Sphinx alley – meet the rams

[CollarSarge]

Work in (slow) progress… Shortly before sunset, the motorized caravan finally did arrive at the lost sand-covered temple district. When entering the sphinx alley everyone bailed out of their trucks, proudly marked as RAF – the Royal Archaelogy Force. Or commonly called the ‘Raging Armed Fieldworkers’… Far in the distance, an ancient pylon gate would await them. But who knows what to find beyond – and what kind of traps would lie ahead…



I always was fascinated by the ancient Egyptian sphinx alleys, especially the ram-headed criosphinxes at Karnak. One day I stumbled across a small resin statuette probably made by Veronese. Regarding 28mm scale it was somewhat bigger than the Karnak ones. But luckily, much greater originals did exist, as depicted in the ‘Descriptione de L’Egypte’. (First published 1808-1828 by French scientists who followed Napoleon in the wake of his Egyptian campaign and layed the foundation of what was later called ‘Egyptology’).



For many month I tried to find more of such statuettes, but all shops just offered far larger ones. Seems the small criosphinx is oop. The other day I gave up the hunt and ordered some silicone from Troll Factory to make a mould. This was my first attempt and surprisingly it really was a piece of cake. Even for rookies. Their silicone is so elastic that there was no two-part-mould necessary. The statuette featured very pronounced horn grooves, while the original Egyptian criosphinxes are depicted with rather smooth, simplified horns.  A minor sanding was sufficient to reshape them.



The pedestals were made by Hirst Arts parts (Egyptian temple) and then moulded, casted, engraved and damaged.



Thanks to thousands of tourists there are tons of pics of the Karnak sphinxes available, enabling one to simulate somewhat decent models. Casting was done in inexpensive plaster from the DIY market. Usually dentist plaster is better and harder. But I wanted to alter the sphinxes to different stages of erosion and damage. From nearly mint to heavily battered. Like the originals. So the cheap plaster perfectly fits the bill.  If sensitively hammered with the corner of a small hammer head (from different angles), it will chip and flake like real stone. When hit hard, it will break like stone. In the end, there were two dozens each of sphinxes and pedestals, not one alike the others. At the moment, they just got a first base coat of sand color (wall paint), to cement the dusty plaster surface and reveal remaining flaws.



The minis and trucks even didn’t go so far yet. For a game setting the sphinxes of course will need more space between them (which my shelf can’t provide). BTW: The wallpaper is a collage of David Roberts (1796 -1864) masterpieces. His Egypt and Nubia drawings are very inspiring.

[Traveler Man]

Excellent work! 

The Hirst Arts Egyptian molds are on my to-get list.

[CollarSarge]

Thanks!  The Hirst Arts mould are really great.  Lots of different bricks and pieces in one mould. With them building is pure fun.

One  just needs some time to make enough parts of the same kind to complete a building. For my pedestal master, it took 4 casting runs.  I only needed the plain bricks and different ledges including cornerstones. Of course now I have 4 sets of all the other parts, too. That’s why I made my own mould to cast complete pedestals. Hirst Arts expressly allows that.

Simultaneously I’m working on a pylon gate. That HA-mould provides perfect angled bricks. But it will take about 40+ runs to achieve the size of gate I have in mind… And I’m not half as megalomanical as the ancient architects… 

[YPU]

Very good looking, what are you casting in? Normal plaster or something sturdier? (I recently read that adding some PVA to plaster gives it a bit more strength)

[CollarSarge]

I’m using detal plaster as well as the normal DIY-Store quality. Reproduction quality is similar. Both will show all fine detail of the mould.

The dental plaster type 4-5 is very hard, sturdy and not brittle. Perfect if you won’t alter the cast.  It also will suffer less signs of usage while gaming. (And also is available in different colors). Hirst Arts is recommending such kind of plaster.
There are 5 type classes of dental plaster, from 1 = soft to 5 = extra hard
The higher classes mostly will contain synthetic material which increases the pouring ability. So you will need less water. (High water content will also enable good pouring, but decrease the density of the final product).

For my sphinxes I did choose a normal white standard plaster (without any synthetic material or fibres added to strengthen it or increase its pouring ability). Consitency was like cream when pouring it into the mould. The surface of the cast becomes hard and dry, but can easily be engraved, sanded or broken. This was essential to achieve the eroded look of the sphinxes. Paint or deep sealer will harden the surface, but it never will be as sturdy as the dental quality.

PVA is an interesting idea. Some plasterers indeed add PVA, but to apply the plaster on a wall. Casting is more about pouring. Don't know whether a highly thinned glue will still be able to strenghten the result. Applying deep sealer afterwards should have the same glueing effect. I'll give it a try.

[Furt]

Excellent effort - looks amazing. 

[Dr Mathias]

Very cool, nice idea to make a custom mold.

When I have had to do large runs I often make a second mold with just the parts I need.

Any chance I could get you to unload a sphinx or two?

[pistolpete]

that's really great work.  i'm way too lazy to do any casting.

[d phipps]

Very nice! I'll take a dozen just like 'em! 

[YPU]

PVA is an interesting idea. Some plasterers indeed add PVA, but to apply the plaster on a wall. Casting is more about pouring. Don't know whether a highly thinned glue will still be able to strenghten the result. Applying deep sealer afterwards should have the same glueing effect. I'll give it a try.

I have recently been doing some terrain with cheap crafts paint (very chalk like in structure when dry) with sand and PVA mixed in, which is why I remembered the idea for plaster casting. The does de-solve pretty well when stirred for a time and even with relatively little PVA my terrain mix at least gains a slight rubbery bounce to it rather then the chalky brittleness of the crafts paint. So from my limited  tangential experience it should work. 

I've been 3d printing some war gaming stuff for myself a while now and your topic has re-instated the notion of getting mouldmaking materials to replicate my prints. Darn you. 

[Elk101]

I've been to Karnak and I'll vouch for how good these are. They even have the Osiris statues (representing Rameses II?). Lovely work.

[Centaur_Seducer]

Lovely! Like the rest of the posters I won't say no to buy one or two

[Mad Lord Snapcase]

They look fantastic, great work.

[Vanvlak]

Superb! Love these.