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Are you looking for other kits or cheap alternatives?



This is (currently on hold while I paint some stuff) a Mega dread I am working on. The body ive used is the CSM mauler/seige fiend, except ive simply put it into an upright position and used the leg from a Gk dreadknight.

In terms of alternative cheaper options:

Plasticard?
Plasticard with details over the top from press moulds?
Plumbing parts/components
toilet rolls are also an option
Tin can?
deodorant can?
tea cup?
suppose you could use anything

 zammerak wrote:
Nice! I am looking to make this a low cost build. I simply cannot come to terms with spending the money on a forgeworld model let alone two. I have a fair number of bitz mostly ork in my office so I should be set there. I also have lots of plasticard tubes and pices. The body itself seems tricky as well as getting the size down. Last thing I want is a mega dread that looks like it's made if rubbish....because it will be

ok to keep costs down then i say go to town with the plasticard Perhaps have a scout about for an interestingly shaped piece of plastic, and old toy, or any item that you think would make a great body piece. Then from that you can start adding parts from your bits box and build up some armour panels etc in plasticard. In terms of size, I wouldn't be too worried. As long as it fits onto a base that the mega-dreads fit onto and its not stupidly small then you'll be fine

Err the oval large one (not sure what's its dimensionally called). The same as the Gk dreadknight and wraithknight etc. I got one with the seigefiend that im converting.

 zammerak wrote:
Huh, you guys are much better at this plasticard thing haha, When I get home ill post a WIP pic of my lower half.

some tips:
Go at it with a knife hack it up at te edges etc and generally give it a rough cut, that gives it a much nicer finish.
And with orks, just add plasticard till your happy orks never go wrong with more plasticard!!

Hey man these are looking awesome! a few plasticard tips that I think will really take them both to the next stage.

Work some small squares and triangles and other shapes of platicard onto the outerside of the MK I and Mk II, you've got some really nice, solid base shapes, they just need padding out with a little extra detail. It wont look like much now, but once paint is on it and your getting some shades and metal colours on they will totally come to life.

Secondly, if your ever stuck thinking that a part doesn't look technical enough or like the joint of an elbow, leg, or whatever isn't quite working then some simple armour plates that curve like pads, like knee pads or elbow pads are a great way to cover up parts you dislike. An example would be for me I am not a huge fan of your MK I feet. I like the shape and the tripod attachment, just not the actual feet. Id take a little plasticard, cut it into a couple odd shapes, then id plate them up and give them a nice layered bulk feel. finish that off with a couple rivets and they will look really sick

Thirdly, use varying thickness of plasticard, when I first started I basically used the same thickness everywhere, and while it still looked good it just hasn't quite got the visual effect of varying thickness armour plates. They really help givce it an orky feel, like they simply needed any scrap of metal in order to cover a hole from a previous battle, doesn't matter that the plate was 4x thicker than the original armour there orks!

Finally, id also say dont forget to accessorize with extras and parts from real kits. They truely help by adding in detail or shapes that plasticard alone just really isnt designed to achieve. One of the earlier posts was of a scratch built compared to a GW dread. As you can see, its mostly plasticard, but there are still GW parts for details. Arm sockets and a back plate it looks like.

Oh and a side note of something I do when scratch building:


The greenstuffed armour plates I created using oyumaru, a mold that is re-usable, I basically use it to pick up details out of other parts and then I can re-create some extra detail to help add the finishing touches to a scratch build. In total its a very cheap to get into if you plan on making a few builds. For less than £10 you'd have all you need to start pressing some extra details. If you want some more info on how I do that just ask i can send you a few links. I picked the idea up of a modeller who really creates some stunning characters and HQs by taking the finer details and press molding them on.

 zammerak wrote:
Yes, Please give more info on this press molding. Also great tips, I also do not like the feet on mk 1 and the tips you gave are a great way to fix that.

Back to work on the dreads!

Ok, so basically what it is:

Oyumaru comes in plastic rectangles and is basically a re-usable mold. You simply put it in a cup of boiled water and the heat softens it up, you leave it a few mins until its nice and soft. You then press your shapes, sigil, or detail you wish to replicate into the soft dough like plastic. You leave it in there for 10-20 minutes or until its basically stiff and solid again. You then take your piece out. Oyumaru is ever so slightly flexible, which means most of the time its pretty easy to get it out and the oyumaru springs back to the shape you'd made. The only problems come if you trap the piece in there by hooking the edges or something.

With this mold you can now press greenstuff into it to create a piece of GS with the details from the mold. Typically I use a mix of greenstuff and another modelling putty milliput. The reasons for this are generally that: greenstuff dries flexible and rubber like - thus being hard to sand, but resiliant to brittle breaking. the milliput on the otherhand dries hard and brittle - good for sanding but prone to snapping. by mixing you can take the best of both worlds. a 50:50 mix is a good balance for working with, it remains sandable but not particularly brittle.

You press the mixture/ your putty into the mold shapes and leave it to set (2 hours or whatever). then when you pull it out you have your details that you can now, cut, trim, edit and add more to put on your model. the photo I gave id created armour plates. But ive used it for: cloaks, sigils, faces and any detail I really liked but wanted on another piece. I think its a very valuable tool and i picked the idea up off this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4shU7dCXUg He creates some amazing character with it.

Some tips ive picked up too:
When you put the greenstuff into your mold, if you leave it to set for half the time (so its not fully set) and carefully remove it, you can actually take it out with the details undamaged but the greenstuff is still flexible. You can then bend it to change the shape, I did that to add the curvature to my boats plates. In fact he does this in the video.

Secondly, this i tested out as an idea this weekend. The main issue with pressing the greenstuff in is that because you trap air, you force it into the details and corners, this means that you'll lose that particluar bit. Normally i just add it in slow small amounts to counter this. However, I bought a pot of expensive liquid greenstuff. Now usually i wouldnt touch it for the price tag it carries. However, I only need a small amount for this application. You take your mold and before you put in the main of your green stuff you use a brush and apply a coat of liquid greenstuff to the inside of the mold, because its a liquid it allows the air to escape and you coat all the details. However, you dont want to use your expensive liquids to fill the whole mold. So now you take your greenstuff-milliput mix and push that in to (as its way cheaper). What this does is it mixes ever so slightly with the liquid greenstuff, creating a slightly rubberised front detail part, with a much more solid and resiliant core. The only draw backs would be - The front details wont be very filable (as its pure GS) and i dont think you could remove it halfway through drying to bend. But im not sure I havent tested this yet, if the liquid greenstuff dries faster and fully while your core mix still dries then it will be possible.

Here is a link to the stuff on amazon in the UK:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oyumaru-Reusable-Modelling-Compound-Clear/dp/B0058GYGAQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396263196&sr=8-1&keywords=oyumaru

I honestly really like this stuff and have been doing some awesome stuff that I clearly could not achieve through my GS sculpting skills.