Sanguinary Priest: Insta-mold casting

I picked up the insta mold product in hopes of duplicating some bitz here and there. After a little experimentation, It turns out to work pretty fantastic. So here's a couple tips on what to do and what not to do that will hopefully save you some time.

The product is cheap, under $20. Instructions are simple and on the blister pack, heat, press let cool. no problem. What it doesn't tell you, is once the stuff is heated, it can be pretty oozy and with out something to hold it, it can be hard stay put as well as on the detail of the model.

A couple notes on the product.
1. It doesn't seem to stick to anything, but...
2. it self! touch two pieces of hot instamold together and they become one.

So here is my first attempt at a 2 sided mold for a devestator backpack. You can't really see the detail in the pic. The point is how on the outside of the mold it just went all  over the place. The other point, which I will illustrate later, is that I didn't think about re-aligning the pieces once done, or realize I would have to cut the pieces apart.

With my second attempt, I had a little more of a game plan. I made a lego frame for my molds and a couple plungers to press the product. I also have a couple paper clips to align the 2 part mold.

with this set up I made 2 molds. A 2 sided mold for the arm and a one sided mold for the torso piece. I also try'd making stamping type mold for the shoulder pad, but it did not work so great.

I put the hot product in both sides, put the arm in once side with product on top and put the torso in the other side. I pressed down firmly with my plungers.

I let it cool a little bit, removed the plungers and poked the paper clips in for re-alignment later. After allowing the stuff to completely cool I removed it from the lego the 2 sided mold had to be cut carfully with a hobby knife. next time I will put plastic card on the top and bottom of the mold. the texture of the lego made it slightly difficult to remove.

It's kind of hard to tell from the pic, but the detail came out perfect. 

using the mold is simple. press the green stuff in and let harden. The molds are clear so you can see from the side of the detail if you have any air bubbles or detail not coming out. Here's what came out...

Top one is my first devestator backpack. with the flash removed. The detail did not come out good on this one. The other pieces came out great with the exception of a small bubble on one of the right pocket and left tubes.

Remember when Chaos was.....Chaotic?

I have to say, I miss the days when a Chaos force could be fielded of Warriors, Daemons, and Beastmen. And back in the days of Realm of Chaos - "Slaves to Darkness", fantasy warriors had access to technology!

With the separation of the new books it just seems like a lot of the chaos has been removed. I

Oh well, those days are gone, but it does not stop one from being creative with modeling. And WFB isn't as strict with the WYSIWYG. I had some old warriors that were missing lots of pieces and need a complete unit of 10 dudes. So I threw on a bunch of bits to make a truly "chaotic" war band.

Bitz used, (L-R, Space wolf bolter arm, tyranid arm, CSM body/head, Beastman standard arm, CSM standard, Marauder horsemen shield, Beastmen instrument arm, Marauder head, Khrone berzerker CC weapon arm, Chaos mutation arm. 

I like the "newest" version of the chaos warrior plastic models. The sculpt is great. But they are ALL the same! More like the forces of order then Chaos to me. 

Realm of Battle + Scenery

I finally painted my Realm of Battle board. I was trying to go with a Chaos waste feel.

I gave the hill some crazy purple foliage.

Ruined Temple glued on "for Sale" sign. 

Tyranid Harpy Conversion

Here are some picks of my Harpy Conversion, which was very simple to achieve. Using the Carnifex kit, I just chopped off the front carapace pipes and replaced with some GW Dragon Wings. The base of the dragon wings needed to be cleaned up a little to fit, with the addition of green stuff around the joint.

If you are wondering what's going on with my Base, I'll be painting this to look like an "Alien" Landscape. I glued some googly eyes from Michaels craft store with a little green stuff around the base. Once painted, you wont be able to tell it was a googly eye. :) I also glued some long grain rice around, which I will paint to look like larva.

Magnetized Hunter killer missiles & Las TL Plasma conversion

I made some quick easy brackets to magnetize my Hunter killer missiles. This makes them easy to keep track of once used. Just pull them off. I scratch made the bracket because the supplied bracket doesn't have a whole lot of room for a magnet, and I usually use them for the other options.

Bracket is made of 1/8" thick plastic card (same thickness as the magnets)
I mark off a square a little larger then the magnet for the base and a rectangle for the stand that the HKM will be glued too.

Drill a hole in the base, the same size as the magnets

Cut out the pieces

Glue the stand to the base with plastic glue, so they are perpendicular 

glue the HKM's to the assembled bracket

drill a hole in your tank where ever you want to put them, put a magnet in the tank and in the bottom of the bracket with super glue. 

Here's a couple Rhino's and a Razor back with a Twin link Plasma gun.

For the twin link Plasma gun I used Plasma guns that came with the space wolves sprues. I cut off the grips, drilled small holes to match the mount, then put a small piece of plastic card between the two to make them match up. 

Must have Unit

Hands down, Terminators! Ever since 1st edition of Space Hulk came out, I have been in love with the marines in Tactical Dreadnought armor. The very thought of these walking tanks in deep space gunning down aliens really appealed to me. And it just so happened that I was concurrently obsessed with everything to do with "Alien" (the first two movies, toys, comics, you name it) at the time. Needless to say, I like to include terminators in my army lists, even though they do not always perform as well as I would like. Below is a gallery of some of my models from the newest to the very early ones.

Space Wolf: Lone Wolf. I converted his wolf claw into a chainfist. using a chainsword with the teeth cut off on one side.

Some work in progress Space Wolves (Arjac in the middle).

Chaos Space Marine: Sorcerer of Chaos (HQ). Pink Terminator!!!! I think it is paticularly demeaning to my loyalist buddy when he faces these candy coated termies.

Though not technically terminators, more like terminators x10. Which is how much I love them....

Space Knights: This is my made up chapter (he's not quite finished) Gotta love the Black Reach set.

More Pink termies (unfinished)!!! I really like the pose of this guy. we need more plastic chaos lightning claws!

Opening the vaults now.....

Ok, this guy isn't supposed to be pink. My early attempt at blending red (came out kinda pink) Supposed to be a Blood angel.

More early paint jobs. These guys are gonna get the Dawn Paint remover treatment soon, and be converted to Space wolves.

My first Terminator.

Today is a good day to die!

Lone wolf ready to seek a glorious death! 

They did not make storm shields for right hands! Took a bit of chopping and swapping.