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Your sculpts are looking fantastic, really nice work .
Plus I like how that vindicators coming along, the body panels especially look really smooth,
What do you use to sand your milliput with, as I just use a selection of very fine sandpapers, but I'm sure there's a better way.

Well i too use just sandpaper. So no help from me on that front.

Hey mate,

phew, you just don't stop, do you

Again, it's hard to choose what to comment on first. Let's start with the IG Knight Officer, because she might be your finest work to date. Brilliant! The fact I like her so much makes it all the harder to tell you that I feel LordRogalDorn is right: the cap actually takes away something from the model. Of course, I'll reserve final judgment until the cap is finished, but right now, it doesn't seem like a good call - sorry...

Both the faceless helmets (those would be fantastic for a more liberally interpreted squad of rubric marines) and the insectoid Vindicator are brilliant, btw!

These are amazing! I would totally buy a couple of those sergeants.

Thanks for the replies. And regarding the cap. I have mixed feelings of it too. I tried to stay true to the sketch i was given and i think i did my best. Maybe the cap sits still to high on her head? Well i'll wait for what the owner of the sketch says and then i'll see what will happen. I kown that he looks in this topic too so he should also see the critique on the cap.

On another note i just poured the first side of the mold for the sergeant. (As well as some sisters stuff.) I'll finish the mold over the weekend and add the coat.
If everything goes right i'll the sergeant variant ready neyt week and the commander variant maybe around the next weekend.

I just cast the first sergeant. The mold looks good with one exception. There is an air bubble between the sword handguard and grip. I have to see how hard it will be to remove. Maybe i have to remold them if it can't be fixed with cutting it away.
The cast itself looked good with the exception of one head. It had a massive air bubble and only half of it where cast. I'll open the air vents of that head some more.

One thing i did that i really liked is a small ridge in the mold going over all theair vent exists.(In the picture on the lover side of the sprue.) This pocket stops resin from spilling over the edges if i add to much and also can be used as feeder if filled up. This way i can use gravity as well to replave air pockets. This is especially helpfull should i invest in a vacuum chamber.

If you make more and charge $20 bucks a pop I'd buy it any day. That sarge looks fantastic!

 Deunstephe wrote:
If you make more and charge $20 bucks a pop I'd buy it any day. That sarge looks fantastic!

what he said


I'll take two at that price... maybe three if I get an idea for a conversion...

love your work on these gaurdswomen and can't wait to see the trenchcoat version.

Great stuff the Doom. I'd buy that quick as.

 cormadepanda wrote:
i want to be the first to say.. DAMN YOUR GREEN STUFF SKILLS ARE IMPRESSIVE. i am here to watch.

my thoughts exactly

 btldoomhammer wrote:
I have two other female heads that i could work up into alternate heads for the guard sergeant/commander. One is an older one with less details so adding lots of details might be the best (maybe the best option for a bionic eye or an eyepatch one)
One will have some more commanderesque headwear and i'm open for additional ideas was well.

 sennacherib wrote:
Do you use pressmolds ever.

I use pressmolds for different things. I used some different pressmolds to get the basic shapes of the chaos terminator torsos and joints right as well as dublicating a detail removed shoulder for the base of all their shoulders. And i'll probably use it again to get a few details for my sisters of battle project. I have a pressmold for one shoulder that will hoepfully allow me to build my own shoulder variant from them. But it is just to get the basic shape and start from there. It is not ment to platantly copy from GW.

But i haven't used it for adding details itself to a model. (At least not recently. My first army had pressmolded custom chapter icons on their shoulders.)

What is the lighter colored sculpting material you use.

I use two putties, GS and miliput. Miliput is yellow and i often mix it with GS. So the lighter material is either milliput or a mix of both.

Do you ever let thin sheets of GS partially harden, then cut them and apply them to your sculpts.

Only used it for a few models and all the time on free hanging stuff like cloaks and similar details. Roll it onto a smooth surface covered in vaseline, wait an hour and then cut it to shape and apply to the model. And as i always used it for free hanging stuff i add in milliput for additional stability.

You are a prolific, creative and fearless sculpter. Love seeing what you are doing here. In a word. Awesome.

Thank you.

Thanks so much for a response. I love the work that you are doing. I myself struggle with sculpting in GS and i have always wondered how people get hard lines and edges with it, not to mention the smooth faces of manufactured pieces like the shield and the knee and shin guards that you have on you IG officer. I have to say, i like the cap before the addition of the puffy top.

Your sculpts are inspiring. Keep up the good work.

Okay, i reworked the hat and reduced its height. What do you think of it now?

It's better than before, but I still feel the cap only managed to obscure what was one of your best heads before. If anything, the hairstyle made her look all the more grimdark. So, in my opinion, if there's any way of getting rid of that cap without ruining the sculpt, you should do it.

Sorry, mate, would have loved to give a different answer...

I like this hat better than the 1 before

 btldoomhammer wrote:
I just cast the first sergeant. The mold looks good with one exception. There is an air bubble between the sword handguard and grip. I have to see how hard it will be to remove. Maybe i have to remold them if it can't be fixed with cutting it away.
The cast itself looked good with the exception of one head. It had a massive air bubble and only half of it where cast. I'll open the air vents of that head some more.

Opening the vents up a bit should help. Something else I learned (aside from very careful mixing of the resin components to avoid introducing bubbles) is to slightly agitate the mold once the resin is poured by repeatedly tapping it for the first few minutes. It helps to dislodge any bubbles clinging to a surface. The bit where the bubble occurred looks like it needs a vent if you're pouring from the bottom to the top relative to the torso. That section of the hilt appears to be above the point where the resin would flow in to it from the hand creating an air pocket.
Of course, if your mold is set up to pour from head to toe relative to the torso a vent there would be irrelevant and my best guess for the cause of the bubble is just a lack of mold release getting in there and breaking up the surface tension.

What are you using as a mold release agent and how are you applying it?

it really does look great without the officers cap. I would love to have this as a leading officer in my IG army. will you be making a mold and casting more?

Thanks.
Sorry but i can't cast her. The model has some overlapping details because it was never intended to be cast.

And in regard of the sergeant cast if you want a cast i can sell a few casts. But i want to finish the commander variant first. While i'll put both on different sprues they still have interchangeable parts and they might make a good set.

thanks for the quick reply, sorry to hear it can't be cast it really is a wonderful looking miniature. also love the demon princess, though I would rather take her as the avatar for eldar, without her wings

I like the second version of your officer with the slightly reduced cap. ITs an amazing model.

I have a question. I am going to be doing some casting and i was wondering what an Overlapping detail is. Can you please elucidate me. THanks.
Also, if possible may i send you a link to the model that i am planning on casting so you can give me some feedback on it and the feasablility of casting it? thanks again.

I'm in no way an expert in casting but i can take a look at your miniature if you want.

Well overlapping details might not be the perfect word for it. Some details are designed so that they overlap with the model in a way that these details would be wrapped in silicone but still attached to the model on two points. If you can't design the mold so that the mold line goes over those details you can't cast them because the mold will hold onto those details and you can't remove the model without ripping away the details or ripping the mold.

Another problem are long and thin holes and gaps. The silicone will be able the fill those and create a mold. But if those parts are free standing and aren't connected to the rest of the mold properly the resin pouring into the mold will deform those mold areas and you will always get deformed results. There is such a gap between the cloak, the powerfist and the body.

And lastly some details will have a thin opening and a larger part underneath. Those parts must be placed in the mold so that the modlline goes around them or you can't remove them properly from the mold because you need to get the thicker part through the smaller opening. Silicone is flexible so you might get a way with small details like that but you still risk damaging the mold.

There are also a ton of undercuts on that commander model, which is no bueno for casting. She would have had to have been constructed in sub assemblies for casting to have been an option. Cape, Torso/legs, head, arms, and minor details would need to be separate pieces for casting.

to much work and to risk destroying the model just to try is not worth it. If you every make a different sculpt you can try doing it in sections if you think you would sell a few castings. but either way paint her up I want to see her badass ready for war.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
just a quick things I think she would make a great tanith first and only army fig, Col. Commissar Ibram Gaunts daughter, continue the line of greatness

First i'll just drop those. My collection of visor helmets. Like i already said if the interest is large enough i can make a mold of them. But i'd prefer them to be a bit more different than the original GW heads or it would feel like recasting. So what additional changes could i make? As the visors cover most of the front changes could be best added to the back and the sides. And i'll probably remove the other horns as well too. (I'm not a fan of horned helmets) Maybe add a bunch of cables running into the back of the head and the sides of the visors? Or change up the helmet sides with other details?
So if you have ideas just leave them.




And i think it is time to update on kerrigan. I have done some more work on her. One arm is finished and i only need to touchup and improve the spine. As you can see the arm is only attached with a tiny bit of blue tac. So my plan on seperating the arms worked. The hair is also one massive piece.
The other arm needs a hand. And there are also the obvious missing bonespikes on the wires in her legs. And i also should think about starting to work on her blade wings. What do you think?.




This is the current state of the commander. But it looks more and more like a commissar to me. But that isn't a bad thing isn't it? But it looks kinda plain with the large surface of the trenchcoat. So if you have more experience with IG models, what details could i add? Or is it already good enough for you?
And i also need ideas what to do with the other head(s).




Oh and finally a quick update on my vindicator walker. (Just ignore the random pile of stuff behind him. I ways too lazy to clear my desk before taking pictures )

The coat on the cast is looking great. As is the walker

That turtle face! Yeah!!


Was actually gonna pm you about your opinion on a model I was wanting to cast, will do that now!

I'm not a huge fan of the horns either, but i like the idea of adding wires going around to the back!

The IG officer looks like its right in line with the IG mini's gw produced, great job! and the cloak doesnt need to have too many frills IMO, it is a trench coat after all. maybe the eagle across the bottom?

A stylised eagle might be a cool idea. Something similar to the Dark Vengance cloak one of the models had. I think it was on the limited edition model. Have to dig that out and maybe so something similar.

Love them helmets BTL, could be interested in casts if you end up making that mold Keep up the good work either way!

- Salvage

Love the IG commander - that coat is just perfect for the character.

Also there's no reason you couldn't use her for a commissar, great work.

So I was reading along and saw your visor helmets (which are pretty sweet) and then I scrolled down and BAM! Kerrigan is staring at me. She is looking really good! I like what you did with the hair and the pose is really coming together. Keep it up.
For adding details to the coat, you could try adding a split near the middle of the bottom of the back, that would break up the empty space a bit. I like the idea of making a stylized eagle like the Chaplin from dark vengeance. You could also leave it plain so that the people who get one can paint it how they like, adding any kind of symbol they want, or a nice clean simple coat for the more humble commander. Just some ideas. And I really like the glasses on the turtle face of the walker vindicator. Very nice update all together.

The IG commander looks bloody ace with that trenchy. I'd leave her as she is. I wouldn't either put an eagle on the bottom either. Nice big flat surfaces aren't common on IG models so some room to do some freehand would be a nice change.