Sculpting

WWII crates – scratch building and molding

Posted by yansick on January 15, 2017
Posted in: Diorama, Scale model, Sculpting. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

I needed some wooden crates to put on my 1/35 dioramas. After looking at various commercial products, I decided to try to make my own, and cast them.

I used various pieces of styrene to scratch build a few crates (the red one is a carved Lego brick, with bits of styrene added).  The rope handles were made with small “strings” of epoxy putty (Magic Sculpt).

Once I was happy with the crates, I glued them on a thick sheet of styrene and used Lego blocks to form the “walls” of the mold.

Smooth-on products were used for the casting: Rebound 25 for the mold itself and Smooth-Cast 300 resin for the pieces.

Apart from the fact that a few air bubbles left some small holes on the surfaces (I later used some epoxy putty to correct that), I am quite happy with the result.

And now I can make as many crates as I need! Great!

E-50 Standardpanzer – diorama part 1

Posted by yansick on January 11, 2017
Posted in: Diorama, Scale model, Sculpting. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Ok, so my E-50 is 99% completed, with dusting and all.

So it is time to begin the diorama. Yeah!

 

Take a look at the process: you will find comments on most pictures detailing the techniques and materials used.

Enjoy! Part 2 coming soon…

An Ikea picture frame is used as a base for the diorama.
A piece of plywood was screwed on the main base to provide elevation for the road in the diorama.
The road is made of foamcore: I used the same technique as for my ISU-152 diorama.
Some improved Tamiya tank traps (I added the welding lines with epoxy putty)
I would like to put this old bike model from Tamiya among the debris… not sure yet…
Some simple wood planks assembled together.
A scratch build shed door, to put on the ground in front of the tank. Putting a door in the middle of the road is a clear way to illustrate the state of destruction in a city…
Random bits to use as debris.
I removed some individual stones from the road to damage it. Then pieces of cork were glued on the “crater” part of the diorama.
A quick dry assembly of the different components, just to get a “feel” for the composition.
Another angle…
And another angle again…
I filled the gaps using Wood Filler putty. I think the earth like texture looks great!
The sides of the diorama were covered with Wood Filler too to simulate soil and hide imperfections.
Another angle to show the ground work.
I brushed some white glue in patches on the road and debris to add some finer sand and rocks. Once the glue was dry, I coated all these areas with diluted white glue (50/50 mix of glue and water) just to bind everything together.
Details of the ground work.
Again, a close-up view of the ground work in the “crater”.
And some sand bags, sculpted from Magic Sculpt epoxy putty.
Another view of the sand bags.
I also sulpted sand bags to hold one of the tank traps “leg”.
By sculpting the sand bags myself, it is possible to bend them in a very natural way.

Crates by the hundreds (almost)!

Posted by yansick on January 6, 2014
Posted in: Sculpting, Terrain. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

Quick update: I made moulds for my scratch build crates. I casted many copies both in resin and in plaster (a special plaster named ‘Dry-Stone’, which is a lot stronger than standard plaster). So far, I am pleased with the resulting pieces, although I have difficulties casting anything without air bubbles imperfections. That’s not a huge problem: I will try to retouch the crates a bit using epoxy putty (for the resin ones) or wall filler (for the plaster ones).

crates02

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New post about old stuff

Posted by yansick on August 25, 2013
Posted in: Sculpting. Tagged: , , , . 2 Comments

A friend of mine asked if I could post some photos of some projects I did in the past. Here are 3 ‘mini’ sculpts I created a few years ago: An evil tree-man, a huge earth elemental and a giant owl-bear from the D&D universe.

All these were sculpted mainly using Magic Sculpt putty.

See: brushing your teeth IS important...

See: brushing your teeth IS important…

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Giant Dwarf statue progress

Posted by yansick on August 15, 2013
Posted in: Sculpting. Tagged: . 2 Comments

Just a quick update on my “Giant” dwarf statue: I have done some retouching to forehead and  eyebrows, and I also started to sculpt the fabric/leather on his back (the stitches are still missing, but you get the idea.)

I just need to do some retouching to the hairs at the back of the head and define the shoulders (or shoulder pads maybe) and it will be ready for casting (in a 2 part mold this time, and this will be a first for me: I have never done a 2 part mold…)

dwarf_002

 

Enjoy and stay tuned!

Barbarian Hero – small conversion and base

Posted by yansick on August 12, 2013
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I did a conversion on my Barbarian Hero miniature from Reaper.

Barbarian Hero, a very nice 28mm mini by Reaper Miniatures.

Barbarian Hero, a very nice 28mm mini by Reaper Miniatures.

I wanted a barbarian with a 2 handed sword instead of the axe this big guy is wielding. I also wanted to make a nice, small (1 inch) base for it. The base “provided” with that mini (actually, the mini is molded with a thick wide base) was too wide, so I had to cut it partially to make it shorter, so it could fit on a standard 1 inch square base. I change the “stance” of the barbarian by raising a bit his left foot, so he’s more upright (almost like “climbing”).

Barbarian Hero, with custom base and sword.

Barbarian Hero, with custom base and sword.

As for the base, nothing special here: standard techniques with small rocks, Magic sculpt, a bit of mortar and toothpicks.

I plan to make a winter theme base for this one, with some snow. That will be a first for me: I never made snow on a mini base.

I’ll post some pictures when this little project will progress.