Animal Artistry Tricks

These advice was provided by members of the AAML. AA is not responsible for any of them.

How to clean AAs:

I have a factory painted AA resin that now has a streak of red on her back from tack. Before I destroy her paintjob doing it incorrectly, has anyone cleaned their resins before and if so, what did you use?
You may want to try a clean eraser. Gently rub at the mark, checking throughout the process to be sure you aren't harming the paint. If you end up with a "shiny rub" afterwards, you can sort of "buff" the area with a really soft cloth and that usually takes care of it.
I've done this on 2 resins and you never knew the mark was there. Both had been treated with sealant, so the mark just erased off.
Tina

How to stick horses to bases:

For the minis I use a super glue specially designed for plastics (I believe the packaging suggested it was suitable for resins - my last pot died on me last week, and I've not replaced it yet). I did think about epoxy, but I've not managed to figure out how to keep the two pieces together while it dries (especially when it's broken legs). I've got a "quick drying" epoxy glue, which I may end up using on the classic pony - if I can face holding her legs in place for ten minutes!
Am

Zap-A-Gap is my favorite glue for repairs. You can get it at most hobby stores that have model (plane/car/boat) kits. It's great for glueing resins together. I use it for attaching the AAs to bases all the time. It's a clear glue. Be careful you don't glue your fingers together, though! It's very fast drying! Once it has cured, I've never had a resin break again in that spot. It also fills gaps in the area.
Cindy Dalton

Glue I use to repair things or for putting resins on bases is a "second-glue", as it is named here in Switzerland. It is sold in VERY small tubes with tiny "conductor" to release drops... It is clear and glues skin, eyes, etc. if you get it on your finger you have to sand down your skin or it will leave damage, so work with gloves or wrap plastic around your fingers or work with pins or such to put a minimal amount of the glue drop to your resin or base... It holds within seconds and is very strong...
Katja Contu

(In answer to Katja above)
Called 'super glue' in the UK. It's what I mainly use to get the horses onto their bases unless they have 'pegs', then I use magic sculpt which is far more secure..
Marion

super glue is sold everywhere. I use the 'gel' formula for gluing resin models and it works like a charm. It is also very inexpensive over here.. sometimes 2 tubes for $1 (US) .. which is good because (usually) the cap winds up glued on the bottle; so it's a 1 time shot then in the trash it goes.
Renee

How to hold a horse up while sticking it to the base:

What I usually do is that I put the glue on the hooves, place the horse on the base as I want it, and then I prop the horse carefully between two rolls of toilet paper (or whatever I have that is heavy enough and won't risk scratching the resin. Then I can just leave it there for a while. One just has to be careful that the horse is in the right position when you leave it, so you don't end up with a leaning horse ... :)
Anne-Li

How to fix a broken leg:

I find on the minis that if you have a leg break it is best to dremel off a little to enable you to use a bit more epoxy but still get the details back in for the bones and tendons. If the legs are broken the break should first be pinned. Then use super glue gel to realign it on the pin and hold it while you finish off with epoxy over the join. You have to hold the join till the super glue dries and be VERY careful not to break the delicate joint when applying the epoxy. It's best to put enough epoxy on to firm up the super glue and let that dry then more epoxy to sculpt the details back in. Sanding should be gentle over the repaired area then primer and paint as usual. DON'T hold them by the legs as even the pressure of a paintbrush can be enough to ping them.....
Marion