Arakeen Sandworm

[thenightgaunt]

I\'ve allways been a bit...overzealous when it came to picking up projects.
My most recent work is a scale sandworm based off of the \'80s movie adaptation of Frank Herbert\'s Dune.
http://pics.livejournal.com/thenightgaunt/pic/0000gw7t
I know it looks like crap but I don\'t want to post anything good until I\'m finished. This pic is from really early in the project (around step 5. I\'m now at step 11) before I added the segments, the mouth\'s interior, and sanded it down.

I used Super Sculpy and wiremesh for the bulk of it and Green Stuff to fill the cracks after I cooked it.
Now my plan is to make a mold of it and cast it with resin. The problem is that the model has alot of annoying undercuts in the mouth and I\'ve only worked with rigid molds in the past (plaster, supercal, etc).
Though I\'ve cast everything from plaster to latex to hotglue (a great soft medium).

So I need some mold making advice regarding soft molds. If anyone could suggest a good material for the mold or how to use it I\'d be greatfull.

Also, with soft molds, can you use the classic 2-part clamshell mold or do you have to go with just a single \"pop the form out\" mold.

UPDATE: Have finished painting the worm.

 

[freakinacage]

i know nothing about molds but i would like to say that it looks pretty cool! oh, and post more up to date pix NOW!!

 

[thenightgaunt]

Sure. These are the most recent pics. It still needs more clean up and work before I\'d even be ready to make a mold.

http://pics.livejournal.com/thenightgaunt/pic/0000hx0g

http://pics.livejournal.com/thenightgaunt/pic/0000kc43

The teeth will probably be added to the final version (ie: the one I cast from the mold). I\'m also working on some riders, but I can\'t stop cursing Green Stuff. I can never get it to the right consistancy or get rid of the thumbprints. I\'m hoping that ProCrete\'ll work out better.

 

[freakinacage]

he he i din\'t think you\'d be that quick!

i love procreate. if you have any problems with it sticking to other bits, try adding a little greenstuff to make it stickier. looks great

 

[BaT]

muah deep muah deep...

Sorry, couldn\'t help it!

I cast a miniature round vase years ago. It was a basic straight vase. No big curves or fancy details. I made a mold of the outside of the vase with latex, and then made a solid latex mold of the inside shape. I filled the bottom of the outer mold with a bit of plaster (I think it was plaster...darn memory), let it set up for a bit, poured more plaster in, and then squished my center mold into the outer mold. When the plaster was set the whole thing was easily popped and slightly twisted apart. I ended up with almost what I wanted, but with a bit of fixing it came out ok. Something along those lines might work for your worm. Or, you wanted to cast him solid, and I am waaaay off base....

There are some much better directions and links to places to buy molding materials here:

http://www.hirstarts.com/moldmake/moldmaking.html#spike

I hope any of that helps! Good luck!

 

[No Such Agency]

Hmm, something that big almost looks like it would require a fiberglass-supported rubber mold - a technical challenge of another order!

 

[philologus]

Very nice work. One question though, if you have riders you\'d have to do a full length, above the sand version, as the worm\'s couldn\'t \"dive\" with the Kiswa maker hooks in their ring segments. I can\'t wait to see this done though, I love how it looks thus far.

 

[vincegamer]

great idea and it\'ll scare the crap out of any gamer you meet when you drop that on the table.

 

[thenightgaunt]

Originally posted by philologus
Very nice work. One question though, if you have riders you\'d have to do a full length, above the sand version, as the worm\'s couldn\'t \"dive\" with the Kiswa maker hooks in their ring segments. I can\'t wait to see this done though, I love how it looks thus far.

True, it wouldn\'t be realist to the genre (well, otherwise it\'d just be the shortest ride ever) but it\'d look cool. Plus, technically, a ridable worm would be too big of a project (min 2 times the width, and about 6 feet long).
Though I doubt I\'d stick a rider on for the final version. I just want to use Fremen as my model when I try my hand at sculpting regular minis.

 

[Mason]

I can\'t wait to see this thing with teeth.

 

[philologus]

Originally posted by thenightgaunt

Originally posted by philologus
Very nice work. One question though, if you have riders you\'d have to do a full length, above the sand version, as the worm\'s couldn\'t \"dive\" with the Kiswa maker hooks in their ring segments. I can\'t wait to see this done though, I love how it looks thus far.

True, it wouldn\'t be realist to the genre (well, otherwise it\'d just be the shortest ride ever) but it\'d look cool. Plus, technically, a ridable worm would be too big of a project (min 2 times the width, and about 6 feet long).
Though I doubt I\'d stick a rider on for the final version. I just want to use Fremen as my model when I try my hand at sculpting regular minis.

I would love to see some fremen minis. I have wanted someone to make some for a long-time. Are you going to do the 80\'s version of still-suits?

 

[thenightgaunt]

It's been a while but I finally got back to this project. I've made a mulipart mold for the worm (inner layer of latex with an outer layer of hydrocal) and it came out great but now I have a problem.

I can't get the latex layer to stick to the plaster mold for casting. Any advice on how to do this? I could just glue the latex mold into the plaster one, but I'm worried that it would ruin the mold for any castings beyond the initial.

 

[PegaZus]

Rubber cement?

 

[thenightgaunt]

Rubber cement?

I'm concerned that 1. It won't bond to the plaster well, or 2. It will bond too well and permanently glue the latex layer to the plaster shell.

What I really need is something like that rubber goopy stuff they use to stick together fold-in pages in a magazine. The stuff that resembles those gooey rubber wall crawler toys. Something that won't bond permanently but will keep the latex stuck to the plaster (well, really hydrocal) shell for a few hours.
Though if rubber cement would do just that I'd be all for it since I have a ton of the stuff around.

Also, when casting with a Urathane Resin and a latex mold do I need to use a release agent on the mold first? If so any recommendations?

 

[Meph]

*thump*thump*thump*thump*thump*

Worm sign!!!



Signed up and eagerly awaiting some pics!

 

[QuietiManes]

Um, well, you can get sprayable fixatiff, re-positionable mount spray, etc. Spray glues that don't quite set, so you can pull the items apart, generally used for spray painting masks.

Then there's stuff like Blu-tac, sticky gum stuff used to hang pictures on the wall. Releases fairly easy, holds fairly well, if not enough hold just use more.

Another option is hot glue. It would hold fast, I'd think. Heat it up to release, with a heat gun or put it in the oven on a low temp. It might even just pop off if you peel it apart.

Last thing I can think of, would be water soluble white glue. Might take forever to detach though, soaking it in water until the glue dissolves...after waiting a day or so for it to dry before casting...

 

[PegaZus]

I'm concerned that 1. It won't bond to the plaster well, or 2. It will bond too well and permanently glue the latex layer to the plaster shell.

What I really need is something like that rubber goopy stuff they use to stick together fold-in pages in a magazine. The stuff that resembles those gooey rubber wall crawler toys. Something that won't bond permanently but will keep the latex stuck to the plaster (well, really hydrocal) shell for a few hours.
Though if rubber cement would do just that I'd be all for it since I have a ton of the stuff around.

I had a look around, and the stuff for magazines is called fugitive glue. However, wikipedia's article said it sometimes comes as a latex based glue, so I would really worry if it would bond stronger than it should.

Thought just hit me. Wonder if some of that glue for Halloween masks would work.

Anyway, I think either glue would work, but your biggest problem is the plaster/hydrocal. I wonder if giving it a good coat of gloss varnish/paint would allow the tacky glue to work a bit better. I'm not sure of what exactly you're trying to glue, so won't offer an opinion on that.

Also, when casting with a Urathane Resin and a latex mold do I need to use a release agent on the mold first? If so any recommendations?

Not a clue on my side to give. Haven't really had any issues with any molding I've done, but they've all been silicone based molds.

 

[Bloodhowl]

Also, when casting with a Urathane Resin and a latex mold do I need to use a release agent on the mold first? If so any recommendations?

Usually a release agent is recommended, but these vary from type of mold and casting medium, from spray on or brush on release agents, to petroleum jelly, to talc. The resin you choose should have a recommendation. If it just says release agent, I would go with something like this:
http://www.micromark.com/rubber-to-resin-mold-release-12-oz,8156.html

 

[thenightgaunt]

I had a look around, and the stuff for magazines is called fugitive glue. However, wikipedia's article said it sometimes comes as a latex based glue, so I would really worry if it would bond stronger than it should.

Thought just hit me. Wonder if some of that glue for Halloween masks would work.

Anyway, I think either glue would work, but your biggest problem is the plaster/hydrocal. I wonder if giving it a good coat of gloss varnish/paint would allow the tacky glue to work a bit better. I'm not sure of what exactly you're trying to glue, so won't offer an opinion on that.


Not a clue on my side to give. Haven't really had any issues with any molding I've done, but they've all been silicone based molds.

Oh, spirit gum! That might just be perfect for the job and nether the hydrocal nor the latex should have any problems with either the spirit gum or with alcohol used to dissolve it. Thanks. And thanks to everyone for all the help. At this point I'm just waiting for the gallon or resin I ordered to show up in the mail.

 

[thenightgaunt]

Bit of an update here.

The casting went so-so. Things learned:

1. Latex and plaster molds aren't good for casting with urethane resin (smooth-on smooth cast 300. good stuff), as when the resin heats up it's bound to cause the latex mold/skin to expand a little causing bumps and indentations in the final product. In the future I intend to jut put the $$ down and buy some silicon rubber for the mold (the overall molding cost went pretty high and it would have been cheaper to go silicon rubber).

2. All the adhesives recommended here fail with bonding plaster/hydrocal to latex except for Vaseline (just sticky enough to be perfect) and surprisingly I had some success with honey. Just some store bought honey. Though the downside was that the plaster will eventually absorb the honey.

So anyway the mold died in the casting process so I only have the one resin worm now (better then nothing). I'll post pics later on.