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

[Toltecatl]

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?

yeah it's really cool, all the details come out just fine and it's real easy to use i was pretty amazed with the results for the cold one too hehe.
I got it from a French art store called Rougier et Plé (http://www.rougier-ple.fr/set-de-12...rtiment-1.r.html?catalogId=36#categoryId=3777) but it seems pretty common, if you just look it up on the Internet you may well find some in Spain…

 

[Bracnos]

Ya I have seen it on Amazon as well that's where I got my second bag of this product

 

[Jorgik]

yeah it's really cool, all the details come out just fine and it's real easy to use i was pretty amazed with the results for the cold one too hehe.
I got it from a French art store called Rougier et Plé (http://www.rougier-ple.fr/set-de-12...rtiment-1.r.html?catalogId=36#categoryId=3777) but it seems pretty common, if you just look it up on the Internet you may well find some in Spain…

Ok thanks. If I ever get around casting I´ll get one or two of these.
One more thing, are the colors different in something or is it just decoration?

 

[Toltecatl]

You're absolutely welcome ^^ Nah I think it's just decoration really.. I can't tell the difference if there's one

 

[Jorgik]

You're absolutely welcome ^^ Nah I think it's just decoration really.. I can't tell any difference if there's one

Excellent. Now I´ll have to sabotage some shops in search for the treasure

 

[Toltecatl]

yep. Or the internet, once again…

 

[Warden]

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:
View attachment 20332

- Pieces from Milliput (white, extrafine) moulds:
View attachment 20331

- Pieces from Oyumaru moulds.
View attachment 20333

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!!

Wow thanks for the details and pictures! Biggest problem I have had is air bubbles in the resin, but yours don't seem to be loosing any detail using the GS. I am VERY curious to see if using Oyumaru can produce decent 3D models, or even enough 2-part molds for a troglodon or carnosaur.

Also now that you mention land speeder, I wonder how hard it would be to start casting rhinos or even a land raider?? Lost of big pieces, BUT if you just cast all the sides it might be pretty simple... much to think about in the service of the emperor.

 

[Toltecatl]

Biggest problem I have had is air bubbles in the resin, but yours don't seem to be loosing any detail using the GS. I am VERY curious to see if using Oyumaru can produce decent 3D models, or even enough 2-part molds for a troglodon or carnosaur.

Also now that you mention land speeder, I wonder how hard it would be to start casting rhinos or even a land raider?? Lost of big pieces, BUT if you just cast all the sides it might be pretty simple... much to think about in the service of the emperor.

Well these are the issues i'm actually taking a look at right now. i'll prob be buying a second-hand (but still unboxed!!) land speeder this week, and after i've casted enough of the pieces i'm working on right now i might be turning to it as a friend of mine has challenged me to a 40k battle one of these days, and i'd like a couple LS's to be a part of my army against her damned Tau… Maybe some parts will be made with plastic card so as to save some resin though.
Concerning the Carno/troglodon thing, theres absolutely NO WAY i won't try to cast the pieces i need to use the spare bits and make a Troglodon, even though the Carno is my priority. i definitely think it's doable since each individual stick of oyumaru can be stuck to the next (i tried that already, it seems to work just fine). You can then cast each piece in turn. From the quick look i gave it, it seems most of the pieces can be moulded without a two-part mould. i just made two 2-part ones (a TG and the rest of the dark elf cold blood) so we should be able to see how it goes pretty soon... i just need 36-hour days or less work lol. May also use another 2-part mould to cast Space marine arms and legs actually, and more helmets as well…
One problem though: GS remains a little flexible until it's really, really cured. That takes ages, and if you dont wait enough, theres a possibility that the single paw the carno's weight is resting on might bend or even break. And maybe it's the same even if you wait… I'll see what i can do, maybe using milliput or yet another resin, or some wire.
Anyway, stay tuned if you wanna see how well it works, but i def dont see why you couldnt go for a land raider ^^, bit by bit. If one piece really is too big, you can get an additional set of oyumaru sticks, cut it into pieces, or even use the silicon stuff you already used for your bretonnians. Or just use plastic card and add details with castings etc.

Now for the little bubbles…
I do get that issue too. I just have to push the resin very hard into the mould and check its progress by looking through the bottom of the mould at all times - easy, since Oyumaru is fairly transparent. it doesnt work perfectly (some little detail always comes out flawed, well, it's part of the game i guess ) but it helps…


Also, guys, now for the news:
- i'm expecting an order I made (yeah, i got lured by the 'win a huge army+terrain+hobby stuff' thing, too…) with Kroak, the Warden and the astrolith bearer
- I just bought a second-hand bastiladon for a good price thanks to thie ebay discount i got, so my army is growing pretty fast, at least virtually (i.e. before i spend months assembling and painting it)
- I just started making my first Saurus wasrrior to TG conversion!!


So here are some pics. actual guard next to it for scale (temporarily glued it, out of impatience, and to compare them… as you can see no mould line has been removed yet etc).







the bone helmet is in place, as is the decoration on his shield, and I've converted the weapon (I just rudely cut off the swordy/clubby thing they have and stuck it on the spear's shaft without remorse lol). It's going OK, the result probably won't be grand and the model will still be smaller, but eh, it's a TG for half the price and (I think) an acceptable way to put to use that Warrior unit from the start collecting set… they are being promoted after all.

Now, I've got one question for you guys: I feel this newly promoted TG guy still lacks a little something, apart from being less bulky and having less metal plates on his spine. So i thought of a couple possibilities: what would you think of a "veteran" TG unit? They would be smaller guys because they're getting older (cant find a better explanation lol), they would have beards (I'll try and sculpt them), and i also thought they would look really cool if they had some pieces of cloth on them to make them look like ancient warriors… maybe i could cut off the spikes on their backs and make them some capes or cloaks? Or just put some pelts on them? (i think a jaguar pelt is a pretty difficult thing to sculpt though…)

Please help me out with this boys, i may be getting carried away a little, and this unit is already gonna take a long time while it was suposed to be just a means of saving money -_-'

 

[Jorgik]

Looks excellent! The jaguar cloak sounds good to me. You could just make it on a plasticard piece, then make a moue and remove the GS before it fully cures so you can shape it.

Edit: making fur cloaks with moulds

 

[Toltecatl]

@Jorgik yeppp thanks for the favourable opinion ^^ if you say so then i guess it's not just me getting lost in my fantasies lol
i've seen this article before, the guy's website is great. and as for the capes it looks pretty doable and convenient so yeah, this might work for jaguar pelt indeed.. maybe i'd sculpt the heads separately. That will be difficult but i might as well try, i havent got much to lose and if it comes out fine, it'll be awesome.

 

[Jorgik]

@Jorgik yeppp thanks for the favourable opinion ^^ if you say so then i guess it's not just me getting lost in my fantasies lol
i've seen this article before, the guy's website is great. and as for the capes it looks pretty doable and convenient so yeah, this might work for jaguar pelt indeed.. maybe i'd sculpt the heads separately. That will be difficult but i might as well try, i havent got much to lose and if it comes out fine, it'll be awesome.

So then go for it!

 

[Bracnos]

Oh with the issue of bubbles I found by using a needle and poke through mold that way the air has a path to escape and you only have a small amount of flash to remove

 

[Toltecatl]

@Jorgik yes sir!
i'll try and make it as quick as possible though, i've got an entire Guard unit to assemble and some more guards to cast as well, not even to mention the carnosaur, the astrolith, kroak, the warden (i just got these guys ^^) and the bastiladon i'll be receiving soon… so maybe the results won't be perfect. we'll see
@Bracnos good call, maybe i'll do it too… moulding and casting really is interesting.

 

[Jorgik]

@Jorgik yes sir!
i'll try and make it as quick as possible though, i've got an entire Guard unit to assemble and some more guards to cast as well, not even to mention the carnosaur, the astrolith, kroak, the warden (i just got these guys ^^) and the bastiladon i'll be receiving soon… so maybe the results won't be perfect. we'll see
@Bracnos good call, maybe i'll do it too… moulding and casting really is interesting.

That´s nice! I got the start collecting seraphon and some ripperdactyls riders, maybe I can squeeze some terradons out of there too

 

[Toltecatl]

maybe I can squeeze some terradons out of there too

yeah probably, if you cast some parts it shouldnt be too hard. Be sure to cast some bloat toads as well and put them everywhere around your bases and scenery lol. they're funny

 

[Jorgik]

Be sure to cast some bloat toads as well and put them everywhere around your bases and scenery lol.

I will! (first I need the oyumaru )

 

[Essmir]

Is oyumaru the so called "blue stuff"?
Because I have can't find it anywere near me and I would like to try it out since I sculpt a lot.

 

[Jorgik]

Is oyumaru the so called "blue stuff"?
Because I have can't find it anywere near me and I would like to try it out since I sculpt a lot.

No it's not, it's like a cheap substitute for those moulds that you warm up and then apply. Blue stuff is the professional one. I found it on eBay. I haven't seen it at any physical shop so I don't know if you'll come across them. Good luck anyways

 

[Toltecatl]

Hey fellas! long time no see. So after going on a bit of a holiday, i'm back to wipping my spare time away…
Here we go, we've got some moulding, casting and basing today, for marines and lizards:

- Moulding. I moulded the entire front side of a Scout sniper (i'll be adding a cape on his back to make up for the back parts i havent moulded, it's more simple than making two-part moulds. I also moulded bolter and heavy bolter arms so i can cast a variety of scouts to fill in my units (i feel like giving the space marine codex's specific Scout host a try, and just got a second hand Land speeder Storm which has missing models and no heavy bolter…)


- Casting.
* First attempts at casting from two-part oyumaru moulds. A TG body (orange mould, GS) + leg (pink mould, milliput) and a dark elf cold one body and tail (yellow + transparent mould) for now. We'll see how it turns out, even though i can say that the cold one's tail wont be complete..
* yet another part i just cast: TG shield (green/yellowish mould, milliput). I realized those had arms attached so just for fun i thought i'd try and actually sculpt one… With the Warrior conversions and the TG i bought, I need to cast only 3 additional TG's to get 3 10-lizard units, which is my goal. later castings will just have a little putty part i'll use to attach them to the body, and i'll arrange the shields so that the arm (or more precisely the lack thereof) cant be seen…

- Basing
Yet more work on those Marine bases. Thats taking a hell of a long time, i hope the result will look cool. So this features:
* added a flight of stairs on the left. (The base felt somehow empty to me lol.) The stepping part of the stairs are covered in metal panels and feature anti-slip bands (still need to add the nails they are held by). Then I think the Marine will be pinned on top of the stairs, with a 'Nid (a gaunt i think) at the bottom, going through the door, unaware. hehe.
* on the right, the base is almost ready for priming. I've decided to go on to the most dreaded step: the painted glass in the window. Heres a first draft, i made it quick just to see how the plastic reacts to paint and just made it stand behind the window so you can get an idea how it may look. It's far from being easy: you need to put a really thin layer, and paint+water won't do, it slips too much. So only the parts where i mixed paint with some amount of wash are coming out more or less ok… i've only got dark green ink, badab black and the dark brown one. Luckily for me, i'll be painting the squad as Salamanders so the tones should be ok (green, orange, yellow, red -ish. hehe.)… Any ideas how i could free myself from the use of washes though? I tried adding varnish but it doesnt seem to work. Maybe some actual paint thinner?



Anyway, we've also got some interesting stuff on the 'news' side: I'm now the proud owner of more lovely models!
- a Warden
- Kroak
- an Astrolith
- aaaand a Bastiladon!! haw, haw, haw.

Peace out everyone hope you're enjoying some fine weather in the early spring!

 

[Warden]

Thanks for the continued mold pictures, I really hope those scouts turn out well! The only scouts I ever made were neophytes for my Templars, but they were made with cadian shock trooper bodies and leftover scout arm bits I got cheap somewhere. I hope this will allow you to make many cheap scouts!

I don't have much advice to give on the bases, but I do agree with you about the addition of the stairs, they only add more character to the base! Good luck with the window though, I hope it turns out the way you are hoping.

Anyway, we've also got some interesting stuff on the 'news' side: I'm now the proud owner of more lovely models!
- a Warden

I approve.