After gap filling I moved on to how to attach the wings. The resin is very thin and the wings are large and in the case of the left one stick out at quite an angle, so I feared they would end up breaking in transport and decided to make the wings removable instead.
The wings have sculpted sockets but there was a bit too much play in the joint to be able to just plug them in as is during a game. I coated the wing plug in a little vegetable oil and then put some procreate into the socket on the Manticore. Then I pushed the wing into the joint, letting the procreate naturally fill the socket around the plug to make a secure fit with the wing. Once dry the oil coating ensured the wing could be removed again. Below you can just see the extra layer of putty on the lower side of the wing socket.
Here’s the right wing with the extra putty in place.
After this the right wing plugs in securely on it’s own, the left wing still had a little play so I decided to insert a thin metal rod (actually cut from a long push pin) into the base of the wing and drilled a corresponding hole inside the socket.
I then took Mr Surfacer 1000 (a fine surface primer) and applied it to the areas of the Manticore that would be hairy. My intention is to apply a subtle hair like texture as I have never liked when animals appear perfectly smooth. I used an old brush and repeatedly stabbed it into the Mr Surfacer as it dried. It’s difficult to tell if this will work at this stage, but hopefully the texture will come through during the painting stages. Only time will tell now.
With this as the model is resin (thus often subject to a release agent of some kind when cast) and I have been using oil and handling it quite a lot probably putting all kinds of skin oil on it as well, I gave it a good wash in warm soapy water and left it to dry.
Finally as this is for Warhammer I mounted it on a suitable base (50mm square), used a bit of coarse sand and a paste of PVA and marble dust to blend the sculpted base of the Manticore with the square base, primed it black and I’m ready for paint.