Sculpting Bases: Part II

Just in time for labor day weekend the much anticipated part II to my sculpting bases tutorial. I am leaving out the mold making part because I felt it wasn't necessary since you can find lots of how to's about mold making on other websites. I am just going to touch on what I did to mass produce these bases and what materials I recommend.

So I am just going to jump in and explain this process. Overall the sculpting is very easy and quite enjoyable. The stone texture takes almost no time to sculpt once you outline the pattern.

The tools I used for this is(from left to right):

1. Razor saw. Makes clean lines quickly and accurately. Use one of the finer toothed blades.

2. Dental pick. These work well to make grooves in the plaster blank. Check ebay for great deals on dental tools. I got a set of 5 for 6 bucks plus shipping. They also come in handy when using green stuff.

3. Exacto Knife: I have yet to meet a fellow gamer/ hobbyist who doesn't own one. You can use some old blades for part of the sculpting, but once you start texturing the stone it's best you use a new blade. Just be careful when using the exacto knife. I have a few scars on my fingers from being too careless with Exacto knives.

4. Your plaster/base blank.

Alright before you begin, I recommend you work in an area with plenty of ventilation and wear a mask to help you from inhaling plaster dust. I have asthma so I actually wear a heavy duty painter's mask when I sculpt multiple bases. Sure it's cumbersome and you feel like Darth Vader but it keeps nasty chemicals from going into your lungs. To minimize some dust, I usually get my plaster blank wet beforehand and sculpt immediately after. It almost feels like the water softens it a bit and makes it easier to carve and reduces the dust a bit. I first started out using the razor saw and etched in the lines I drew. The razor saw is the best tool for this since it grips the plaster and very neatly carves it away.

You should be able to carve the lines easily and quickly with your razor saw especially if you got the base wet beforehand. Try not to go to deep because the razor saw can very easily cut through the base fast. If the base ends up getting cut through, don't throw it out. You can still glue it back on with super glue and use it as normal to sculpt.

You also want to etch the lines on the edges of the base to give the base more detail. Again try not to cut to deep with the razor saw. You want it just enough to indicate the edge of the stone tiles.

Alright the next part you are going to use the point of your Exacto knife to further sculpt the grooves. Here you can use an old blade to do this. But be sure to replace it later on with a new blade.

So basically you take your knife and carve the groove lines a bit deeper to give the stone tiles the impression of having depth.

This photo shows how you should use your knife to carve the stone tiles. I find it really carves better this way and gives you more control.

Next take your dental pick and go back through all the lines you just scraped with the Exacto knife.

I know this step seems pointless but what I actually accomplish in this step is I widen the groove lines just a bit more. The dental pick I have is a bit thicker than the pointy end of my Exacto so when I scrape along the grooves, the pick actually widens the grooves more evenly so you can see the individual stones a bit better.

Well it's starting to take shape now. You can actually stop here and use this pattern as a ceramic type tile base. The only addition you would need would be a few bevel marks in between each tile to give it a more machined tile look. Which that actually introduces the next step.

Here is where you'll need your new blade. Carefully use your Exacto to bevel the edges of each individual tile along the groove lines. I was a bit careless since I was rushing to get the sculpting done.

Next you'll take your Exacto knife and randomly carve out some grooves into the tile surface. It's better to start with just slightly carving out some grooves on the surface and carefully dig in a bit more as you go along. You'll start to get lots of plaster dust on the surface of the base(and your work table, clothes, shoes, carpet, etc etc.) so be sure to take breaks and rinse the base every once in awhile and then start sculpting again. 90% of my finger injuries have occurred while doing this step so again be careful and always be aware of what you are doing.

To finish off be sure to cut some grooves on the edges of the tile. So that is pretty much it. Now you just repeat the same pattern on all the other tiles. You can see I went a bit deep on the grooves but it does still give the appearance of stone. This texture works better for a dungeon theme base, whereas less grooves works for more of a road, tavern, or more civilized theme.

Depending on what you want to do, you can add some more detail by taking your dental pick and scratching some cracks into some of the tiles. I've even broke some of the bases into pieces and glued it to a thin piece of round plastic card the same size of the base with some tiles removed and the holes filled with basing sand like the photo below:

The possibilities are endless on what you can do just with this type of base. The next step is to then take all the bases you made and mold them for mass production. I'll just briefly go over this process.

You basically want to form a "mold box" that can be used to mold your bases. I use a box made from Lego blocks with blue painter's tape wrapped around the inside of the box. I then use wood glue and glue the Lego box to a piece of plexiglass. Then I arrange all my bases in the box and glue them down with wood glue. I then seal the bases with Pledge FutureShine and then I wait about 24hrs. I mix some RTV silicone and pour it into the mold box and within about 12 hours I have a mold good for mass production. I've used many RTV silicone products but the best and easiest one to use is Mold Star 30 from Smooth-on. It is a 1:1 silicone that doesn't require any fancy equipment to use. Just mix and pour. Very easy for beginners and available from smoothon.com. Just be cautious when using those chemicals and always wear gloves. Silicone is hard to clean and usually requires turpentine to clean it off completely.

So there you have it folks. That is pretty much all I do to make all those wonderful little bases. If you have any questions let me know. I will post the stone pattern in my next blog post if you would like it for reference. I also occasionally sell resin cast of these bases. I only have them in 30mm, 40mm, and 50mm sizes right now and are made to fit the fancy bases used by the game Warmachine. But if you are interested let me know and I can setup a sale through Ebay or Paypal.

Thanks for your patience and sorry part 2 took so long.

Until next time

Keep on gaming!

Sculpting Part II is coming soon.......

I know you've all been waiting for it and it is coming I promise. In the meantime enjoy a photo of some recent work I started up again. It's my eldar army. I've had this army for years and invested a bit of money on the bases. But it's coming along.

Sculpting Bases: Part I

Well after a few months of a hiatus I am back and writing up a tutorial for sculpting bases. I've been asked many times how I sculpted them so I decided to stop being a snob and show you ;).

First of all let me advise you. The method I am going to show you is a reduced cost but yet effective way to do this. You're going to spend a few hours and money doing this and you will need to know how to work with hazardous chemicals at a certain point. So if you feel this is too much then you are better off buying from great sellers like www.dragonforge.com.

OK let's get started. You will first need the following tools to make your sculpting blanks. Alternatively if you know someone with a lazer cutter they can cut more precise 30mm, 40mm and 50mm round base blanks and then you can mold them(which is what I did) but like I said this is a more cost effective method.

So let me list off the materials(from left to right):

1. Circle template: you can use a template or make one out of white sheet styrene and a circle cutter. Use .30" or .40" for easier cutting.

2. Basic Sculpting tool: I got mine from Games Workshop. Privateer Press has the same one.

3. Bases: more for checking accuracy so it's not required if you're a math wiz and can convert millimeters to inches.

4. Sculpy or Fimo: I used Fimo for this exercise. Alternatively Green Stuff would work also since it cures and can act like a mold.

5. Roller: The most precise one is the pasta clay roller machine since it provides consistency. But if you don't have a problem sanding your blanks after, then use this.

6. Dental plaster: for casting blanks. Not pictured but more on this later :)

First you roll out your Fimo or green stuff to a thickness of about a 3mm thickness or .12 inches. If you use a surface like plexiglass you can easily flip the Fimo around and roll the opposite side without damaging the front. Another reason why I love Fimo

Next place the circle template with the correct diameter that you want on top of the Fimo and use your sculpting tool to cut and remove the Fimo from the inside diameter of the template.

With the the template still on the clay, take the blunt side of your sculpting tool(see photos above so you know what I am talking about) and wet the end of the tool with water and smooth the inside edges of the clay so you can have the most precise circle you can get. Just keep scraping around in circles till it's smooth and perfectly even. If the clay starts to tear or break, you can always add more Fimo and smooth it out.

After all that, this is what you end up with. This is basically going to be your mold for your sculpting blanks. The next thing you do is pour some plaster into your "mold" to cast your blank. Wait about 5 -10 minutes after you notice the plaster starting to dry at the top and use the blunt end of a knife to scrape and smooth out the top surface of your cast. Don't worry about the plaster leaking out. If you rolled and flatten the Fimo with the rolling pin, it should hold the plaster with no problems. Now lets chat about plaster. I've had tremendous success with Merlin's Magic dental plaster, and I should for the money I spent on it :). But a good alternative is Hydrostone. It is strong but easy to sculpt with and cheaper and easily available. Just Google it for more info. Don't use Hydrocal or that stuff you find at model train shops. It's no good and will only make you angry ;). This is probably the most trial and error part of this process.

Now here's the kicker. With uncured Fimo, you will only be able to use it once to cast with plaster. To make more blanks you'll need to go through the process again and you will risk losing consistency with your blanks. I recommend you sculpt and cast your different size blanks and then sand them to consistency with each other and then use RTV silicone to mold them. Smooth-on products makes a good and relatively inexpensive 1:1 RTV silicone named Oomoo 30. Easy to use and cures in 6 hours.

Did I mention this was an investment?

After all that, this basically what you are going for. A nice blank round cast of your base. So now comes the sculpting part.

Since your blank will be relatively smooth, you can actually take a pen and draw your sculpting lines directly on the surface. To get that nice consistency within all your bases, I recommend using a template made on a CAD program. You can then use transfer paper and copy your pattern on to your blanks. Since I am so nice I will provide the template I used at the end of this article. So I hope I gave enough information to get you started. So hopefully within the next few days I can get the sculpting portion posted.

Like always, Keep on gaming!

First Super Dungeon Explore mini rolls out

Well after a slow start thanks in part to the cold snap we've been having last month, I have finally completely finished one super dungeon explore mini. We finally got some 60 degree weather here in good ol' ATL that allowed me to spray prime all my super dungeon explore miniatures in one afternoon while my toddler was napping. I used a wide variety of paints for this mostly Reaper Master Series, GW paints, and Vallejo Game Color paints. The blue-green color is actually a custom mixed color I mixed from a base of Jade Green and then added some off-white and blue-green color to it till I ended up with an Aqua-fresh(as I call it) color. I mixed up to batches, one base color, and then a highlight color.

So how do you like the base? Yes this was my ice-looking base from my first post and as you can see now, it looks more like a dungeon stone floor. I had thought about selling them but I really didn't seem to get much interest in them. Oh well, That's life ;).

Keep looking here for the next batch of heroes coming next week hopefully....

Miniature pinning in a few easy steps

Today I want to show you a simple technique I learned to properly drill and pin a miniature. Pinning is more of an advance modeling technique used to properly fit and glue two pieces of a miniature together. This is usually a more preferred technique when you have two pieces that are flat on the ends like this Kobold Gouger from Soda Pop Miniatures.

So I will be showing you how I pin the tail on the Kobold so it stays on and survives the wear and tear of gaming. You will need the following tools for this project:

1. Pin Vice- Basically it is a hand operated drill. This allows for precise drilling without ruining any detail. A Dremel also works but I don't recommend it for small pieces like the ones I am working with unless you want a new hole through your finger ;).

2. Drill Bit- In the photo it is already attached to the pin vice. Bit sizes usually come in millimeters or inches. Miniature use drill bits range from .50mm to 1.90mm or 1/32in. to 1/8in. I prefer to use a bigger drill bit if I feel the piece can handle it without any damage. In my opinion it produces a better join.

3. Brass Wire- Used to join both pieces. Comes in all sizes as well. Match your wire to the drill bit you are using.

4. Premo modeling clay- This is what I used for this project. Sculpy or something similar works as well. You want to use a non-drying clay that can easily be cleaned up and not leave any residue behind.

5. Super glue(not shown)- Almost a given for working with pewter miniatures. I use Gorilla brand super glue. Of course you can use whatever brand you prefer.

So you start by drilling a hole in the smaller piece that will be attached to the bigger piece. In this example I drilled out the Kobold mini's tail. You want to to drill it pretty deep but take care not to drill through the piece.

After you finish drilling, do a dry fit on the piece to make sure they fit together properly and are the correct pieces. Believe me, I have had my share of wrongfully pinned and glued miniatures in my day. So after you've done a dry fit twice, grab a small bit of the Premo clay and apply it to the piece you are going to drill next. In the photo you notice I placed it on the Kobold miniature where the tail is going to be pinned.

Now carefully join both pieces and here is where it gets tricky. You have to try and be as precise as you can joining both pieces as they are meant to be fitted or you will have a mis-aligned piece. If the clay is too thick use a smaller amount. You want to use just enough to stick both pieces together.

Now I carefully remove the tail from the Kobold and end up with a blob of clay precisely where I have to drill my next hole. You might have to give it a few attempts to get something similar to the photo above. But if it is not working, try drilling the hole a little deeper on the smaller piece and that should give you better results.

You can now take your pin vice and drill your next hole on the miniature. At this point, I just went ahead and drilled enough to get me started and then cleaned off the rest of the clay and continued drilling on a clean surface till I felt it was deep enough. Of course how deep your hole will be depends on the miniature's anatomy. Luckily the Kobold is a solid piece so I can drill it without worrying about over doing it.

Next you take your brass wire and glue it to one of the pieces. It doesn't really matter which piece you glue the brass wire to but I prefer to glue it to the bigger piece. This is just my preference since I've had the smaller pieces take flight when I cut the wire and then spend about 20 minutes searching the carpet for it. I usually cut the wire a bit longer than necessary and either drill the smaller piece a bit more or sand the wire down till I have a perfect join.

All that's left is to do is to pour a bit of glue on one end and join both pieces together. You should be left with an almost seamless join depending on your miniature. You may have to go back and fill the seam with green putty. Judging from the photos it looks like that's what I'll have to do with my Kobold.

So hopefully I was able to show you a helpful technique to use next time you need to pin your miniatures. I am sure I had seen this technique explained somewhere else on the net before but since I couldn't find it I thought I would write up a tutorial explaining it.

Any questions let me know.

Keep on gaming!

Some more of my past work

Here is some of my past work from a couple of years ago. This is Dhalia and Skarrath from the Hordes game by Privateer Press. I painted these 2 miniatures for my friend Darren as a gift for him. I pretty much used the paint scheme that was recommended in the Hordes Metamorphosis book. The base is pre-made by Epicast bases with a few minor additions. I really wish I can remember all the paint colors I used to achieve the sand rock color but I think I just ended up using a mix of oranges, reds, and browns. I hope to post more miniatures as I get them done and hopefully with better description of paints and colors used. Enjoy!

Custom Miniature Bases

So one project that took a long time to complete was my base insert project. I sculpted some bases to use with my miniatures to simplify the often over looked part of the hobby. It was labor intensive but well worth it.

Here is what the final product looks like once attached to the miniature and painted. Well in order to get to a finished product, I started with sculpting some originals with slight variations to each so they don't all look the same.

I then used some RTV silicone to make a mold of the originals. 24 hours later I can now cast copies of my custom bases in no time.

Currently these bases are being used on my Super Dungeon Explore miniatures. They are 20mm in size so they are the accurate size to use on top of the plastic base you get with the miniature. Currently I am casting them with smooth-cast 320 casting plastic but I normally use dental plaster. It's cheaper than plastic.

Game on!