Twenty-six grams

Well, this resin casting lark is a piece of cake - I can't see what I was ever worried about. ;)

I have started casting myself some of the APCs, but first things first. I was as careful as I could be while I removed the master from the mould, but I still managed to tear a small section. I think there was a fine gap between the hull and the plastic card base, and this allowed a small amount of rubber to get into that space. When I lifted the master out, it tore a tiny section of the mould out as well, so one of the axle stubs has a flaw beside it - indicated by the knife-blade.



Anyway, I cleaned up the mould, removing the wax and generally tidying up the edges, and then I tried a casting.

I measured the size of the void I wanted to fill, and I mixed up a little resin. A very little resin. Twenty-two grams of resin, to be precise. Fortunately I went and got a set of electronic scales from Tesco at the weekend, so I can get this accurately mixed up. I mixed, I poured, I realised that twenty-two grams may be precise, but it's precisely wrong. It's slightly shallow, but probably usable... or maybe I'll just keep it for posterity.


Anyway, since then I have cast another four APCs; twenty-six grams of resin is the correct amount to fill the mould and have just enough resin left over to make the hatch. It takes about 15-20 minutes to mix and pour the resin, wait for it to bloom and cool, remove it from the mould and clean up for another run. Not bad... and they are all small and solid enough that I don't have any problems with warping and flexing.

Final stage - attach some wheels to the hulls...


I have to say that I'm well chuffed with the way this has come out.

Making the mould...

And this is where it gets scary - making a mould from my lovingly-crafted master. I have stuck the masters to a piece of plastic card; my assumption is that I want a flat surface so that when I have poured the resin, I can run a blade across the top while it's still wet to ensure I have a flat bottom and minimal sanding after removal. I hope.


I popped the plastic card into a lego frame, and filled the gaps around the edge with wax. Then sprayed with mould release.


And mix and pour the RTV101 rubber from Tiranti. I am slightly worried about the number of bubbles surfacing, but I have knocked, tapped and jogged it as much as I can to try to get them all to surface. I will pop it out of the mould tomorrow... watch this space :)

Back to the 15s

As I said a couple of posts ago, I have an awful lot of spare wheels for my 15mm APCs. Well, here is the initial work on the hull; created from a cut-down Rhino, with the detail all removed and sanded back to a block of resin. Everything has been added with plastic rod, tube and sheets except the stowage boxes, which are the originals, removed with a razor saw and turned sideways. I still need to make a turret and a hatch for the top of the hull so that it can be an APC or an IFV.

I would say there's another evening's work in making the master with some greenstuff to fill gaps, then I can have a go at making an RTV mould and doing some resin casting - not something I have ever tried before, so wish me luck!

Update:


Here are some comparison pictures between Brigade Model's 6mm version of the Wildebeest and my 15mm version. The hatch is made from plastic card and tube and a KV2 return roller for the hatch doors themselves; the wheels just press-fitted onto the axle stubs. Though I say it myself, it's looking pretty good. Next I have to make the alternative turret...

Laying down the groundwork

Well, it's been a while, but the Bank Holiday weekend has given me a chance to make a mat to go under those buildings, as well as doing a bit of real-scale gardening. The mat is from Antenociti, the layout is drawn out with masking tape.



Then I painted it in with household emulsion paint and a sponge - I still need to add white lines to the road, but I haven't decided on left- or right-hand driving yet.



Finally, cut to size (6'x4'), add terrain, and play. The barricades go across roads at an angle, the buildings fit into the grid, and things like the craters drop over the top of everything. I will grab a couple of brown spray-cans and messy-up the surface from a distance once the lines are on, and that should be it.

I reckon I still need another two 6"x12" ruins, and probably a 6"x6" tower to go in the eye of the roundabout. Overall this was cheap, easy and quick... ticks all my boxes!