One Week Away!
5 years ago
Showing posts with label Tiles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tiles. Show all posts
so allot of this you'll have seen before, but figured I'd document it out anyway.
starting with the mold, it doesn't look that neat and tidy, and it's one of the more complex ones I've made so far...and I think the finished cast is quite nice for a "grate-ey" floor tile. I've started using a mold release caoting after each cast, and I find that even complex peices like this, pop uout super easy....well worth the $4.95 IMO
quick drybrush with gunmetal metal (vallejo version of botlgun metal) once again, my pic taking is haunting me, as it looks way less silvery in RL....but there we have it, a molded/cast tile for the space hulk project, from start to finish...only eleventy thousand more to go!
I may experiment with other paint schemes and or methods of painting....color coordination is not my forte', so I'm open to any suggestion anyone may have.
just a quick pictoral, of me casting some floor tiles, from my master mold
so here's the 2 part resin, mix equally by volume, I just use cheapo plastic cups for this, and a peice of sprue to stir it all....little thicker then water when all mixed, but probably not as thick as table cream...
the big kahuna in action.....poured in to the mold, and starting to setup, you can get longer times, but I like not having to wait, 10 min and these are going to be ready to de-mold
A few shots over time, as it sets it turns to a solid white, you can see this happen before your eyes...
almost there, just the edges to go....since this is a chemical reaction, it happens quickest, where the resin is thickest, and takes the longest in the thinnest spots
10 min. later and we're all setup and ready to de-mold....I had some over filling, and you can kinda see some rounding....you can fill the mold too full and just like in a glass of water, surface tension will allow the product to be higher in the middle then the edge of the mold....nothing a quick sand won't take care of
after a few casts, we have a cup 'o' tiles, 28 tiles in this cup, I found with this product, 1-2 mm thick was still too flexible for my liking, so I added styrene to the bottom of my masters, to make everything a min. of 3mm thickSo after much trial and error, much experimentation, and much crafting...I'm finally ready to make my first master mold. This mold will consist of 6 different style floor tiles. The plan is to cast them as I need them, one at atime, with a single mold, accomadating all 6 tile styles...
so first up, rough layout...lego retaining wall built, and a mock up using some prior casts, and some first run tile creations (with the black edges) built on a foam core base....this is about 5.5" X 7.5" and about an inch deep
then we need to seal the bottom of the mold...here I used modeling clay (otherwise known as plasticene?) just roll it out, and smush it into the outside edge all the way around.
then we need to seal the bottom of the mold...here I used modeling clay (otherwise known as plasticene?) just roll it out, and smush it into the outside edge all the way around.
now I missed a photo for a step but it was just hot gluing my 6 tiles down, after making sure my table was level. Then I pour out and mix up the two part silicone....equal parts, when mixed together produces a blueish silicone.
after mixing up the silicone, I poured in to the cavity I'd made, pouring slowly, direct in the middle, and let the silicone find it's own level over and enclosing the parts....now to wait the 6 hours or so, for it to setup solid...so a few days ago, you saw my first attempts at some resin casting....this is part 2 of my (maybee) 3D space corridors project....I decided to go with a 45mm "tile" so the mini's I play with, look more realistic in scale (and it gives my fat fingers more room once walls are added)
for our very first "Compar-orama" we have the new Space Hulk Mini's on 3 of my cast resin tiles at 45mm, and on a 3 tile section from the actual game.....(based on a 30mm scale)
Real Game
My Casts
I'm not so sure...while the "game" tiles give a more "close combat" type feel and look, I really think it's quite crowded, and I didn't even pick big models in this comparo....
So...something has been bothering me, re: every pic I see of the new Space Hulk tiles.....they are beautiful tiles, they look fantastic up close, but everysingle picture has a glaring issue IMO.
now look here, a few seconds later, and it looks light years better, something any good cardstock modeller knows...simply color the edges with a black marker, and they dissapear to the eye...simple, quick, and 150% worth the effort. It takes your tile from looking like cheap carboard props, to something you appreciate, because you'll never think about it agian...Try it on your own set!
