Assembling Leviathan

After reading online that the Leviathan and other "spider jacks" are one of the hardest metal models to assemble I thought I was in for a nightmare. I imagine if I tried to assemble it in a way that it actually fits on the base I would have had a headache as well. Rather, I found this model easier to assemble and pin than I did with the metal Khador Behemouth. I do recommend however, that you make some sort of overlapping scenic base if you want to save yourself the frustration.

What You need: 

 

2 Part Steel Epoxy: The main glue for all the connecting points. Dries within 5 minuted so have to work relatively quick. You can get it from any hardware store, Make sure the first material listed for use is Metal/Steel. I try to avoid the Black/Grey Steel epoxy you can buy, it's a little grain and hard to apply without making s mess. 
Metal Super Glue: Gel of liquid, used for setting the pins.
Large Paperclip: A little thicker and longer than standard office paperclips, much stronger as well.      
Pin Vise: Hand/Finger drill: Use 0.40mm drill bits for large paperclips. 0.36mm for small paperclips.
Files: Rounded and Flat. Used to make space for pipes and prepare pieces for pinning, also to make parts fit together if the cast is off.
Greenstuff: Blue/Yellow used to fix any drilling mistakes and reinforce the legs.
Wire cutters: To cut paperclips or pins.

Getting Started:

Take all the parts out of the box and start "dry fitting" the model. Make sure all the parts fit together snugly and file down any areas that need to be better fitted.

Once you know all the parts will fit together nicely you can go ahead with the assembly. First thing you wanna do is drill through the hip joints of the torso where the front and back legs attach. Drill all the way through to the other side.

Next we are going to attach the head. Drill a hole half way into the center of the back of the head.
Put a little glue on top of the hole and slide your paper clip in.

Cut the pin down center it on the torso, and drill in where the pin would go. Glue the head to the torso using superglue.

Next we're going to dry fit the Head cover, to make sure it fits together properly with the head secured into place.

Mine didn't sit right because the spike details on the head were preventing the top piece from sitting properly above the arms on both sides. To fix this I just filled one of the spikes down.

I also had to file down the bump that the top plate sits on.

Once that is done use the epoxy to glue it down. Make sure the plate sits just above the arm sockets on both sides with no gaps.

Attaching the Legs:

Now we are going to prepare the legs for pinning. We already drilled the holes into the torso so now we have to drill into the legs.

Grab a flat file and file the nubs on the leg flat.

Now drill into the center a quarter of the way in.

Once all four holes are drilled grab a paper clip and slide it into one set of legs, push the pin through and dry fit the other set of legs to the torso, cutting the pin down to the desired length. Do this to make sure they fit snugly and that your pin isn't too short or long. (Ignore the bend in the pin yours should be straight. I had a drill bit snap off, and had to do some patch work, the bend shown is to get around my fuck up.)

There are little pipes sculpted into the inside of the legs, and they get in the way of the legs fitting snugly. I grabbed a rounded file and filed down the bottom side of the hip joint to make room for the pipes to sit in.

Now glue the pins into the legs and mix up a small amount of greenstuff.

Now mix up your epoxy place some on the hip joints, then add a small ball of greenstuff on top of that and press it in.

Now add epoxy to the center of the pin and on the part of the leg that will connect to the hips, one leg at a time. The greenstuff will ooze out when you push the legs into place. You can now use this to fill in any gaps there may be, and smooth it out to look like it is one solid unit.This epoxy/greenstuff sandwich should give you a very strong hold. Be liberal with the epoxy, to ensure maximum strength. Start with the front leg on the right hand side if the model is facing you.

Then attach the rear leg in the same manner. I also added some epoxy to the back of the elbow spike and the top plate of the rear leg when the spike rests. I did this to "anchor" the legs in case it is dropped or becomes top heavy when the arms are attached. The model also stands on three legs so the anchoring should give it added strength.

Glue the legs to the left hand side, in the same manner as before. The front leg is supposed to be up so be liberal with the epoxy to make sure it will have good hold during transport. Try and still keep the joints clean by smoothing out the epoxy with a wet sculpting tool when it is starting to set.

The model doesn't sit on three legs correctly and will topple over if you sit it flat on three legs. If you prop the rear left leg up ont the base it sits flat. You will also see that it does not sit on the center ring of the base. So as I mentioned earlier, we are going to have to make a scenic base for it to be attached at all.

I Imagine you could drill a few notches into the base provided and try to cradle the model on the base, but this will make for a flimsy connection if you plan on moving the models a lot. I used cork to make my base to keep it uniform  with the rest of my army. Also knowing that the model sits better if the back leg is raised, I made a two tier rock structure under that leg, leaving the othe legs to sit on the first layer of cork. Dry fit the base pieces before gluing and when the mini is positioned the way you want, start gling the cork down to the base.

Before I attached the model I dug out a little hole in the cork underneath each contact point to give the legs something to sit in. I then put epoxy inside the holes to create little puddles. Once the model is place in ad the glue is dry it should encapsulate the whole point of the foot, keeping the model securly fastened to the base.

Once the model has dried to the base, we are going to prime it and all the remaining pieces at the same time before we continue. This is to ensure there is good primer coverage and the arms won't be in the way.

Now we are going to attach the shoulder plates, and dry fit the right arm into position. Keep note of where the screw on the front sits in relation to the rivets on the top plate of the torso.

Now that you know where the screw is positioned you can go ahead and glue it into place with epoxy. Use a liberal amount and clean up the seams. Once this is dry attach the other shoulder pad on the left side lining up the screws on both plates.

Once they are dry we are going to pin the arms. Drill into the center of each arm and glue in a paper clip.

Then put the arm into place and press it lightly into where it would be positioned. it should leave a little indent in the underside of the shoulderplate, this is where you want to start drilling for thr pin to fit in. I had to go in at a slight angle, towards the torso, and went in about half way.

Put a liberal amount of epoxy on the left arm first, and on the underside of the shoulder plate and put the arm into position. You may have to hold it in place for a few minutes. Because the arms hang from the shoulders, gravity may have some adverse effect on it's positioning if you just let the glue set and sit upright while you wait for the epoxy to dry. I held them in place until the epoxy hardened.

Do the same for the right hand side and attach the right arm.

Make sure the right arm is positioned in a way that you and access all points of the right side with a paintbrush. And we're done! Kind of a pain to assemble at times, but like I said earlier I had a much harder time with the Khador Behemoth.

Till next time!