Squats or Space Dwarfs... In Space!

[fred]

That berserker looks very cool - is the dog from the Mantic Dwarfs?

With the press mould - it works great for 3D shapes, I'd always thought they would only work for one detailed side. How did you do the locating pegs for the top of the mould?

[Inso]

Cheers

Yep, the dog is from Mantic.

As for the press moulding, I heat up one side of Blue stuff, press in the component and then use the rear end of a paint brush to make the dents around the outside for location. Once that is cool, I heat up another piece of blue stuff and squash it on the top. It seeps into the holes and doesn't stick to anything so it can be separated when everything is ready to be removed from the mould. There is a good guide on here (just scroll down):

http://www.greenstuffworld.com/en/reusable-blue-stuff/2-blue-stuff-mold-4-bars.html

[Mason]

Well, the press moulding certainly works a treat.
It has come out far more effective than I first thought it would.
Great stuff.
 

[fred]

Thanks for the explanation of the press moulding - when you explain it, it sounds obvious, but I don't think I would have come up with the idea of just making indents to key the two mould halfs.

[Inso]

No worries... I like to be helpful

Well... the first five Scout proxies are finished:



I now need to sculpt another pair of legs in a different pose for the next five. I think they've turned out OK so far and once I have made a total of four leg poses and press-moulded them up, I'll be able to mix and match between 5-man squads for a bit of variety.

[uti long smile]

They are great!

[Major_Gilbear]

They look excellent, well done! 

I also think Milliput is the best choice for casting from these sorts of moulds - too often I see people use GS and it... Just doesn't work as well IMO.

[eilif]

I was hoping that they would fit into my army without any conversion but you will see from the pic that they are far too tall (from left to right: Squat, Squat/Steel Warrior, Steel Warrior, Space Marine):



I have quickly put together a mock-up of a Steel Warrior body on the legs from a 'sawn in half' plastic Squat (using blu-tack) to see how it looks... and I think that the height will work but I now need to work out how I am going to convert 20 of them without necessarily having to sculpt 20 pairs of legs ...

... nothing ever goes smoothly .

There are other issues with them but I will sort out a review and post it in my blog once I can bring myself to do it. I am quietly disappointed with them... even though, in their own right, they are nice looking miniatures... just too big for my particular army

Thanks for this pic. IIRC, the older style Forgefathers were much closer to the size of squats.  I guess won't be buying any of the steel warriors to go along with my squats but I did get a batch of the Forge Guard to use as Iron Ancestors.

[Inso]

No worries, it's all about sharing information... much like this picture:



I really like the new Steel Warriors and think the effort with the legs is worth it because I still get to include them in my army. I have already got the Forge Guard in my army (counts as Space Marine Terminators) and these conversions will join them as Scouts.

I won't be making any more for a little while because I have other sculpting to be getting on with... like this (which is now finished) and the next one:

[eilif]

Looks like I wrote "Iron Ancestor" when I should have said "Hearthguard in Exo Armor"

No worries, it's all about sharing information... much like this picture:

Thanks again! This is just what I was looking for.  I've not assembled mine, but it's ok with me if the Forge guard are the same height as the steel warriors because I don't mind if my Exo Armored squats tower over my regular squats. I have a couple of the original Exo Armored figures and they're so small it's kind of tough to see how you could even fit a squat inside the armor.

[Inso]

No worries

I've said it before... if I didn't have so many of the Squat miniatures converted up, I would have been tempted to keep the Steel Warriors as they should be (with the proper legs) but I just couldn't have them towering over all my other troops.

The good thing is that my Imperial Guard part of the army is mostly Squats and the Space Marine side is all Mantic... so I am treating the Mantic ones as my elite with my Squats as the main part of the army.

[Inso]

This week has been mostly Berserk :



There is more info on my blog (as usual):

http://insosworld.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/im-going-berserk.html

[Elbows]

Nothing says Rogue Trader like quilted armour.    Incredible work.

[OSHIROmodels]

Cracking work as always 

cheers

James

[Mason]

Cracking work as always 

Agreed!
 

The fella who wants to beat someone to death with the butt of his pistol did crack me up.