As much as I love Zvezda's sets, I dread the moment when it comes to assembling the horse teams. As PSR puts it the" traces are very thin, and for some reason the pegs have been made in such a way that the traces need to be twisted to get them into the horse. However this twisting is not difficult, though we found that placing these in the horses was a very fiddly job until we got the hang of it".
And that's the catch, while I do eventually succeed in attaching the traces to the horses, it always ruins the paint job. Assembling the whole team before painting doesn't seem a good idea, as it makes painting quite difficult, but assembling it afterwards always results in paint flacking off due to my fiddling with the traces, a moment of deep frustration. How do you go about it?
Modelling
Assembling Zvezda's Russian artillery ... or not
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Flambeau
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22 Oct 2020, 16:29
Sounds familiar to me, I just touch up the paintwork afterwards. Also to ensure the traces fit I clear the locating holes of paint with a drill.
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Fire at Will
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16 Dec 2009, 16:21
Hi
For Zvezda I have a very distinct approach.
I always assemble before. Then I pre prime with a delayed fine coat of sticky white glue. Then I prime white (figures) or black (horses and equipment like guns) . Once painted it also receives a polyurethane matt varnish from vallejo.
To be fair you will achieve enough details and the black covering will do the trick for the few unpainted part. Zvezda plastic is too subject to flickering to assemble once painted IMO.
I hope this helps.
CPN
For Zvezda I have a very distinct approach.
I always assemble before. Then I pre prime with a delayed fine coat of sticky white glue. Then I prime white (figures) or black (horses and equipment like guns) . Once painted it also receives a polyurethane matt varnish from vallejo.
To be fair you will achieve enough details and the black covering will do the trick for the few unpainted part. Zvezda plastic is too subject to flickering to assemble once painted IMO.
I hope this helps.
CPN
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CPN
- Posts: 207
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11 Nov 2014, 17:15
I cut the pegs away and fill up the gaps in the horses with plastic filler. And then I work like "Fred the Impaler". 
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Peter
Moderator- Posts: 22509
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25 Mar 2008, 18:51
Zvezda figures do look great, but I get put off from buying them as I want to avoid fiddly process of putting some of them together.
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Rich W
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05 Feb 2018, 23:40
Hi everybody, & thanks for the feedback.
Glad to note that I'm not the only one feeling a bit clumsy when putting the stuff together ...
Just noticed that Zvezda's French artillery looks pretty similar regarding the position of the pegs, GNW artillery seems to be easier.
#CPN: Guess I'll try your approach of assembling first and painting afterwards next time. At least it can't get much worse ... I never tried pre priming with white glue before though, if you can supply some more information here that would be appreciated.
Glad to note that I'm not the only one feeling a bit clumsy when putting the stuff together ...
Just noticed that Zvezda's French artillery looks pretty similar regarding the position of the pegs, GNW artillery seems to be easier.
#CPN: Guess I'll try your approach of assembling first and painting afterwards next time. At least it can't get much worse ... I never tried pre priming with white glue before though, if you can supply some more information here that would be appreciated.
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Flambeau
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22 Oct 2020, 16:29
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I just started to assemble this set and the French set as well and I can already see that it is going to be tricky to attach the traces (ropes) to the horses. After playing around a bit with the figures I think what I'm going to do on the Russian horses is fill in one of the attachment holes on each side of the horse with green stuff and just insert the traces at one attachment point on each side of the horse which I'm hoping will make it easier.
What I haven't decided is if I will attach the traces at the attachment point closer to the front of the horse as per the instructions or at the attachment point closer to the rear of the horse. The reason being that for most nations, the artillery draught harness included leather sleeves on both sides of the horses - the traces passed through these sleeves before being attached to the neck collar. These sleeves were there to prevent the coarse ropes from chafing the sides of the horses. The Zvezda French artillery horse is modelled with the sleeve and the attachment point closer to the rear. Attaching the traces closer to the rear of the horse might also make them easier to attach as I don't have to worry about the horse rider interfering with the attachment.
What I haven't decided is if I will attach the traces at the attachment point closer to the front of the horse as per the instructions or at the attachment point closer to the rear of the horse. The reason being that for most nations, the artillery draught harness included leather sleeves on both sides of the horses - the traces passed through these sleeves before being attached to the neck collar. These sleeves were there to prevent the coarse ropes from chafing the sides of the horses. The Zvezda French artillery horse is modelled with the sleeve and the attachment point closer to the rear. Attaching the traces closer to the rear of the horse might also make them easier to attach as I don't have to worry about the horse rider interfering with the attachment.
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- MikeRC97
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07 Jun 2012, 01:00
Flambeau wrote:Hi everybody, & thanks for the feedback.
Glad to note that I'm not the only one feeling a bit clumsy when putting the stuff together ...
Just noticed that Zvezda's French artillery looks pretty similar regarding the position of the pegs, GNW artillery seems to be easier.
#CPN: Guess I'll try your approach of assembling first and painting afterwards next time. At least it can't get much worse ... I never tried pre priming with white glue before though, if you can supply some more information here that would be appreciated.
Marvin turned me on to this technique. Zvezda figures tend to have a very slick surface. A thin layer of PVA glue can be applied prior to priming. It gives the primer something to stick to. In the US the product in question is Elmer's Glue.
It can be mixed a bit with water or applied unmixed. As long as it is spread thin enough across the surface of the entire figure, it dries clear and does not obscure any details of the figure, as Marvin's consistently spectacular results demonstrate. I use a trash brush to keep my favorite brushes for painting fine details.
Just make sure to let the glue layer dry all the way before priming. Good luck and make sure you show us the results!
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Bluefalchion
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23 Dec 2010, 07:57
Thanks again everbody, very helpful advice here.
#CPN and Bluefalchion: I think I have the glue you suggest, maybe it's a bit thicker than Elmer's glue and I vaguely remember a friend using it as a first layer on figures but mixing it with a bit of water first. Guess I'm going to test paint a few figures first, just to get the hang of it.
#MikeRC97: Good idea! When attaching the ropes to the horses I also noted that the distance between the pegs on the ropes is slightly larger than the distance between holes in the horses, meaning that if you use both holes the rope is going to bent beween the holes (up, down or sideways) and ... off goes the paint. So using just one hole seems a very good idea. Also the horse rider problem ... yeah, I actually glued the riders to Italeri's horses (French Guard Horse artillery) before attaching the ropes. BIG mistake! Big mess. Makes me nostalgic for those days when we rejoiced in building Airfix' Waterloo Royal Horse Artillery team. What a nice and easy model that was ... sigh.
#CPN and Bluefalchion: I think I have the glue you suggest, maybe it's a bit thicker than Elmer's glue and I vaguely remember a friend using it as a first layer on figures but mixing it with a bit of water first. Guess I'm going to test paint a few figures first, just to get the hang of it.
#MikeRC97: Good idea! When attaching the ropes to the horses I also noted that the distance between the pegs on the ropes is slightly larger than the distance between holes in the horses, meaning that if you use both holes the rope is going to bent beween the holes (up, down or sideways) and ... off goes the paint. So using just one hole seems a very good idea. Also the horse rider problem ... yeah, I actually glued the riders to Italeri's horses (French Guard Horse artillery) before attaching the ropes. BIG mistake! Big mess. Makes me nostalgic for those days when we rejoiced in building Airfix' Waterloo Royal Horse Artillery team. What a nice and easy model that was ... sigh.
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Flambeau
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22 Oct 2020, 16:29
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