Buttons

[Ernie]

Can anyone help me with their favourite tips for creating homemade buttons ?
I once stretched plastic sprue to form long thin rods, with the help of a candle flame, then carefully rounded the tip edging it near a controlled warm source (pyrograph at minimum power usually) and finally cut the tiny dome thus obtained = 1 button. Tiresome and very time consuming

 

[svt]

You can roll out some putty into a thin layer, then cut it into small squares with a knife, separate them with the tip of the knife and roll them into small balls between two fingers. Place the resulting balls on the model.


I have made hundreds of buttons on my figures this way.


If you need very high accuracy of the volume of the buttons you create, you can always use a jewelry tool, which in English is called, if I'm not mistaken, beading tools (Russian: корневертка). It is a steel rod with a conical tip and a semicircular depression at its end. The diameter of which varies from 0.25 mm to 1.35 mm, although it is possible that there are smaller and larger diameters. The size step is 0.05 mm, which allows you to select the diameter of the future button very accurately. Such a tool is very cheap.

 

[Ernie]

Thank you so much ! Found the kind of tool you mentioned online, I'm going to try both. Thanks a lot.

 

[WarhammerAdjacent]

I 3d printed a set, long shanks with a domed head, that meant that I could drill a hole where I wanted the button and slot it in accurately. I'm happy to run some off for you if that would help.

 

[Ernie]

Good to know, I'll make a note of your kind offer, thanks a lot. I just found a punch set that ranges from 0.25 to 1.35 mm. Tried on plastic sheets and tin foil, it works well. We'll see how it keeps up after some hundreds buttons.

 

[Nap]

Great response from members

Good details from svt as well

Happy buttoning everyone

Nap

 

[Jaybo]

You can roll out some putty into a thin layer, then cut it into small squares with a knife, separate them with the tip of the knife and roll them into small balls between two fingers. Place the resulting balls on the model.
View attachment 498800 View attachment 498801 View attachment 498802 View attachment 498803

I have made hundreds of buttons on my figures this way.
View attachment 498805

If you need very high accuracy of the volume of the buttons you create, you can always use a jewelry tool, which in English is called, if I'm not mistaken, beading tools (Russian: корневертка). It is a steel rod with a conical tip and a semicircular depression at its end. The diameter of which varies from 0.25 mm to 1.35 mm, although it is possible that there are smaller and larger diameters. The size step is 0.05 mm, which allows you to select the diameter of the future button very accurately. Such a tool is very cheap.
View attachment 498806

Great tip and thank you. I have used a small diameter punch & die set but this looks easier and more efficient. Well done SVT.

 

[Historex Rob]

Great tip and thank you. I have used a small diameter punch & die set but this looks easier and more efficient. Well done SVT.

This tool set does work very well, better than the micro punch sets, which tend to produce buttons that are out of round and with jagged edges.

There is one extra step when using the tool, and that is the flattening the buttons after being punched out. The tool produces only domed buttons. For some armies, domed buttons are correct, but for most, uniform buttons were flat.

When flattening the buttons, they do increase in size a bit, so it’s important to try a few different sizes.

To flatten, turn the tool and use the flat end. Quick and easy.