. Now, the magazine

if you've got the subscription with Hashepartworks or wherever you are in the world, whoever the

publisher is, if you've got the magazine, they are offering a starter hobby kit with issue one

and that normally comes with some glue, some other bits, and a pair of snips. These snips, to be exact

I just want to say straight away these are cheap they've got Citadel written on them

I don't think they are made by Citadel and they do an okay job

one thing I'd be cautious of and this is one of the things I want to tell you

just make sure you don't try and wedge these snips up into the actual model right up close to the model

and then cut away when I say these aren't good the blades are really really thick

you've got a lot of risk here with the size of these already damaging the models. The second thing is they're not very sharp, they don't really cut the plastic

apart so much as push the plastic apart. A step up from that, these are these are Zoron, I think

they're 2175 ET professional sprue cutters. I bought these because I thought, oh wow

I do, cutting things off spruce is annoying. It's one of the most annoying parts to me of the

actual hobby itself because you've got risk of damage. the models, you've got to get in close. After you've done 20, 30 sprues in a day, it can start

to ache your wrist. So I thought, get something a bit more professional. These are a different

beast. These actually have what's called a flat edge and a bladed edge. So unlike the cutters

which will cut from both sides, one side of this is actually dulled, so that will just sit

against the plastic and the other side will cut into the plastic. The benefit of these is, first of all

they're a lot sharper. Secondly, with only one side cutting the plastic, it doesn't leave you that

little sort of line in the middle where they've torn away. So if you are looking at a better set

of sprue cutters, something like these will do a decent job. But what I do have is what I would

refer to as, or many refer to as the ultimate in sprue cutters. These are the Godhand SPN-120

Now, if the name sounds overly dramatic, it is a Japanese name, so the company is based in Japan

These are absolutely incredible. Again, they've got the same feature of having a flat edge and a bladed edge, but this cutting edge is so thin and so razor sharp that as you press it up against the sprue and start to cut, you'll see that there's absolutely, I say no stress

There's hardly any stress applied to the actual model itself. And as it cuts through the plastic, it just shears straight through like a solid razor cut

And the best thing about this is, as you get it up to the model and you start to cut these

the benefit of these is that they leave very little sort of excess plastic on the model

So when it comes to the next stage of cleanup, which I'll talk to you about in a minute

and it already saves you that time there by not having chunks of plastic that you need to cut So if you got a flat edge you mostly just need to use this and then the smallest amount of clean up The downside of these is they are Japanese and you need to import them These cost me 56 pound and then I had to pay import fees

and they took absolutely weeks to arrive. If you have a look on somewhere like Amazon

they can go anywhere for like 70 to 90 pound, but this is why I recommend. The close second to these

is the Tamia spruce cutters. So if you, you get them instead, you're going to have a much better time and a much easier time

cleaning your models or cutting your models off the sprue. So the next thing you want to be

aware of is cleaning the mould lines off your models. Now what mould lines are are the lines

that go down the strip of the model itself. So if you have a look at the edges, there'll be like

a very thin line that generally surrounds the entirety of the model. They're sometimes hard to

see because Games Workshop especially are getting really good at hiding these mould lines in

areas of the model that you won't actually see when they're connected together

So that's really smart and it's saving us a lot of the time. Nevertheless, when they are there though and you put them on a painted model

they can be incredibly unsightly. So it's best to just get rid of them and get them out of the way

This here's the one that you get again in the Citadel collection and it's basically like the Citadel mold line remover except the handle's missing

So it just looks like the end. This does a pretty decent job. I mean, for a beginner, you can scrape them away

with this and it'll do the majority of the work for you. It's not something that I'd say chuck in the

bin. It's not brilliant. The thing that I would use, and this is because it's got so many uses and it's

just an essential part of your toolkit that you simply do not get as part of the Mortal Realms

collection. And that's a hobby knife. Now, I wouldn't just get any hobby knife. I'd get an

exacto knife. The reason I'd get an exacto knife is because the blades are good. They have been for

decades and these are cheapest chips. Now, it is kind of the go-to knife for any kind of hobby

and there's a couple of sizes. This is the size one and it takes what I believe are the size 11 blades

Yep, that's right. The size 11 blades, get one of them. It's going to cost you two or three quid

You'll probably get some blades with it. Try and get the original brand so you know all your blades

are going to fit. But this is absolutely brilliant for just scraping away those mould lines on your

models. Once you've cut it off the spruce, you'll have a little bit of spruce left on your model

and just use this to shear it off and then use the, use the bladed edge to just scrape away any of

those mould lines. If you go too heavy, it can leave a flat edge, just go really light and you

can get away with it. The fact that you don't have to keep swapping tools to do different jobs

makes this one of the most invaluable things you can get in your hobby kit. I'll put some links

down below, but seriously, if you haven't got one, it's less than hard

of an issue of Mortal Realms and go pick one up. They're brilliant. What you've got in this issue are

easy build models. So these models have got sort of little stumps on them and they go into recesses

on the other side of the model and you just push them together. So they're the easy build or also

known as push fit. They're pretty good because you don't have to really worry about with glue

and holding things in places forever and lining things up. One of the things that you can do

with your push fit models is sometimes the stumps are a bit long, sometimes they're a bit

wide. So what I'll tend to do, again, Xacto knife, is just get the stump or get the actual

model and just slice this stump directly down the middle. So that, well, I say down the middle

just sort of take an edge off so that instead of it being a full circle, there's just a little

bit of a sort of like flat edge. And that just gives it a bit more playroom so that when you're

pushing them together, it doesn't, you know, try and fill up the whole space. So trying to push

an exactly size plastic sort of peg into an exactly side plastic hole

you can get a little bit of push back so they won't always push back together

as well the same for the depth of those pins just take a few millimeters off the top

and what you'll find is they'll push together much easier and you'll get a much more flush finish

so if you ever find in gaps you shouldn't be stressing yourself

trying to really push them together just take them apart or before you even start, just cut down the edge, cut the top off, fit them together

They'll be a bit loose, but we're going to use glue anyway. More on that in a sec. So the next thing you need to do, once you've started cutting the parts from your spruce

and you've got them already and they're built up, ready to be glued together, is surprisingly

glue them together. Now, Games Workshop sell this. You'll get it in your beginner pack if you subscribe

You can pick it up. I'm not sure how much it is. It's probably overpriced, if I'm honest

but this is plastic glue and the way this works is you should apply it to both sides that you're going to glue

leave it for a couple of seconds and then that'll actually start to melt the plastic so that when you put the

plastic to get plastic together it'll actually fuse and create a solid bond. The problem with this

is that the applicator so you've got this metal tube and then you turn it upside down and

it'll drop out and you've got to apply it. in drops Whoever thought that this was a good applicator for anything that well for glue that melts plastic when you applying it to plastic Absolutely ridiculous There one thing I use these for and that to refill this Now we get rid of that

This is Tamia Extra Thin Cement. They also do, I think it's just called Tamia Cement

And the beauty of this is it's pretty much the exact same stuff. I'm pretty sure I've refilled

this with that. But both of these, basically the extra thin comes with a really thin nozzle

and what that does is just let you paint the glue down each side

Now, the extra thing's really good because it doesn't run as much. You've got a lot more control, but then it dries out a lot quicker

So normally by the time you get to the second side, you've got to apply a coat of glue to the first side again

But save yourself the nightmare of having glue run down the outside of your models

Then you try and grab it to recover yourself. You get glue on your fingers, then you touch the model

Then as soon as that happens, the model surfaces are essentially. ruined. So yeah, save all that time, get some extra thin cement. Again, three or four

pound, it will last you the entire Mortal Realms series and then some. Pick this stuff up. You will

seriously, you'll thank me. So the next thing you're going to want to deal with is gaps and

holes in your model. So even once you've cut them apart and stuck them together, you'll find that

there's normally holes and lines and openings down where two pieces go together. If you've gone

quite thick with your glue on both sides. As you press those parts together, what you'll do is find

either the glue or semi-melted plastic has started to come out of them holes. That's generally

okay because you can sort that out in the next step. But I tend to try and avoid that, be really thin

with my glue, just hold them together so that it gives me a bit more control. Games Workshop

again, have been really good lately about hiding some of these. So as you'll find from the Stormcast

models in here, the first one that you cut off, there's like, there's a flat surface that should be

the sort of like skirting area and that's got three parts that fit together. Now the gaps in that

sort of in that robe are very very visible but they've covered it by putting the shield right there

so it actually covers it down. But when you haven't got that which happens quite a lot and will

throughout the series you've got to be able to deal with their mould lines. So the best thing to do is

yet again if you use the Tamir extra thin cement what you can do is just

run a line of this down that mould line and then just squeeze it together again

And it's sometimes enough to just melt the plastic and give you a bit more, sort of like

fill that whole a bit. If not, run two, run three lines down. That'll do

Another way of doing it, you can put a bit of super glue in there. So what some people will do is get like a little pin and pour some super glue out onto

a little bottle cap or something like that. And then they'll run that super glue down the gap

We'll sort out any excess in a minute. So we'll cover that. One of the better things for it, though, that I've found is this, although it takes a while to dry

This is, again, another Japanese product. It's Mr. Hobby Dissolve Putty. I actually got this tip from a guy called David Soper, who is one of the world's best miniature painters

So please, I'll put a link down below, but go and check out David Soper and his work is the guy's been painting for years, and he's all around just a great guy

So if you want to see how far you can tape painting, he's a great example

One of many, but a great example. So this stuff, this is sort of like alcohol based

And what you do with this is, first of all, get some cheap brushes

And with your cheap brushes, just dab it in, run it down the line like anything else

Be a bit excessive with it and it'll go over the top. And what this works as, this is essentially a gap filler

It's made to do that exact job. As it dries, it'll reduce down

It'll take a good day to set properly. But what that'll do is that will compare

completely fill the gap that you're trying to fill, and then we'll sort out any of the cleanup in the next step

So again, doesn't cost much. I think that's maybe seven or eight pound. And if you want to get the best out of your models, you can use the glue, you can use the super glue if you've got some lime round

But if you really, really want to make it easier and you're happy to wait until the next day for it to dry, brilliant stuff

Highly recommend picking this up. So the next thing to do is to look at cleaning up the models. So if you have just a

to fill those gap lines there and what you've normally got is a little bit of excess hanging over

What a lot of people do is look at ways of cleaning that up. Now you can use hobby files

but to be honest, on the plastic models that we're dealing with, these tend to be just a little bit too harsh

What people then do is look online for some sanding sticks. Now, these are quite good

These are a pretty popular brand and they come in different grade. So you can start with quite coarse

but to be honest, something like medium and fine is normally the best thing to start with on these

They're good, but they're made for airfix models, so they are quite large

They're trying to get into some of the gaps on a model such as these Games Workshop

mini figures and miniatures. It makes it quite difficult and tricky, and you end up sanding areas that you're not meant to

So, again, larger models, vehicles, tanks, absolutely brilliant worth having. Again, you know, a lot of these things are less than a tenor, absolutely brilliant to pick up

The thing that's really good, though, is these, and I've not seen them anywhere outside of the UK

These are from Flory models I put a link down in the description below So floory models have got these sanding and polishing sticks Now these are really fine and they really flexible So as you run it across the surface of a model it will actually

bend and flex to the contours of the model, stopping you from, you know, removing any detail

If you need to get in something smaller, you know, you can cut the ends off and make

smaller points and make V shapes and wedge shapes to get in there. The good thing is, though

as it starts to wear out, you just snip it down. So, you know, I've had these for about three years

and I'm still on the first ones. Really, really good pieces of kit. If you are on a budget

best thing to pick up is some wet and dry sandpaper. Chances are a lot of you've got some of

this lying round because of some other project that you may have tried in the past. This here's

800 grit. It's generally fine. All you tend to do is fold it over, rip it off like. So

get a strip, fold it like that, and then fold it again

And what this will do is the double fold will give you a nice wedge there that you can get in anything

Small circular motions and that'll get the model nice and smooth. Once you've done it with the 800 grit, you can move up and up and up to somewhere like you can go as high as 2,000 grit

But to be honest, at that point, you're just polishing the model. For me, 800 grit tends to do the job and gets it as smooth as I need it to be before putting primer on

So just to finish off, and I think I've left the most important one to the last

although it is naturally last in this process, is putting primer on your models

Now, again, Mortal Realms magazine, they don't talk about primer, or at least I don't expect them to

They didn't in conquest. And again, I think this is because the magazine is aimed at more of a younger audience

and they don't really want a younger audience dealing with aerosols and things like that

But primer is really, especially for beginners or early painters, one of the most important things you

can put on a model. It just makes the whole process a lot easier. First of all, there are a few

different colors. You can get them in a variety of colors. The main ones are normally black, white

or sort of like a 50-50 grey. And you can use these for different reasons. So black is really good

because what that does is if you spray the whole model while you're painting, if you leave anywhere

it doesn't really matter because it's black. It looks like shadow. So if you leave any of those

recesses, it's not really that important. There's numerous brands, numerous varieties. You're

You can go and get games workshops. I own a cheaper alternative. His Army Painter, although that tends to be a bit thicker

A lot of people will just pick up any kind of primer from a local hardware store

UK, isn't it? So B&Q, even Aldi and stuff like that do primers

For me, though, having an airbrush, I tend to use airbrush primer

We'll talk about airbrushes in a future video as we go through the different techniques you can do

Airbrush primer. It's not as hard wearing as spray. primers, so, you know, handling the model, it will eventually come off and it or wear off through

touching it. But what it is, is it's a lot thinner. So you've got to think that any layer of

paint that you put on a model takes away from surface detail. And obviously, you want to

retain as much detail of the physical forms of the model as possible. So this is kind of the best

of both worlds. Primer isn't a necessity. You don't need primer. Again, it is just another layer of

paint. If you're not going to handle your models and you're just doing them all as display pieces

then fine. But the problem with prime without primer is if you do start to touch the models

the acrylic paint doesn't bind to the surface of the plastic very well. So what the primer does

is the primer is really good at bind into the surface of plastic and then the paint will bind to the

primer, whereas if you leave it, it will eventually rub off. So not having primer for this series

especially since they're teaching you how to play the game. Not brilliant, but I understand why they did it

If you're a beginner, get some primer again. It's a few quid

You're probably going to use, I'd say, four or five cans easily throughout this whole series

If you buy Games Workshop, I think they're 10 or 15 pound each. You can get an airbrush with primer that will last you the entire models

and more for about 80 pounds. So do the math. If you think you're going to end up sticking with it and primoring

and you're going to get five or more cans, if you're going to buy Games Workshop spray, maybe you want to have a look at picking up a cheap airbrush

Check out Fohammer.com's beginner's guide to airbrushing just to see how cheap they are

And we'll cover it in more detail in a future video. But as for now, again, as I've said, most important thing you can do that you don't necessarily need, but really should get some primer

soon as you possibly can. So that's it, guys. That's the end of the first video

As I say, I'm going to use Mortal Realms. I'm going to do a few of these to talk you through some of the techniques

So give you a better idea of how far you can tape painting. As I say, I'm not expecting anybody to follow along on anything

but I just want to be able to have a look at what they do and show you how far you can possibly take it

So stay tuned, like, comment, subscribe, tell your friends, visit fauxhammer.com. Have a good day

Fohhammer out. I'm not doing the mic drop, it looks stupid