Help Fixing Warped Minis

[Pour]

I recently received a large mini order from an online supplier, but some of the minis at the bottom were warped from what I assume was the tight packing. It's been a few days and the bases haven't returned to normal, and some of the swords and arms are extremely bent.

I guess I'm wondering if anyone has any tips or techniques for restoring bases and bending swords and arms back.

 

[Cadfan]

Plastic or metal?

 

[Wicht]

Are these plastic minis? Or metal?

If metal I suggest gently using needlenose pliers. If plastic, I would assume you would have to press them back into shape with some sort of weight or vise.

 

[Klaus]

If it's D&D plastic minis, put them in a glass with hot water for a bit, then put them in a glass with cold water. The plastic will revert to its factory mold.

 

[Fifth Element]

I suspect the OP means plastic...since he noted they haven't returned to their original shape on their own.

 

[Shadowslayer]

Yeah, hot water will do the job. I bring a pot of water to a slow boil and dip the mini in there with a pair of tongs. (you're not gonna hurt the paint) Then pull the mini out, straighten whatever needs straightening and run it under cold. That does the trick every time.

Be aware however that if the mini is bent because it was stored for a long time in a bent position, it may revert slightly over time. Especially if you just throw them right back into a big jumbled box of minis.

 

[Dausuul]

Yeah, hot water will do the job. I bring a pot of water to a slow boil and dip the mini in there with a pair of tongs. (you're not gonna hurt the paint) Then pull the mini out, straighten whatever needs straightening and run it under cold. That does the trick every time.

Be aware however that if the mini is bent because it was stored for a long time in a bent position, it may revert slightly over time. Especially if you just throw them right back into a big jumbled box of minis.

If, after trying this trick a couple of times, you find the mini is stubborn about reverting, you may find it helpful to overcompensate. Instead of heating, bending the mini into the correct position, and "freezing" it with cold water, bend it beyond the correct position and freeze it there instead. When it reverts, it should end up reverting to something near the correct position.

 

[Sammael]

Another (slightly less accident-prone) approach is to use the hairdryer instead of boiling water.

 

[Zaukrie]

The last two sets from WotC had soft bases. There is no good way to fix those, other than adding something firm underneath. The hairdryer/hot water trick does not work on the soft bases.

 

[Pour]

Thanks for all the tips, guys. I'm going to be trying the boil/freeze technique later today. And I forgot to mention that they are plastic minis, DDM more specifically, some from the last two sets and some even earlier.

I'd say the two giving me the most trouble are the Beholder Eye Tyrant (the smaller, brown one) and the Eldritch Giant. The beholder's plastic shaft that gives the illusion of floating is pushing through the bottom, giving the base a convex bent that rocks the entire mini and risks tipping because of the back-heavy sculpt. The giant's right arm is so extremely bent that his sword is always covering his face. This mini is awesome, but it's annoying that I can't see the face. The sword isn't even the problem, it's the way his arm is bent inward.

So thanks again for the techniques. I'll let you all know if they worked.