Moulding Shoulder Pads

As a continuation from the last post, I've managed to play around with instant mould (see also oyumaru, same stuff) to see how it would fare against a green-stuff mould. On the whole, it's much better, and I definitely recommend it to anyone trying something similar.

The instant mould is fairly easy to use, reusable, and doesn't stick to green stuff. The last point is particularly useful - it makes getting the press out of the mould quite easy. So if any mistakes are made, they're easy to fix. The popular trick of aligning front and back halves of a mould is to use lego as a kind of temporary casing - this works rather well when creating the mould, and can be useful later when actually using the mould too.

There is plenty of information out there on using instant mould, so I won't bother going into details about it here, but I will list some things I figured out on trial runs.

• Instant mould is flexible. This helps to get things out of the mould, but be careful when letting things dry. If clamped together too hard, the mould will warp slightly and ruin the press.
• Don't use too much green stuff. This will create a extra thickness at the boundary between the front and back halves of the mould, and while perhaps not ruin shoulder pads, does make them less than perfect. Trial and error are required to know how much to use.
• Mould lines. These are extra lines to push out excess green stuff. They can also help pull the press from the mould later on.
• Patience. Letting the green stuff properly cure means it won't deform when trying to remove it from the mould.

Above are two trial runs. One is painted to see if it would really look any different to a pastic shoulder pad, and the other is straight from the mould. Later presses are much better quality and have less flashing, but that just comes from experience. On a painting note, the blood drop will have to have some kind of dark outline to differentiate it from the shoulder pad base.

Please note that the cost for all of this is actually more than if I could buy the shoulder pads directly (at least for 100 or so). I don't actually like the ones they do offer - the wings just aren't as appealing. If anyone is thinking they could replicate their own entire model, then think again. Plastic models will be of higher quality and give you less trouble to work with.

Lastly, a Death Company marine is just about ready - just some lettering and "scribbles" on scrolls left. So expect another post before too long, detailing the finishing touches there.

-- silly painter