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I've made a few press molds with greenstuff and used greenstuff in them. Mostly for terrain projects. I have also made greenstuff purity seals. Now, I want to try my hand and larger greenstuff detailing and I would like to encounter as few surprises along the way as possible. So, the one glaring problem I have now is getting the greenstuff to adhere to the model. Please, allow me to elaborate...

I have several squads of Eldar Jetbikes as I am (slowly) working on a "Saim-Hann" Jetbike/Grav army. Plus, the use of many Jetbike squads in Apoc with so many other minis, I want to differentiate the various squads. Rather than painting markings or differing the paintjobs (I have my own unique scheme), I want to model greenstuff rune-like designs on the jetbike cowlings. Twelve jetbikes per squad times xx squads. All bikes and Warlock from a squad will have the same design, each squad with different designs.

I avoided cardstock because it was too thick for what I want. I don't want to use plasticard as it is too rigid to conform to the curves of the cowlings, especially with the thin width of the runes. So, I thought I would try regular old posterboard. The right thickness and fairly easy to curve to the shape of the jetbike. The problem I had was getting the wood glue to adhere permanently to the flat, smooth, plastic surface of the cowling. It turned out to be far more work on that one jetbike to re-create 40+ times for the rest of the jetbikes.

This led me to the conclusion that greenstuff may be the best course of action.

Which then led me to my issue.
How do I get a very thin (width) greenstuff design to adhere to a large, smooth surface with a major curve? The thickness of the greenstuff would only be about 1/8" thick, so it should be fairly pliable when dry. My plan is to take one of my posterboard designs and glue it flat on the smooth side of a small scrap of masonite, then press the design into a rectangle of greenstuff to make my press mold. When that dries, I will flatten out some more greenstuff to press into the mold and "cast" my design, ad nauseum.

Once it dries, how will I affix it to the cowling? Like, what do I use? I would like to stay away from superglue because it tends to squish out from underneath and leave glue blobs and glue fingerprints on the model that will be quite hard to remove without damaging the model or design. Would it be best to remove the piece from the mold before it is fully set and affix it to the model to let it finish curing? Will it hold fast to the model's smooth surface? Should I drill teeny pins in key places on the cowling to insert into the greenstuff design before it completely sets?

Suggestions would be beautiful.
You help me and I promise I won't come smash the puny downtown buildings that make up the city you live in/near.








Ghidorah

I would scuplt the rune directly onto the surface with greenstuff. greenstuff, when left to solidify while attacked to a surface provides a decent amount of adhesive quality.

thats how i did the vampire skulls on the shields of my graveguard

if you want to use a press mold i dont know how you could get it to work

Are you any good at all with actually sculpting greenstuff? I mean if you are you could just simply sculpt onto the jetbike then cast off that. That way you can press straight onto the other jetbikes with a mould which is the perfect fit for the surface.

Doing it the way you described. Yes, I would definitely place it before it has completely set. More flexibility + since your using greenstuff and not something like milliput you wont be able to modify it once it has set.

Well, for starters, I haven't really ever scultped with greenstuff (or any other medium). The most recent time that I did was for an Apoc objective where one of my Guardians was converted into a sitting position and I had to re-sculpt the pelvic are. It was a godawful mess. Since he was sitting, it isn't that noticible. Just to be sure, I added a large rock to help block sight to it.

As for sculpting it directly on the surface, well, that will be out of my league. There are too many straight, thin, flat lines. Several curvy ones, too. There's no way I could pull that off. Unlike with alchohol, I know my limits with greenstuff.

So, if I pulled the cast from the mold while still pliable, will it be tacky enough to adhere well to the model?



Ghidorah

Ghidorah wrote:limits

pfft limits? I'll take your limits and eat them, then wash 'em down with a nice warm cup of boundaries.

Ghidorah wrote:So, if I pulled the cast from the mold while still pliable, will it be tacky enough to adhere well to the model?

It seems you have yet to discover the wonders of talkin powder when pressing. Some of that and it will leave it easily.

I always point to scibbor for these types of post -
check out the gallery & the articles pages (may have to click on them a couple of times as they're a bit temperamental)
The 'Hand-making decorated armour - tutorial' should be right up your street - you could even use a jet bike cowl instead of the cork to dry the piece on (check out the article to see what i mean)

http://www.sciborminiatures.com/en_,sculpting.php

then just glue it on the jetbike - I think plastic glue will work but a bit of trial & error never hurt.

Check back with us with the results!

Before you get too involved with that and start wondering why your stuff isn't coming out as well as scibors though. Realise most of the stuff on his site isn't done this way, and he actually presses greenstuff onto CAD made moulds.