Fixing My Bones

Now that I've received all of those new shiny bones I needed a method of "fixing" or tweaking them to a desired position.  In the packaging of all miniature models there are always the occasional bent swords, figures, staff, etc. as the miniature gets smooshed into the packaging (one website I read remarks that his miniatures need some viagra).  With metal figures it's a simple pinch with the hobby pliers and it's easy to repose or straighten out a bent item.

Pulling, twisting or some other manipulation doesn't do a dang thing to the plastic models as the plastic has "memory" and contorts back to it's undesired state.  Off to Google I went and I found lots and lots of advice and information.  I found a good site that provided accurate information as well as a youtube video.  The white plastic is some sort of pvc mixture that when heated goes back to its original memory state (ie - a straight sword).  To get it to stay in that original memory state or to manipulate into a different pose the trick is to rapidly cool it down.

I was extremely successful following these steps:

Step 1: Have a pot of boiling water
Step 2: Have a big bowl (I used a big plastic popcorn bowl) of ice water
Step 3: Dunk miniature or part of the miniature (such as only the sword, staff, wing, base, etc.) into boiling water for about 10-20 seconds depending upon the thickness of the miniature
Step 4: Take miniature out of boiling water and while warm form to desired shape
Step 5: Quickly dunk into ice water (physics is so cool - I feel like I'm on Mythbusters) and the miniature immediately hardens into the desired shape

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7/28/2013 update: if you have a one off Bone and you don't want to go through the entire process of boiling a pot of water and dipping into ice water - then the use of the bathroom sink with the temp turned to maximum hot water and a nearby cup of cold tap water will do the trick.  It takes a little longer - you definitely need to work at it a bit more (the plastic doesn't get to the goo state) - and dunking into cold tap water isn't as instant hard as ice water, but it does the trick.
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Its a bit different than dealing with metal miniatures but no less taxing - in some ways it's easier.  I was able to straighten out the base of the miniature, the angle of the miniature, swords, staffs, wings, etc. as well as repose as desired.

My recommended websites that I found most useful:

Castles and Cooks - a well detailed explanation of the process with pictures
Fixing Reaper Bones - a decent video explanation whereby he shows and tells to the audience

Hope that helps everyone else out there!