Space Hulk, Blowing off the dust

So I want my terminators to grow. Inch forward a generation, but not permanently damage my out of print, torso twisting terminators, and that goes for all 10 of them.

So after quite a bit of trial and error and a little bit of me going round the bend I seem to have a solution. By creating a rough out of thermo plastic ‘Blue Stuff’ I’ve been able to recast in green stuff and start working up a finished torso. I have also a plan B using crayola model magic.

The Model Magic was quite easy to form, doesn’t stick to the base plastic but takes days to set and I suspect may be too weak for the next step, we’ll see. In the time it took the Model Magic to set (2-3 days) I managed to create the green stuff blank but the remoulding and subsequent remodelling actually took more hands on time.

Also it did require a little damage, I have actually added a little notch within to take some of the torque when twisting. The examples below still function as they should.

My next step is to cast these again in a mix of green stuff and a more standard epoxy to get a material I can file and sand a bit easier for final shaping. Then I’ll take another cast to create 10 consistent torsos.

Ok so at this point 4 days probably wont see my  Spacehulk entry complete (Just lost a weekend to a family reunion in honour of mums birthday so I’m Ok with this). If I had focused on painting alone I probably would have made it, but hey, I went all in and decided to teach myself something new. I had never touched blue stuff and done very little with the ‘stuffs’ in general before starting this project, and may not have done so if it wasn’t for an earlier comment by @bombkangaroo, in this very blog. I have to say its been an eye opener to both the possibilities and the difficulties of sculpting at this scale and I now have an even higher regard for those that can produce the beautiful minis which we often take for-granted.

1 thing I would like to share about my findings is that when casting small delicate pieces it pays to encase your piece with plenty of blue stuff and also to use some sort of vessel to contain it. A small container will up the pressure you can apply and help capture detail, and reduce spreading and warping, improving accuracy

As for pic above. Well at this stage only the 2 sergeants will get the generational upgrade as I do want to give myself some chance of showing off some painting before the end of week. I will at least have the moulds and blanks to upgrade the others later if I want.

Finally got myself unstuck from the epoxy and laid down the base red starting with Mephiston Red with a little black and moving through about 6 steps to Evil Suns Scarlet with a bit of Wild Rider Red.

Not particularly happy with the green stuffing at this point. Could be smoother, and my sergeants look a little too upright. On the flip side I’ve learnt heaps during the processes and if I get sick of looking at them I can undo the modification so I’m going to press forward and see how much painting I can do before the close of the comp.

Eeek! Dont know any other way to meet this deadline but to throw out some of my more ambitious ideas and resort to batch painting methods.

Dont tell anyone but I still have to touch up the bases and do a bit of pin washing but my mums coming to stay with me later this week and I have too much house work to do so you all be quiet and maybe they wont notice and I’ll win something.