I've been searching in vain for some metal blister packs [OOP] of Men-at-Arms of Dol Amroth. I refuse to pickup the Finecast model as I ordered 4 packs and all the pikes were misshapen and bent to hell. I blowdried them to shape but they'd limp over after a week. Even attempted liquid green stuffing them as a backup reinforcement to hold it's shape but it still bent after awhile. After much argument Games Workshop refunded me for all four and I shipped them back.

eBay has none being sold and I've scoured eBay US and UK for it but to no avail for two months now. Does anyone know where they're still selling online?

To be honest, even the metal cast ones aren't very durable. Two of mine snapped off where they meet the hand so I replaced them all with steel ones.

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You don't have to be great to start. But you do have to start to be great.

Yea pikes suck, whether you buy 'em plastic, metal or finecast they're gonna end up bent or broken. I'd say your best bet would be to stick with fine cast, buy yourself a hobby drill and use steel pikes like ukfreddybear says. Good luck!

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All Hail The Lord of Light, R'hllor, for the night is dark and full of terrors!

I have 7 blisters in my trade thread (bought a bunch when I saw they were going finecast) if you have what I'm looking for maybe we could make trade.

You are correct However, the fine cast unlike plastic is not strong enough to take the torque from the metal pikes. The arms or even the feet will break off from the extra weight of the metal. You can try it and see how long it will take for the model to droop over or break off of the base. If you modify the models GW won't have to take them back.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

Check your inbox!

Thank you Rammas_echor for a heads up about Men-at-Arms of Dol Amroth finecast problem(s). I was planning to purchase 2 warbands worth of Dol Amroth and paint them up for a friend of mine as a gift. I will delay my purchase until the problems are corrected. Thank you again.

No problem buddy, glad I could help

Can you show us a pic of the steel pikes and how you did it? Thanks!

I switched the pike of my finecast GBoG orc rider to metal no problem. Haven't yet noticed any of the side effects you mention Charlie.

Rammas_echor, I will show you with pics how easy it is soon.

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You don't have to be great to start. But you do have to start to be great.

I hope I am wrong. But I am afraid I am not. Formula vary even in metal. Some of my 20 year old resin models are still serviceable. However,even large models like my Great Gargant are very brittle.

The arm joints on the Gargan have began to sag. I do not know why photo bucket will not let me re-size this photo
The mounting points have begun to deform. Resin is not a good material for joints.


The old Fortress trolls have been stored in a climate controlled room away from the light and gravity alone has drooped them.They have also oxidized. The green troll broke off the base at the feet because I laid it on it's back hoping it would straiten back. If they were still in business I am sure they would send me some more.

The fine cast resin is very sensitive to heat. I have no reason to believe it won't become brittle as it drys out. How long it will take to be completely unserviceable I don't know.
Think of it like pinning joints sometimes you can get away with out doing it. It usually will come back and bite you later if you don't. Pikes are always a problem. Fine cast is to expensive to experiment with.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

If this happens, or if you have a bendy finecast one, you can make a replacement.

You will need a pin vice (hand drill) and some micro drill bits. These can be found on ebay for around 6 pounds.

Drill out the hand using a 1mm drill bit. It may be easier to first remove the other pike section between the hands, although I did that after the picture was taken.

Now the old pike is gone and the hand drilled through, a new pike is needed. Take a piece of wire that is the correct thickness, and either squash the end in a vice, or bash it with a hammer.

Then file the flattened section into a point.


You can either leave it like this, or if you prefer you can add two small triangles of putty to stay faithful to the original shape.

For a bit more definition where the blade meets the pole, a tapered edge can be added. Start with a very thin roll of putty.

Wrap it around the shaft and blend it in.

All ready to be added to the model, threaded through the pre-drilled hole in his hand.

Here is a similar method used on a Great Beast Rider







No more bendy pike

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You don't have to be great to start. But you do have to start to be great.

well illustrated


A unit from 1979 with a 1980 paint job and new magnetic bases and shiny new wire pikes with commercial points.
They were painted by a late friend so I hesitate to repaint them. I will dip them and paint the pikes.
I don't want them to come down with lead rot. Sealed well will be safer with kids around for they are lead.

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"the same as a duck you must be made of wood"

great job man, thanks!

@ukfreddybear, the orc actually looks better with a bendy spear, the straight one doesn't look orcish enough, would work better on more elite troops, not orcs.

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

Why doesn't GW just cast the hands with holes in the hands and supply metal rods for the spears?
That would solve all the problems and time on conversions. (converting the Finecast is really a shame to do after spending the good money for the product in the first place.)

We'll just have to agree to disagree on that one. I don't like banana pikes, and it was supposed to be cast straight believe it or not. It is defective. Thats a bit like saying that a spectre with extra bubble holes and flesh missing because of miscasting looks better than it was originally intended as it is more rotten.

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You don't have to be great to start. But you do have to start to be great.

Thanks for the tutorial, gents. I recently got a group of Uruk pikemen with broken pikes (quelle surprise) and this is going to help a lot!

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Gondor: 2339pts
Rohan: 1318pts
Dwarves: 2482pts
Elves: 1091pts
Mordor: 2305pts
Isengard: 1762pts
Moria: 1463pts
Evil Men: 381pts

Yeh, works perfectly for Uruks too. Probably 33% of my Isengard force have replacement pikes.

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You don't have to be great to start. But you do have to start to be great.

I'm definitely going to give it a try whenever I get back 'round to Uruks. I'll post pics and sing your praises when I do

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Gondor: 2339pts
Rohan: 1318pts
Dwarves: 2482pts
Elves: 1091pts
Mordor: 2305pts
Isengard: 1762pts
Moria: 1463pts
Evil Men: 381pts