Hirst Arts molds

[anevilgiraffe]

I was pondering today what to do with the 2/3 full bottles of resin I have following the mass book building session and, as I found the mold side of things the hardest bit, I wondered about the Hirst Arts molds and if anything could be useful there for me...

now, first off, are the molds ok with resin or is there a reason everyone goes on about using plaster... I mean, the resin will be lighter...

and second, as they are kind of pricey, is there a good base one... am torn between sci-fi or dungeony, so sell either to me if you've got them...

or is an old Linka set the way to go... 

[Dolmot]

http://www.hirstarts.com/casting/plastic.html

[Sangennaru]

my opinion: the hirst moulds are great for simple scenery, but they don't worth the resin you are planning to use!

better to go for linka or similia, with the resin they are perfect for modern stuff!

[anevilgiraffe]

now aren't the Linka sets railway scale or something? small for 28mm stuff anyway...

[Willypold]

I don't have any experience of my own when it comes to using resin with HA molds, but resin will age the molds, wear them out a lot faster than when using plaster, unless you follow Bruce's advice on his web wite. So far some of my molds have been used several hundred times without any visible wear, but as I said I've only used various hard plaster types. The Hirst web site is a great place for information about using resin specifically and casting in general.

On the issue of cost...

Ones you've bought a mold you can use it seemingly forever, which means that eventually – relatively – your major cost will be the plaster (or resin) used. If you only need the casts for a limited project you're probably better off buying ready-made castings from any of the people selling those – you'll find several at the Hirst web site. These generally cost about 2 dollars for a full set of castings from a single mold, less if you buy the casts for a complete kit or project. This is also a great way of finding out what molds you really want or need.

So what are you going to use them for? Do you have any specific projects or needs in mind? If not – do get a selection of ready-made castings and play around with them, dry-stacking stuff to find out if it's really your cup of tea or not.

There are a number of things you can do with the molds, and a lot of that is illustrated on the HA web site. Take a look at the various projects. Is there anything you'd like to do? Do you want medieval or gothic style buildings, an Egyptian temple, a spaceship interior or a fantasy dungeon?

If you play any modern era or sci-fi games I would really suggest getting the pipe and machinery molds in order to build different accessory pieces for your games, as these molds are really versatile.

What do I use the molds for? Well, for starters I'm building a complete 3D Space Hulk set using 1.5 inch floor tiles as the base and just about all of the various sci-fi molds for walls and details. As a companion to the Space Hulk set I'm also building an Egyptian temple area using the same tile size, using both sets for Space Hulk, HorrorClix and HeroClix.

The various 1 inch floor tiles are perfect for games like Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures and Star Wars Miniatures, which is a major reason for building stuff using the molds – boardgame style movement.

Some of my work can be found in this thread:

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=27710.0

[snitcythedog]

first off, are the molds ok with resin or is there a reason everyone goes on about using plaster... I mean, the resin will be lighter...

http://www.hirstarts.com/casting/plastic.html

Best answer for your first part of your question is listed above.  In short, they do work with resin.  The reason everyone uses plaster is that the resin is much more expensive per pound (resin $16.00 us per pound vs Hydrastone $2.00 per pound).  There are some molds for small or thin parts that will only work with resin, but it is hard on the silicone.

and second, as they are kind of pricey

On the issue of cost...
Ones you've bought a mold you can use it seemingly forever, which means that eventually – relatively – your major cost will be the plaster (or resin) used. If you only need the casts for a limited project you're probably better off buying ready-made castings from any of the people selling those – you'll find several at the Hirst web site. These generally cost about 2 dollars for a full set of castings from a single mold, less if you buy the casts for a complete kit or project. This is also a great way of finding out what molds you really want or need.

I completely agree.  As willypold said the mold is usually a one time purchase.  I have both Linka and Hirst molds that are over ten years old and they still work fine.  No detail loss whatsoever.  You will have to decide which one is best for you.  His suggestion of buying kits is a good one because it will give you an idea of what you can expect.
Just my two cents on the subject.
Snitchy sends.

[gamer Mac]

now aren't the Linka sets railway scale or something? small for 28mm stuff anyway...

Link is for OO railway, 1/72 scale. Some of the larger stone work molds work fine but the doors and windows are small.
I used some for my LPL round one entry back ground.

[haydn]

As a fully confirmed hirst art mould user I will strongly recommend them.
Yes the expense is high but you are paying for quality moulds.
I have the linka moulds but rearlly use them.
Bruces web site is one of ther best for information on various usages together with this site and hirst art forum.

Enjoy your castings. Here are some of mine.

http://www.haydnbold.com/hirstBuilds/2011wip.html

[Dolmot]

I'll post a few more links for reference. Some relevant for the original question, others for general interest.

Hirst 1, here
Hirst 2, here
Linka, there
Linka vs Hirst, there

Some additional points that come to mind:

- The typical Hirst block style is heavy. The "basic block" is 1" x 0.5" x 0.5", which would convert to 5' x 2.5' x 2.5' (or ~ 1.5m x 0.75m x 0.75m) assuming 1/60 scale. Such a stone would weigh around two tons. Therefore common structures will end up megalithic, unless you specifically try to avoid it by picking the smaller parts. (Those would count as an exception to the main rule.)
- You'll quickly learn to spot the trademark Hirst textures and block sizes. The "random" stone textures are not that random after all. It may start to bother you at some point. Unless you do some extensive cover-up work, a finished building may look like a sum of its building blocks, not a truly convincing scale model.
- The Lego-styled design is a bit two-edged. It makes assembly easy, but the outcome may also look like a Lego model. I've found that many Hirst buildings look more interesting if you smash and tumble the plaster casts first. Of course, this mainly applies to the stone blocks, not so much to spaceport stuff and such.
- Most of the parts have been designed for plaster, so many of them have been made bulkier than in reality to avoid thin bits.

Because the overall style is thick and heavy, I think some of resin's precision is wasted there. It would make more sense to build larger elements from plaster casts, add some detail, thin down the structure if possible and then mould the large pieces for resin. Saves raw materials and your original moulds.

As for Linka, I think the scale is very good for 28mm (clay) brick buildings. Surely a common brick shouldn't be 1.5m long like Hirst's - or even half or quarter of that. Doors and windows must be improvised, of course. See the links for inspiration. As the detail is smaller, you'll get more out of your resin. Prebuilding some larger elements may prove handy here as well.

Personally, I haven't built many Hirst things recently, even though I have the moulds. A full plaster structure becomes heavy and may chip/break in transport. As I want to get rid of the telltale block look as well and make walls less than 0.75m thick, in many cases it's simply more convenient to use carved styrofoam, foamcore, cardboard, plasticard or something. The blocks still have their uses, but the alternatives may work better for various purposes.

Depends on the project and the style you're aiming at, really.

[anevilgiraffe]

cheers chaps...

ok, so if I forget Hirst and Linka and go to casting my own stuff, what is the best mold medium available... preferably requiring no protective clothing...

I used Siligum for the Salute game and that worked ok, but is limited to pressmolding really and my experiments, while fun, weren't necessarily successful...