Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hi all,

New member here, long time lurker. Been into WH and WH40k since 1999 but took about a 12 year break Coincidentally, got back into it right when I started my first job out of grad school (6 months ago) and having the dinero has been real nice for the hobby (granted I still only buy from ebay and discount online stores). Like many of you, I'm sure, I'm quite the perfectionist when it comes to modeling so everything needs to be unique and converted at least a bit and it takes me weeks if not months to finish projects (if I ever do, and only before 10 more get started). I'm currently too afraid to touch a paintbrush because of my high standards and too much browsing of amazing models online, but awaiting my first airbrush so it shall begin soon.

But enough chit chat, on to my projects. I'll be using this thread to share some of my projects, get feedback, answer any questions, hopefully inspire, whatever. Besides a long history of hobby modeling, I've done tons of research on converting, techniques, etc. and have a giant folder with images and bookmarks of inspiring conversions or concept art that I'm more than happy to share (incidentally, if you haven't checked out http://conceptships.blogspot.com, then I invite you to put aside an entire day (there's a tank and robot section as well)

What kinds of projects?
- I love the idea of scratch building and kit bashing, especially using toys or household items (big inspiration here: http://www.ironhands.com).
- Warhammer-wise, I'm focused mainly on space marines and, as the perfectionist, have decided to only do true scale (except the storm talon). Pretty obsessed with the Horus Heresy too so that will guide most of my projects.
- I have also recently tried my hand at resin casting and will be doing more of that for sure.

------------------------------------------------

I'll be posting each project as a separate post. Enjoy

------------------------------------------------
UPDATES

Re-usable GS Press Mold Tutorial

------------------------------------------------

Artscale space marine
Up first is my first true scale/art scale space marine, modeled using the tutorial over at www.masteroftheforge.com.com. Just a basic marine, no accessories yet, wanted to get the technique right and learn how to use green stuff. I've got TONS of bits (thank you ebay and spikeybits.com) and tons conversion ideas for various marines in the future, including modeling different armor marks, poses, etc. Will also definitely be doing termies.

Note, head is just tacked on, backpack not attached, and feet are pinned loosely into base. The knees look messy cause I tried lining the armor with some plasticard but ended up removing it.






Size comparison with an extremely old GW sergeant. Current plastic SM's probably ~mm taller (don't have any assembled).

Lessons learned:
- Steep learning curve with green stuff, especially forming edges and smoothing. Best results with clay shapers and bit of vaseline. Also helps to do minor tweaking and smoothing after it hardens a bit (and keep checking up on it as it dries)
- If you have all the tools, the conversion is pretty easy once you get the hang of green stuff. I am by no means an artist or sculptor but I have no trouble now sculpting the leg and arm bulk.

Shell casings on the base were created by cutting up holding a lighter close to the end of a plasticard rod then gently pressing down on a flat surface to get a slightly flatted, bulging end.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stormtalon
Next up, and almost done save for some decorating, is the stormtalon. Like a lot of people out there I didn't like the original but felt that some minor changes were all that was needed to make it look good while retaining the look of a hover flyer (not an airplane like many conversions have done).

Changes:
- Extended the tail by ~1 cm
- Flipped the tail around 180 (It hurts as an aerospace engineer to have the flaps reversed but I'm just going to assume it's an advanced tech. Didn't want to bother cutting and refitting the tail)
- Separately magnetized engines (looking back this was not worth it but will be nice for portability)
- Side weapon mounts WAY closer to main body
- Cockpit is hinged and opens and closes (this was a huuuuge pain to do but I like it-aside from the crack I made...oh well, battle damage right?)
- Major rework of assault cannon system. Storm talon assault cannons replaced by landspeeder assault cannons. Much slimmer design, looks way better I think. And I removed the whole box that it sat in and raised the weapon up so it didn't hang so low. Added ammo belts to each side as well (elastic hair bands - couldn't find anything else haha).
- Assault cannons rotate horizontally and vertically
- New landing gear. Since I replaced the assault cannons the original landing pads could no longer go beneath them. I scratch built the legs, angled them out and behind the assault cannon and voila!

Also features fully magnetized side weapons for all loadouts.







Showing off the landing gear

Still to do:
- Add decorations (aquilas, maybe some other stuff if I think of it)
- Base. Also, I don't like how big the clear stand is. Anyone know of any thinner clear rods that work well?
- Anybody know if creating "real" battle damage looks good in the end or stick to paint effects?
- Paint it!!Ordered an Iwata HP-M1 so hopefully that will make this fun. Still can't decide on a color scheme though.

Lessons learned:
- Superglue isn't that strong on tiny surface areas. Pin and glue when in doubt

Very nice, i like where this is going, i like the tips/things you've learnt at the end of each project - maybe consider taking WIP pics along the way and perhaps moving it to painting & modelling blogs if your looking to keep on with it!

Lovely work on the Marine, always nice to see more true/artscale stuff(I find calling it the latter will save you no end of arguments with pedantic fun-haters who seem to have a compulsive need to post in every thread with the word "truescale" in it that you should actually be making every other model in the game but the Marines smaller - because that's much more practical ). If you're up for removing a few extra details, I recommend picking up some of the new Deathwing Knights/Command legs, the casting on them is so much more crisp than the old basic plastic termies it's not even funny, and they have a new "standing" pose as well. Oh, also, next time you're buying putty, give ProCreate("grey stuff") a try, I've found it much easier to control on the mini than green stuff.

Dmyze - Thanks, I think I will move the thread and try and do WIP pics if I ca remember

Yodhrin - Thanks. I'll definitely check out the deathwing legs, that's a good idea. And maybe throw around the wort artscale more haha.

Also, I actually use a 50/50 mix of grey stuff (or maybe its milliput?) and greenstuff now. Maybe I'll try 100% grey stuff to see what happens. I'm also curious about brown stuff since I hear it forms edges a lot better.

Looks great. And i like that you didn't stick with normal marine arms but build your own bulkier ones. Those give the model bulk while still look better propotioned.
What you might consider doing once you are more experienced with GS is cut the belt from the torsos and rebuild the whole hip area. This way you have a much cleaner surface for adding additional armor plate details without the old belt getting in the way.
Also you could sculpt additional armor details into the armor plates to get some more details back once you trust your GS skills more.

And if you want sharper edged details you could look into harder cureing putties like Yodhrin suggested. They are better for sharper details and can be sanded after cureing for a clean and even finish.
I use milliput for that purpose. I think procreate fulfills that role too but i never used it and so can't compare.

 btldoomhammer wrote:
Looks great. And i like that you didn't stick with normal marine arms but build your own bulkier ones. Those give the model bulk while still look better propotioned.
What you might consider doing once you are more experienced with GS is cut the belt from the torsos and rebuild the whole hip area. This way you have a much cleaner surface for adding additional armor plate details without the old belt getting in the way.
Also you could sculpt additional armor details into the armor plates to get some more details back once you trust your GS skills more.

And if you want sharper edged details you could look into harder cureing putties like Yodhrin suggested. They are better for sharper details and can be sanded after cureing for a clean and even finish.
I use milliput for that purpose. I think procreate fulfills that role too but i never used it and so can't compare.

Hmm I'll have to try that. I can't seem to get the hang of detailing or etching into putty. Do you wait until it has cured a bit first?

 Primarchz wrote:
Hmm I'll have to try that. I can't seem to get the hang of detailing or etching into putty. Do you wait until it has cured a bit first?

Yes it is easier if you let it cure for a bit.

The main problem is the stickyness of the putty (especially GS). It will stick to your tool and to itself and you will pull some material with you. That results in rounded edges even if you wet yout tools. (Or in your case use vaseline)
If the putty hardens the stickyness will get less (or the putty isn't as sticky to begin with) and as such you get sharper details.

Also independant of the state of the putty i pull the putty gently back towards the edges to sharpen them more and create finer lines for details. You should be able to do that with your clay shapers rather well without leaving tool marks.

 Primarchz wrote:
Dmyze - Thanks, I think I will move the thread and try and do WIP pics if I ca remember

Yodhrin - Thanks. I'll definitely check out the deathwing legs, that's a good idea. And maybe throw around the wort artscale more haha.

Also, I actually use a 50/50 mix of grey stuff (or maybe its milliput?) and greenstuff now. Maybe I'll try 100% grey stuff to see what happens. I'm also curious about brown stuff since I hear it forms edges a lot better.

Make sure before you try using it straight up, regular milliput is a frigging nightmare, it sticks to everything like mad, and if you try and lubricate it with water you get horrible chalky residue everywhere. I only use it for making pressmoulds myself(in which case I do a 60/40 milliput/GS mix). ProCreate is a two-part epoxy similar to green stuff, but supposedly "specially formulated" for making miniatures, in my experience that means you can essentially do the same things you can do with GS, but it takes a little less effort(so for example when sculpting the kneepads on one of my own artscale guys, with GS it would take a half a dozen passes each lasting several minutes over the course of the drying time to ensure a smooth finish, while with the ProCreate I did the initial placing, shaping, and smoothing, and I only had to go back to it a couple of times for a couple of quick passes with the shaper).

Brown stuff is useful as well(however it is the most expensive of the four; milliput is cheapest by volume, then green, then grey, then brown), for most applications I've found that making a "dark" mix of ProCreate allows you to get sharp edges quite easily, but I do sometimes use a 50/50 "dark" PC to brown stuff mixture. As you say all the putties have their own properties depending on the mix of resin to hardener you use, and while you can absolutely do everything with just GS, having the others and figuring out your favourite mixtures for different types of sculpting makes things so much easier.

Since you already have clay shapers, you're about half way there frankly, those things are magical, I barely touch my metal tools any more.

 Yodhrin wrote:


Make sure before you try using it straight up, regular milliput is a frigging nightmare, it sticks to everything like mad, and if you try and lubricate it with water you get horrible chalky residue everywhere. I only use it for making pressmoulds myself(in which case I do a 60/40 milliput/GS mix). ProCreate is a two-part epoxy similar to green stuff, but supposedly "specially formulated" for making miniatures, in my experience that means you can essentially do the same things you can do with GS, but it takes a little less effort(so for example when sculpting the kneepads on one of my own artscale guys, with GS it would take a half a dozen passes each lasting several minutes over the course of the drying time to ensure a smooth finish, while with the ProCreate I did the initial placing, shaping, and smoothing, and I only had to go back to it a couple of times for a couple of quick passes with the shaper).

Brown stuff is useful as well(however it is the most expensive of the four; milliput is cheapest by volume, then green, then grey, then brown), for most applications I've found that making a "dark" mix of ProCreate allows you to get sharp edges quite easily, but I do sometimes use a 50/50 "dark" PC to brown stuff mixture. As you say all the putties have their own properties depending on the mix of resin to hardener you use, and while you can absolutely do everything with just GS, having the others and figuring out your favourite mixtures for different types of sculpting makes things so much easier.

Since you already have clay shapers, you're about half way there frankly, those things are magical, I barely touch my metal tools any more.

Super useful info, thanks. Yea price is annoying for brown stuff but might have to try it out just to be thorough. Just checked my "grey stuff" by the way, it's called Magic Sculpt which I understand is an epoxy resin and seems to be a crowd favorite to work with. People are saying it's a lot less sticky than PC, thoughts?

Smoothing can be annoying but I can throw 800+ grit sandpaper on GS no problem and it works very well, so you're right, you can actually do everything in GS.

And yea, those clay shapers are amazing. Took me forever to find them on the cheap. I don't know how people go without them, I wouldn't even try to sculpt to be honest.

 Primarchz wrote:

 Yodhrin wrote:


Make sure before you try using it straight up, regular milliput is a frigging nightmare, it sticks to everything like mad, and if you try and lubricate it with water you get horrible chalky residue everywhere. I only use it for making pressmoulds myself(in which case I do a 60/40 milliput/GS mix). ProCreate is a two-part epoxy similar to green stuff, but supposedly "specially formulated" for making miniatures, in my experience that means you can essentially do the same things you can do with GS, but it takes a little less effort(so for example when sculpting the kneepads on one of my own artscale guys, with GS it would take a half a dozen passes each lasting several minutes over the course of the drying time to ensure a smooth finish, while with the ProCreate I did the initial placing, shaping, and smoothing, and I only had to go back to it a couple of times for a couple of quick passes with the shaper).

Brown stuff is useful as well(however it is the most expensive of the four; milliput is cheapest by volume, then green, then grey, then brown), for most applications I've found that making a "dark" mix of ProCreate allows you to get sharp edges quite easily, but I do sometimes use a 50/50 "dark" PC to brown stuff mixture. As you say all the putties have their own properties depending on the mix of resin to hardener you use, and while you can absolutely do everything with just GS, having the others and figuring out your favourite mixtures for different types of sculpting makes things so much easier.

Since you already have clay shapers, you're about half way there frankly, those things are magical, I barely touch my metal tools any more.

Super useful info, thanks. Yea price is annoying for brown stuff but might have to try it out just to be thorough. Just checked my "grey stuff" by the way, it's called Magic Sculpt which I understand is an epoxy resin and seems to be a crowd favorite to work with. People are saying it's a lot less sticky than PC, thoughts?

Smoothing can be annoying but I can throw 800+ grit sandpaper on GS no problem and it works very well, so you're right, you can actually do everything in GS.

And yea, those clay shapers are amazing. Took me forever to find them on the cheap. I don't know how people go without them, I wouldn't even try to sculpt to be honest.

Is that Magic Sculpt/Sculp stuff the putty Lamenter mentions on the MotF blog? If so, I'd say it's closer to milliput than anything else, I can't speak to its stickyness as I've not tried using it straight-up only mixed with GS; ProCreate is much like GS, but it doesn't have as much elasticity, in terms of stickyness it's a bit less than GS, similar to a blue-heavy mix that's been left for a wee bit before you start to sculpt.

The brown stuff is pricey aye, but if you use it to alter the quality of another putty the basic pack lasts a fair while; I've gone through two packs of ProCreate and one of the big packs of GS that comes in two sticks and I've still got a wee bit of the pack of brown stuff I got at the same time.

Yea from Lamenter's blog - I take everything he says as dogma haha. It's actually quite sticky, I try to stuff it into the other half or the GS right away to avoid handling. Once it's mixed with the GS you just get very soft GS (which I realized I should not use for armor sculpting).

I'd love to find some brown stuff in a local store but haven't seen any in the 30+ hobby/craft stores I've been to in the last 6 months.

I found the same thing, luckily in the UK we have Heresy Miniatures, who sell all three of the "stuffs" online at a fairly reasonable price; dunno if it would be worth it for you though once you factor in shipping costs.