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Hello all this is Cothonian,

I've been thinking about experimenting with Green Stuff, I have some ideas on how to custom outfit my Imperial Guard troops (rain cloaks, additional armor, etc...)

However I did think of one other possible use for Green Stuff, and was wondering if anyone else has tried it. Currently one bit that I want more of for my Guard troops are the respirators, the ones featured on the Imperial Guard Company/Platoon Command Squad sprues. I was thinking about first using some Green Stuff to create a mold for those respirator bits, then use that mold to create more respirators, with more Green Stuff. (If you don't know what I mean when I say "respirator" for the Imperial Guard, just think of the Kasrkrin helmets from Dawn of War-Winter Assault.)

So, anyone with more experience think that is possible, using Green Stuff to create an effective mold of a bit?

I'll definitely be trying out what I mentioned above when I finally get my hands on some Green Stuff, just figured I'd ask and see what peoples thoughts were.


-Praise The Emperor-

This process is called press-moulding and is doalbe for relatively flat pieces. All I can say is give it a shot. The theory is sound, but your mileage may vary with different parts.

Welcome to Dakka!

http://www.herebegeeks.com/games/instamold-review-and-quick-urban-basing-tutorial/

use this to make the mold instead its great

Greenstuff press molds do a decent job on small details that have a flat side, but anything more extensive than that is a waste. I have seen people make two part molds with GS, but it's very cost-inefficient and the results aren't very good: lots of cleanup and additional sculpting along the mold join. I would think that the bit you're planning on making a cast of will probably work fairly well, since the backside of the respirator is relatively flat and lays against the body of the model, so the lack of detail isn't an issue.

First, you have to think about the mold itself. I've never done it, but there are some tiny bits that are going to be fiddley. If I were to do it I would make a three part mold. Essentially a top down view, bottom peice, and a back side piece (where it connects to mouth of the model. I don't think using Green Stuff is the way to go about this. kencotter's idea of using instamold is the best bet for you. That stuff is amazing and reuseable (just apply heat).

I think the hardest part would be to get the hosing right. You might also be better off getting a Green Stuff Tentacle Maker/Roller to roll out the hosing that connects to the facemask part. Or sculpt your own facemask and use the rolled powercabling/tentacle. Many ways to go about it.

Just checked out the link about the insta-mold, then looked it up on amazon. Overall that looks like the best option for creating the mold, it's cheap and the mass majority of reviews are incredibly positive. It'll also be nice using something other than the green-stuff to create the mold considering how much in materials it should save.

Also thank you for all of the quick input guys, I'll definitely be taking it all into consideration!

Thinking further on actually creating the mold, I've found that sometimes the face-piece part of the respirator is easier to attach, and looks just as good, without the apparatus below it that attaches to the model's chest (that part would too often get in the way of the Guardsman's arms.) So for the actual mold I might just get the face-piece, I'll have to do some experiments and see how it comes out.

I've done exactly this and i can say it works pretty well if you give it the time you need. I made respirators for the rest of my vostroyans:









To get this result I made a GS press mold by putting some vegetable oil over a model's face and pressing the GS in. Really try to press at all angles. I let it dry overnight and pulled it off with an xacto knife the next day. Then I add another drop of oil to the GS mold and press new GS into it, again pressing on all sides. After it dries I pull it off again. Usually I ended up with a great copy of the entire face, some of the vostroyan hat, and neck. I used my xacto to cut away everything but the face and then (very carefully) thinned this piece so that I could fit over the new model without messing up the original design. Years later if I want a change, the face is still there, and I also didn't waste time scrapping away the original face.

In my experience the hard part to do was the tubes. I ended up buying a tool to make the grooved hoses called Tentacle Maker and it's great:

http://greenstuffindustries.blogspot.com/2011/12/tentacle-maker-saw-01-is-now-available.html

After everything was glued in place I went back and filled in the edges with more GS to give a smooth look. Some day I'll post pictures of the results but they look great. The wife can't easily tell which models had respirators originally. Just remember it takes a lot of time but your patience will be rewarded.

Fantastic job on the masks! That's pretty much exactly what I want to do for my Cadians (except the Cadians will be equipped with the Cadian-style respirators of course.) I'll keep my eyes open for when you post up pictures the finished models!

That's looks well impressive

Well I'm finally going to try this out, going to get my hands on some green stuff within the next week hopefully.

So I have an incredibly silly question, but I must ask it as I have not been able to find the answer. Green stuff, once made into whatever shape I need it to be, do I glue it onto the model(s) or do I just press it on when it is still flexible?

I'd let it cure, and then glue it into place afterwards. It's a lot less likely to deform that way.

Well I actually tried this experiment out, and it worked perfectly!

I pretty much used Tydil's method to the letter, covering the component I wished to copy with a little vegetable oil, then pressing the green stuff onto it. After letting it hzrden over night, I removed the component I wished to copy from the green stuff, applied a drop of oil to the mold, then pressed new green stuff in, giving it seven hours+ to harden.

Now I have a brand new Cadian-style respirator for one of my troops, I am now creating more molds and respirators as we speak, soon enough the majority of my forces will be running around sporting fancy gasmasks!

I'll try to get pics up when I can to show off the results, really they came out a lot better than expected.