Editing 1d4chan's Assembling, Painting and Basing Guide (section)

===Universal Assembly Advice===

So, let's say you finally have your first box of miniatures. You feel a rush as you hastily peel away the plastic wrapping. You gaze in awe at the sprues, lined with the pieces that will eventually become your friends for life. You reach for a helmet, and-

'''Stop. ''Please, for the love of God, stop.'''''

Before you rush into tearing the sprue apart to get at those juicy bits, ask yourself. Do you have cutting pliers? Do you actually know how to use them? Do you have the tools needed to remove the vents and flashes, or actually take out the pieces of the sprue without damaging them?

If your answer is no, and you actually care about the condition of your models, then you will first need some cutting pliers and needle files. These tools will ensure that your bits are correctly cut, and that the vent, flashes and mould lines are dealt with.

As a general rule, you shouldn't apply too much pressure when using any of these tools over the plastic. Also, please watch what you're doing. It's a very sad day when your pliers end up slicing off a detail of your mini because you miscalculated the angle. Pro tip: test your tools on the sprues before you start cutting, in order to get a grasp of the pressure you'll need to apply.

Okay, now you have your pliers and needle files, and you're ''itching'' to free your soldiers from their sprue prison. We're ready to go, right? Not quite. You should have a clear idea of what are you going to cut, and how are you going to paint it. If you happen to be working with just one miniature, then you can go ahead and remove each piece without much planning. However, if you have a big box with multiple miniatures, then you need to plan your course of action. Unfortunately, we can't give you a perfect answer that will work with every Warhammer product ever created. However, we ''can'' tell you it's far easier to find pieces when they're still attached to a sprue, as opposed to rolling around inside the box. Unless you are kitbashing, it's best to only cut the parts of a single miniature or set of miniatures, and only after you're sure that all the bits will be used. Again, no point in cutting pieces out if you're not going to assemble them for the next few months.

Let's say that one way or another, you damaged your models while removing them from the sprue. Take a deep breath. It'll be okay. Green Stuff has come to your rescue. [[Green Stuff]] (which starts its life in a pot as technical material, or as a blue and yellow band inside a package) is an easily moldable substance, not unlike clay. However, once it dries, it becomes as hard as nails, making it ideal for repairing missing bits, or even adding new ones. We certainly hope you won't end up in a situation where Green Stuff is needed, but as we said before: shit happens. Even if you're certain that you won't mess up, it doesn't hurt to keep some handy.