Blog Wannabe lizard wizard… Toltecatl's lil' lizzards and stuff!

[Jorgik]

They look good! And yes, post more of your experiment because I might get guided by them in the future...

 

[Toltecatl]

The milliput I used is the yellow one which dries hard like greenstuff, have not used it for years but I bought some when I started back as greenstuff was not common then.

Castings look great and I can't wait to finish all my side projects to get onto my Temple and start making bits.

right. I might try and experiment with the yellow one too then
So you want to cast parts for your guards too? sounds like fun. They have so much detail on them already, i'm curious to see what you'll be adding and where
I had no idea the commercial success of GS among hobbyists was so recent btw. interesting.

@Jorgik alright, thanks for saying so mate!

 

[mousekiller]

Love the examples, not boring at all! The skulls seem to come out the best, looks like smaller lines might be a little tougher to achieve? But painting should fix this with no issue. Thanks again for sharing this!

 

[Toltecatl]

The skulls seem to come out the best, looks like smaller lines might be a little tougher to achieve?

Thanks I'll keep exploring then.
Well skulls do work particularly well but I think it's also due to my amateurism.
I didn't bother using strictly plain surfaces as bases for my moulds, so some of the pieces moved a little when I was pressing them and a few details def dont come out as sharp as they should. I was thinking of this as a first attempt which would necessarily be a miss so i thought i'd keep the best bases for actual moulds. Now i realize actually i couldve made the first shot quite well, and the trials i did look good i dont wanna waste too much GS by seeking perfection (i sure will for my next moulds tho ^^). So if you're gonna try it, you might as well use a flat base, chances are you'll just need one attempt…
Also, I used a better suited quantity of GS to mould them while i came up short on some other pieces because I underestimated the amount of GS I needed (on some pieces, the highest part reached the base as the GS layer wasnt thick enough).
And one last thing: it may have sth to do with how well you manage to press the GS onto the bit once you've pushed the latter into the first.You need to keep the part still so that there is no distorsion on the mould and still manage to make the GS really stick to all its parts, i'd say thats the tricky thing. Maybe i messed it up a little on certain parts :/

 

[Toltecatl]

Wip wip wip wip
This is starting to take shape but milliput sculpting sure takes practice..
Any thoughts? ^^'

 

[Snoopdeville3]

Very cool! I love the green stuff work, thats definitely one thing i need to practice more.

 

[Warden]

Thanks for all the example casting pictures showing the miliput/plaster/GS differences! Your casting efforts are growing quite prolific!

 

[Toltecatl]

Very cool! I love the green stuff work, thats definitely one thing i need to practice more.

Your casting efforts are growing quite prolific!

Cheers. Thank you guys for reading
Well prolific indeed lol, just started making some sm bits too.. the thing about sculpting is it takes a lot of practice and time if you wanna do any convincing piece (except purity seals maybe ), so casting is a quicker, 'safer' alternative whenever i can use it. Now I'm still trying to get better so one day maybe I can sculpt whatever I want from scratch.. hehe.
For some reason I'm actually itching for sculpting more than painting atm.. maybe it's just because I'm growing older and trying to have fun in brand new ways lol

 

[Jorgik]

They look great!

 

[Toltecatl]

Hey so I started using oyumaru. Just created 2 moulds with marine bits, and I'll be adding GS shortly.. If it works I'll be moulding entire TG models soon hehe, just adding some more guys to my units. @Bracnos, when you did it did you coat the moulds with oil before applying your gs? Spontaneously I'd use some but not absolutely sure.. (thanks in advance ^^')

 

[Bracnos]

Actually that's what I like about that product the most since its silicone-like I have not found the need to use any lubricant besides just water to get the green stuff to spread without sticking to myself. As I just bend and play with the mold after I let it dry for a day and it pops out just fine. Without damaging the mold in any way, i look forward to seeing your molds

 

[Toltecatl]

oh greaaaaaat thanks man. I wanted to be sure not to damage the mould as its only cost effective if you can reuse it ^^
I'll prob go for it today. if it works out i'll be trying a TG body right after that and keeping the pics going anyway.

 

[Bracnos]

That's the thing, about the oyumaru if you rip it, cut it, tear it no worries just reheat and use again

 

[Toltecatl]

@Bracnos Yep! Just casted half a dark elf cold blood and other space marine bits. I also moulded all the bits of a tg model ^^

 

[Toltecatl]

So more wip!! Priming and casting and more marine basing. The window one is done now I guess I'm be using the marine on the pic to determine whether I'll go for black or white primer on my salamanders. Any thoughts on this matter?
I'll upload pics of the casted cold-blood parts very shortly.

 

[mousekiller]

Looking good! What great inspiration for some really nice scenery!

 

[Jorgik]

For salamanders I think white undercoat will loo better, it´s green after all.
The rest looks good!

 

[Toltecatl]

Thanks guys!

For salamanders I think white undercoat will loo better, it´s green after all.
The rest looks good!

Yeah probably! i guess i'll mostly need to figure out whether i want them to look brighter or darker though, maybe if theyre dark i'd save some time by using black… i suppose i'll try it with the white primed marine on the last pic and then depending on the result i'll choose

 

[Toltecatl]

Sooooo new step in my GS/Milliput/Oyumaru experiments. Here are pics of some of the pieces I've been moulding using each one of those 3 materials and casting, for certain parts, with either GS or milli. So let's show you some results, ye goode lizzie freondes!!!

- Pieces from GS moulds:


- Pieces from Milliput (white, extrafine) moulds:


- Pieces from Oyumaru moulds.


So when it comes to casting, i havent really changed my minds since the last comparison I offered between milliput and GS. As for making moulds, I've tried to narrow all of the relevant characteristics of our 3 materials down to the 4 main important qualities, i.e. how precise they are, how cost effective, how easy/quick to use, what possibilities do they offer.
- Precision: GS and Oyumaru are both very precise (the bolter i casted even has a mould line from the original on it hehe).
- Cost effectiveness: Oyumaru. It's reusable though not exactly cheap, and once youve made the mould you don't need to use any extra material when casting a piece, since you just have to push it out of the mould (it remains pretty flexible): no need to leave a thick layer of putty which you can pull, you just put in exactly the amount you need for the GF to fill the mould. You can choose to make a "hollow" part with a thin layer of putty all over, or thicker so that it retains its shape better and feels more solid. Anyway you dont use any more putty than strictly necessary to create the part.
- User-friendliness: Oyumaru again. It's so simple to use, just put it in hot water, let it warm up for a couple minutes, mould, let it cool down for maybe an hour, remove the piece (super easy), then fill with putty, let it cure for a day, remove by pushing (it's stupid easy to push them off, really). No need for oil, the mould is quickly made.
- Potential: I'd say oyumaru. I just made some 2-part moulds for 'all-around' parts (like Saurus TG bodies, basically anything that needs to be cast in 360 degrees) so I'll be seeing how it turns out and giving you guys an update very shortly, but i got a hunch it's gonna be ok… fingers crossed Plus, being reusable and rearrangeable (you can stick two pieces of oyumaru together to mould a bigger part), it really allows you to do whatever you want. I may be casting an entire land speeder and a troglodon (Carnosaur casts + spare troglodon parts) with it soon…

So overall, Oyumaru clearly has the upper hand for me, it's the best compromise. I'll prob be giving it my preference for my future moulds now I have it.
Now once again this is only my opinion, you guys may have a different experience. If you do please say so, it'll be useful

Anyway, i'll soon be having enough bits to start converting my Temple Guards! Also, i'm wondering whether I might add some additional details. I was thinking, what would you guys think of a TG unit of caped, bearded guards (or maybe i could make some jaguar skins or sth?)? Since the warriors i'll be converting are smaller, i thought they could be some sort of old, veteran unit with older guys who are starting to lose some height, or any other fluff option... anyway, I kinda find normal saurus to lack personality a little compared to other armies, so i thought why not give them a bit of a unique touch.
Let me know what you think!!

 

[Jorgik]

Those casts with oyumaru look excellent! I was blown away with the cold one casting, so sharp! I hope I come across it some day, where did you say you got it?