The two-fingered hand from the bits box didn't look quite right. |
With less than a month to go for the competition deadline for this diorama I am starting to worry about leaving enough time for painting! I have been doing my best to speed things along by using a lot of "Instant Mold" to re-create the smaller details by taking elements of other models and incorporating them into the bits box parts I am using for most of the model. You may recall I made the Rhino with Sculpey, and so far I have not purchased any specific models for this diorama. I did make one purchase this week, a fairly overpriced Master of the Marches so I could use the hands for my weaponless Marines (which you can see above).
Because Instant Mold is so easy to re-use I simply make many molds until I find one that works, Here you can see the extra pressure required to create the fine details of the hand. I carefully split the mold down the middle before pushing small amounts of Green Stuff to the area of the fingers. You can stretch the copied part easily if you don't let it dry overnight so patience is the key with this sort of work! I then hunted around for something to copy for the vents on the side of the Rhino, as a trip to the hardware store yielded no appropriately sized mesh. With the addition of the rivets it's really starting to look like a proper model!
Last on my "I have no idea how I am going to make this" list was the banner held by two of the Emperors Children on top of the Rhino. No banners from other models were in the right 'pose' and I had gotten as far as making a wire frame to illustrate rough location for framing the scene and the rest of the models. It was actually at this point that I paused working on the diorama out of fright, having bitten off more than my modelling skills could chew. In a fit of "gotta get this done" I grabbed some left over Green Stuff, rolled it flat and applied some lubricant so I could easily slide it off again if it looked terrible. After only a few minutes I could already see I had a winner on my hands, and on I went with a few other details while the banner dried overnight.
With a majority of the detailing done, I have undercoated the base and am on my last weekend of modelling before painting begins. I am thankful I didn't try sculpting any hands or even a complete model as I had planned earlier in the year, though with less than a month of painting (I usually estimate one week for each figure plus another week for the base) I am running out of time! I hope your painting projects are going well, and I encourage you all to try entering a competition as you do learn new skills and try new things that army length painting projects don't always allow. Below you can see the unpainted and nearly completed diorama, with only some fiddly detailing remaining on the Emperor's Children Space Marines. Let's do this!
Inspiring stuff man - I'm loving how this is coming together. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteThanks, it's also good to finally get the brushes out today!
DeleteWhat...you just...instant mold...wow. I never thought it could be used for that level of detail. That's just amazing!
ReplyDeleteI don't know how closely you are trying to adhere to the original painting/art. In the diorama, you have the far right marine holding a bolter and angling it downwards. In the art, it's a bolt pistol. I am only mentioning this, because of the absolute level of detail in your piece. Keeping the bolter is fine, I was just comparing the two and noticed that :).
Greg, it's a great product I've been using it a lot recently and find myself looking at parts of models to use for conversions without breaking the original model up in to pieces. Plus, when it's easily repeatable the options are nearly endless. I made all the MkIV helmets for this project using Green Stuff and will probably end up using the same mold for my Blood Angels! I agree there are a few parts of the picture different (including the severed hand) but I ended up using my only "early" bolt pistol on the middle figure to allow closer positioning. Glad to see someone else has my eye for detail ;)
DeleteDo you have any tutorials on the instant mold? Or recommendations for one? I had no idea it was so versatile. I am of course being lazy and not back searching your blog. I mainly wanted to thank for the response!
DeleteLooking forward to the next progress post!
I'll try and put something together for the blog in the future, I have followed a lot of other guides and found most of their methods difficult to get results with. The main key to success is getting rid of air bubbles when molding, requiring very hot water and very careful application of the product to the item you are trying to copy. Then I will split the mold carefully with a sharp knife, often slicing off a section of the item to be copied (which can be glued back together) then using sculpting tools to really push the green stuff into the corners. Good luck!
DeleteThat is damn impressive. I've got a little piece that I'm hoping I can find time to paint before the competition, but I have zero expectation of beating what you're working on. This project of yours is really ambitious, and it looks like it's turning out really well.
ReplyDeleteI have to say the use of the infamous "Two Brush Blending" we are all now practicing in Vancouver will be the key to making the painting deadline with a fairly smooth colour finish. I'm really looking forward to seeing all the entries this year, and to keeping the momentum going into 2015!
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