Author Topic: Stalagmites? (Read 9803 times)

Agon · « **Reply #15 on:** January 10, 2011, 06:13:44 AM »

This subject gave me a hankering to sign up. Caulking/Liquid Nails and toothpicks/skewers work well. Expanding foam makes for a nice flowstone setup for placing stalagmites and columns.

Dr. The Viking's sand casting method is brilliant and will be trying it out(I may have to use snow at the moment). A thick coat of glue would smooth it out a bit if you want a more organic feel.

YPU · « **Reply #16 on:** January 10, 2011, 09:09:46 AM »

You make a good point Agon, the rounded shapes of expanding foam would work well for the bottom half of a stalagmite cluster. And welcome to the forum!

Besides having that chemistry experiment set up. (no progress so far) I think I will also be trying a mix of fine sand and PVA. No idea how it will turn out but I am curious.

Alfrik · « **Reply #17 on:** January 10, 2011, 09:49:47 AM »

Shape styrafoam into the rough shapes you want, then smear on a coat of caulking to smooth it out?

Agon · « **Reply #18 on:** January 10, 2011, 09:57:59 PM »

Here are some pictures of some stalag/stalactites formations I made recently with Liquid nails and toothpicks. Some turned out well, others just ended up looking to much like icecream. Real world speleothems tend to look like dairy products so a mass effect tends to help with the overall look.

I scaled the images down so hopefully they won't take too long to load.

This next shot is from a current, extremely massive and restrictively expensive project which is on hiatus due to budget.

These are several years old but I always like how the formations turned out, I still used Liquid Nails, canned foam, bamboo skewers and toothpicks.

Supercollider · « **Reply #19 on:** January 10, 2011, 10:32:36 PM »

Great looking caves!

YPU · « **Reply #20 on:** January 10, 2011, 10:34:17 PM »

Thanks Agon, I know what I am going to be doing next weekend.

Those are awesome, now I see why you would sign up over such a topic, its something you seem to have mastered yourself.

Agon · « **Reply #21 on:** January 11, 2011, 07:20:36 AM »

Thanks,

YPU, Post some pics of your progress man. Tomorrow I may make a little tutorial and stick it here and hopefully someone can try it and improve upon. I've noticed this subject comes up on numerous forums and quickly disappears never to be seen again, lost in a haze of above-ground-dweller tutorials.

HerbyF · « **Reply #22 on:** January 11, 2011, 07:34:08 AM »

Have you tried dripping hot wax & then covering with wood glue or plaster. that should look really natural. The wax will build up the same way stalagmites form. Then cover them with some thing harder & stiffer to keep the shape.

Agon · « **Reply #23 on:** January 12, 2011, 05:41:22 AM »

Just tried playing around with some wax, and with some patience it might work well, its pretty fragile though. Coating a stalagmite with rubber latex might help strengthen it. Using several thick coats would make a pretty simple mold.

Thought about using a hard candy recipe but, inevitable injury and an annoyed wife may prevent much experimentation.

Agon · « **Reply #24 on:** January 12, 2011, 09:36:21 PM »

YPU, Apologies I'm not trying overrun this thread. Honest.

The cave making thing has become my "Devil's Tower sculpted in mashed potatoes"

Still haven't managed to buy some more caulking for my own little tutorial, but I did manage to find some nice tutorials elsewhere.

Found a nice tutorial over on http://forum.warhammer-forum.com/ one using crystal resin. It was used to create ice stalagmites and stalactites. May be fragile, but it Looks beautiful. Would be even better if painted in cave colors.
http://forum.warhammer-forum.com/index.php?showtopic=122604&hl=

Same site also has this. A bit hard to read.
http://forum.warhammer-forum.com/index.php?showtopic=108824

Painted. Why blue, who know? has nice form though.
http://www.wix.com/campoy/jibus

This next one is from someone's D&D fish tank diorama.

http://www.maxminis.com/Forums/tabid/104/aff/68/aft/709238/afv/topic/Default.aspx

The next one is a tutorial on Mutant/Alien Vegetation over at Terragenesis. May seem odd but there are some stalagmites that resemble the methods used.

http://terragenesis.co.uk/infopages/page533.html

Scratch building wise there isn't a lot out there, at least for speleothems, well unless you want to purchase molds From Hirsts Arts. I love Hirst Arts and have dozens of molds, but I never found the cavern stalagmite molds all that appealing. Stalagmites and stalactites should all be unique.

YPU · « **Reply #25 on:** January 12, 2011, 09:51:53 PM »

No worries man, with the info your spouting out here this might become worthy of a how to sticky in time. (not my call at all tough, mind)

Agon · « **Reply #26 on:** January 18, 2011, 05:55:18 AM »

Alright, just did a little over the weekend.

Bought some more caulking. They didn't have the brand I wanted so I purchased some painters caulking and one tube of Liquid Nails Project Adhesive. Avoid the Project Adhesive as the smell is utterly unbearable. Its horrid and I now remember the reason I stopped using it. So far my favorite brand is Liquid Nails Concrete and mortar. The odor isn't too bad and is very durable.

Normally when making speleothems I cut the tip just slight wider then the toothpick or skewer begin making stalactites first. unless you want it smooth always squeeze the trigger slightly for some irregularity and different shapes, otherwise it will just be dipping. After a number of stalactites have been made I cut the tip some more for a wider flow and proceed making stalagmites. After a number of stalagmites have been made I cut the tip some more, making cuts and slices on the tip for more variation. Kind of like using different tips when icing a cake.

I ran out of toothpicks the other day. It was cold and I didn't feel like going any where, so I thought I would try and make some stalactites with thin wire. I wish I thought of it sooner. They wont break like the toothpicks and can be repositioned easily. I began wrapping short pieces of wire around a skewer. After it was filled I just began a semi dip. Made several hundred. The wire is easily trimmed down.

After they dried I decided to retool my current project. I was already planning on repainting it so I tested them on a small cave piece I was unhappy with.

Eventually I'll retool all of it and repaint it yet again. I usually try to build the formations on to existing wall sections bulking them up as needed. My walls are vaguely I shaped so I can have both stalactites and stalagmites.
I have about fifty sections in various stages of completion to finish so I need thousands of formations. Still trying to figure out a good way to make draperies, bacon, pocorn, soda straws and the large highly detailed stalagmites

I'll just keep on experimenting

-Agon

YPU · « **Reply #27 on:** January 18, 2011, 09:16:11 AM »

Impressive work agon! I was planning to do some experimenting of my own over the weekend but instead ended up booking a last minute vacation to Egypt with the family. Funny how those things work out sometimes.

Hammers · « **Reply #28 on:** January 18, 2011, 09:20:24 AM »

This looks good.

sorrowsheart · « **Reply #29 on:** February 03, 2011, 10:59:10 PM »

Not sure if this is the look you are going for or not, but try styrofoam and acetate.

Years ago as a kid I played around with making underground scenes using white styrofoam, and bottles of white-out(much to my parents dismay, and my own grounding)

Now I use Acetone, or nail polish remover for a similar effect. Cut you styrofoam blocks to the overall shape you want, making the intial piece larger than where you want the finished piece to end. Then give a very very light coat of acetone, brushed over it.

The styrofoam, dissolves, leaving behind a very flowstone looking end result, without a whole lots of time needed.

Caveats

1. w/ the acetone a little goes a long way. Too much and it will eat away all the foam.

2. Make certain to do this in a very well ventilated area.

My two cents

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Author Topic: Stalagmites? (Read 9803 times)