The first step is that I prep my figure with wooden dowels for the pour and vent holes at the base of the mould. Then my sculpt takes the goo bath.
Some people pack one side of their original with clay and pull the clay off to get the half of the mould. I prefer to completely cover the figure and dig it out.
The second half of the goo bath.
The first casting reproduces my original sculpt nicely. I am guessing that most commercial mini figures are cast in centrifugal casting machines to get all the fine detail. I was not sure if a mini figure could be home cast with regular drop casting - but this seems to work.
Not only did my first cast work out well, but every cast afterward is consistent and reproduces the original nicely.
Weapons... what to do about weapons? I am too much of a chicken to try to have weapons integral to my figure - so I create one sided press mould.
To my surprise, the press mould works... sort of.
My first three 28mm reproduced figures - armed, painted up and set on bases.
You all are probably laughing at my paint job. I will be the first to admit - painting has just not made it into my skill set. If I start producing some nice mini figures, I think I want to commission one of you painting wizards to make my figures look presentable.
There is a serious leak coming through the rear stairs in our house that needs attention. For my spare time activities, I need to put away my exacto knife, silicon, and melting pot and work with my skill saw and roof patch for a while. Suffice it to say that Ms. Bigglesworth is not amused by the water pouring in. Signing off for a while....
Mr. B.
:-D :-D Brilliant...it worked !!!! They look great..ok, not the best paint job in the world but who cares...there´s lots of people who can paint (and your painting is ok IMHO) but how many can sculpt and make thier own army??
ReplyDeleteHave fun with the leak.
Cheers
paul
Great stuff Mr B,
ReplyDeleteVery impressed.
Must be very rewarding to cast and paint figures made by your very own hand!
Awe ra best
Paul
Thanks guys. One thing I forgot to mention is that the original survived the mold making. The sculpy that I used for everything was just so brittle - the original was usually wrecked. The epoxy putty really holds together nicely. Looking forward to doing more figures.
ReplyDeleteReally nice effort, better than a lot of commercial products I've seen. The paint job is great as well.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Matt
Great work, really nice:) What kind of white metal alloy are you using?
ReplyDelete