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Well, my youngest's world revolves around bewbs, and my oldest is FASCINATED by Dinosaurs! So, it fits. Speaking of which, anyone seen the cartoon "Dinosaur Train"? If so, I'm sure you know why I want to shoot myself in the foot rather than listen to it one more time!

Oh, I made more molds last night. I am addicted to it! Also, I don't have to be completely focused like I am with sculpting, so I can watch the kids, and squeeze in a minute here and there, and still get it done.....eventually....at least until it is time to mix and pour the rubber stuff. By then the kids are in bed....maybe not asleep, but in bed.

Anyway, I re-did the sprocket mold, with a few new ones, and a small skull pile.

Skull Pile:


Here are the two mold after curing and before I tear them off the forms:



And here are the molds:


I still have a long way to go before I will consider myself good at this.

I did a quick cast with them this morning....not good at all, but I was rushed to get everyone out of the house to get to day care and work on time, so I hope to get better results next time.

Oh, I did forget to mention what to do with extra.

Get some paper cups or blister packs and keep them by your stuff. When you have extra rubber, pour it into them. When it cures, chop it up into sections, and insert it into space for your next mold. Silicone bonds to itself REALLY well, so any spare that is clean (no oil or clay sticking to it) can be reused easily. Like that giant block around your skulls? Cut it back to just what you need, like 1/2 inch around the skulls, and use the rest in your next mold. It is easier when you have pressure to force the silicone around the dry parts, but even simple strips can be added after you pour some into the case to fill space. Likewise with old molds you don't want; cut them up and cannibalize the bitches!

Also, GW sprue makes good material for making sprues to build molds around. Probably have plenty of that laying around I would wager


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Blister packs also make handy mold boxes.

bewbs and dino´s...cool stuff on it´s own but wouldn´t work together^^

as for your idea with dice...would those dice work like "real" dice? will the weight be equally proportioned? i have no idea about that... one thing tho... i saw steampunk dices already... dunno if that would work...but could of course look great!

Yeah, I googled it, there are LOTS of people making Steampunk dice, some are really close to what I had planned too. It would be cool though!

About if they would work right, I would assume so, the weight should be pretty evenly distributed.

I might still look into it. None that I found were actually bronze or iron, just painted to look like it. Apparently, even when cold cast with resin, they are mostly the actual metal, so they will rust or patena normally. I bet they are even magnetic! Cool! I bet they would look better if I had them 3D Printed though. I should look into that.

Loads of great stuff going on in your blog, keep up the excellent work.

well i didn´´t want to discourage you out of it... for the weight issue...cold you use a metal ball inside the cast? could that work...? make it heavy enough in the middle so that little irregularities wouldn´t be to hard for the overall structure?

dunno nothing about 3d printing but i think if you have a good design there might be still a need for them... after all...the best shop is one where the seller makes it so needfull for the customer that he doens´t want to leave.... so a wide range of products will give you lots of grab away oportunities...!

From reading up on the "Cold Casting", you can do it several ways, one is to make a hollow cast, so the center is empty, and you can fill it with metal shot, and fill the rest with resin, but I think that would definately make it lop-sided. Or you could just fill it with resin, that would make it lighter. Or make it a solid cast, resin/bronze all the way through. This last method I think would be best, and least likely to leave it lop-sided, and able to "roll-true".

And yes, variety is the spice of life!

Thanks GiraffeX!

i think i saw in the micromark catalogue a set for casting metalresin...is that what you meant?... could look very sweet ...

http://www.micromark.com/brass-powder-for-resin-casting,10222.html

Bronze cog filled dice sounds cool, as long as they are riveted

@ Vic, yes, that is exactly the stuff!

@ Mordain, Well, of COURSE they will have rivets! I'll have to draw a concept of what I have in mind.

Usually what people do with cold cast is put some metal bits in with the resin, sort of like metallic paint, then fill the mold about 1/3, then slosh it around so all the surfaces are covered. Let it dry, and you get a thin layer of the metal. Then you back fill it with either bird shot and resin, or expandable foam, depending on whether you want weight or not.

I might recommend metal with resin inside. Heavy dice scare the gak out of me, as I have dropped casino dice on my fragile little Rackham models and destroyed a lot of arms and swords :(

Ah! I didn't think about what heavy dice would do on the table! Good Call!

All this is just in the "planning" phase anyway, but it's good to keep in mind!

I stayed home today. Didn't sleep more than an hour last night, and we have some sort of stomach bug going around. So I am getting some stuff done at the sculpting table!

Between trips to the throne-room that is.

oh.... you and your family get better soon... gakky times are gakky ... so hopefully they end soon...

and wehrkinds ideas about the thinlayer diece filled with resin...that sounds very convincing...good looking dieces but without any diffuculties please^^

I will try to keep all of Wehrkind's great tips in mind when making molds and casts. But I really need to write them all down, my mind is failing faster then my eyesight these days!

Ok, so I thought I would have more pics for an update, but I must have forgotten to take some of the pics.

Anyway, I have some updates for the Female Military Leader (FML).
I worked on the coat, I am liking the way it's coming along. But the hat is not making me happy, I will be re-doing it. Also, the head came off while I was sculpting the hat, and I think I will leave it dissconnected. That will allow the model to have different poses. And allow for easier casting too.


And as you can see, the power mace is smaller. Here it is next to the first one.


Is the skull too big? Should I sculpt a smaller one?

Still lots more to do on the mini and the weapon. Stay tuned!

RSJake

I think the smaller one definitely looks more in scale with a model, but, you know, a weapon never can be too big for a 40k!
And are you going to leave the handle plain? I believe it will look better with a braided handle.

Yeah, but it was WAY too big before!


I do plan to add detail to the handle. I am torn between a braided look, or just wrapped. Or maybe a woodgrain?

Speaking of a handle... With all those Fallout talks recently hit some of the threads out there, this one came to my mind:


By the way, if you will make a braided look or will add some other details on the handle, obviously it will become a bit more meaty, so, I think, the "blades" of the smaller maul could appear to be rather tiny for such a stem.

That's a good looking handle! If the blades turn out to be too small, I can always re-do them , or add some GS.

I think the skull is fine. It's a bludgeoning weapon after all. Look at all the Chaplains who beat people to death with fancy gold eagles on a stick. I think the smaller one looks a lot better, much more in line with her size... at least moreso than the ogryn mace you made before.

Ahh If all else fails, use a bigger hammer (or super sledge!)

the hammer idea is a good idea...if all else fails...

the new mace looks better...not too beefy but beefy enough... the skull...i think i need to see more detail until i can say for sure...the cloak i think looks suitable...i even feel a slight marylin monroe vibe about that^^ also the hat is currently a bit on the desperatly- in- need- for- a- redo- list^^

Yeah the smaller mace does look better. i would say go with the handle that is easier to sculpt, but its you. so i think textured rather than wrap. imho wrap has an older fantasy feel.

Just thought of this: Leave most of it as-is, but run metal "supports" along the sides, and add rivets! Then add "wrapped" hand hold areas.

metal supports...hmmm... how might that look? i have no idea...

Something like this.

that ´d would look pretty good!

Put some pain-giving rivets on the head of course

Well, I guess I could try to put some rivets on the wings, but would that make it look too busy?

I would have to run it by the client though before I go too far.

oh no, I meant on your drawing of the blocky one

Ah OK, I see! *whew*

I added the strip down the sides of the mace last night, adding rivets to it is going to be interesting! They will be VERY small!

I started on the re-work of FML's captain's hat last night, just need to add the top part tonight. I'm hoping it looks much better. I tried to rush the last one, and kept getting my fingers on the brim before it was cured.