A little of what you Fantasy

[Andy Belsey]

Great work John! I love the vibrancy of this. And nothing's stolen. We share techniques to inspire and help each other. That's why I'm here anyway!
Andy

[minitnkr]

The colors, the details, the whimsy, the action, you've got it all going here John. Outstanding. Savage Mouse reminds me of Wee Forest Folk sculpts. PaulE

[Mickc1440]

This is stunning work John

[Peter Gillson]

The trees fits in really well, a nice composition.

[Guest]

John,
Only one word - Yes!
Mike.

[wotan]

Your kind comments are really appreciated and I am having lots of fun playing with new techniques etc etc.

I know some of you are already expert at this but for me casting has always been a dark art. Having looked at a number of fantasy based sites I saw that casting paving floors, walls etc etc was very common. So although I don't know what I am going to do with this yet I thought I would give it a go, and provide a simple SBS for anyone who wants to try the same experiments. I decided to try to cast a section of rough stone wall.

Step one involved cutting a 1cm thick sheet of insulation foam, and then cutting it into rough stone shaped blocks. I sanded off the edges to give a worn look and stuck them together with white glue to form a basic wall. I then took a sharp knife and cut this in half along the long axis and stuck both halves to a piece of firm card, Step 2. This was given a coat of acrylic sealer and a thin coat of Gesso just to protect it.



I found some quick set silicone mould making putty in my local art store, Photo 4 shows the stuff I found. This comes in two parts, and like miliput etc you simply mix the two putties together to form the quick set moulding stuff. I smothered my rough wall with this mixture. Now this stuff takes about 10 minutes to set so you need to work fast.



After 10 minutes I peeled the mould off the original and voila! a rubbery mould ready to go. Step 5. I then made two casts from this mould the first in Hydrocal (like plaster of paris) and the second in quick set resin mix.



I think the result is very acceptable in both cases. The hydrocal version is probably cheaper to make than the two part resin mix.
I intend to continue casting these sections then to create some kind of house or castle etc by simply sticking them together maybe on a light cardboard backing. Notice that with the form I have made they fit together top to bottom, end to end and you can turn each casting in any direction so that the finished wall does not appear too repetetive.

I hope this is useful to someone.

John

[scottie3158]

John,
very simple but effective.

[Guest]

Very fine work John, and becoming a mega-production!

[papa 695]

Just caught up John, some very impressive work so far.

[rtfoe]

Vibrant it is John needed shades for the bus. You've put some of the real gardeners to shame with your instant garden. Nice production line on your stone casting.

Cheers,
Richard

[wotan]

Thanks one and all.

Been getting carried away with casting building components. I think I have nearly every thing for at least the first storey,



Fun Fun Fun

John

[Guest]

John...you are showing how many work there is behind a diorama. A magnificent diorama!
Excellent build so far.

[wotan]

Thanks for hanging in there Polux

First floor built and primed. Very happy how this came out, and learned lots about casting buildings along the way.





This is another Fantasy Cliche..... The Inn....

John

[JR]

Wow from here, Mrs R complemented you on the garden said it looked real, :nerd::thumb2::thumb2::thumb2: praise indeed John .
Thanks for the SBS, you make it look so easy !
The other John .

[Guest]

Your kind comments are really appreciated and I am having lots of fun playing with new techniques etc etc.

I know some of you are already expert at this but for me casting has always been a dark art. Having looked at a number of fantasy based sites I saw that casting paving floors, walls etc etc was very common. So although I don't know what I am going to do with this yet I thought I would give it a go, and provide a simple SBS for anyone who wants to try the same experiments. I decided to try to cast a section of rough stone wall.

Step one involved cutting a 1cm thick sheet of insulation foam, and then cutting it into rough stone shaped blocks. I sanded off the edges to give a worn look and stuck them together with white glue to form a basic wall. I then took a sharp knife and cut this in half along the long axis and stuck both halves to a piece of firm card, Step 2. This was given a coat of acrylic sealer and a thin coat of Gesso just to protect it.

[ATTACH]329709[/ATTACH]

I found some quick set silicone mould making putty in my local art store, Photo 4 shows the stuff I found. This comes in two parts, and like miliput etc you simply mix the two putties together to form the quick set moulding stuff. I smothered my rough wall with this mixture. Now this stuff takes about 10 minutes to set so you need to work fast.

[ATTACH]329710[/ATTACH]

After 10 minutes I peeled the mould off the original and voila! a rubbery mould ready to go. Step 5. I then made two casts from this mould the first in Hydrocal (like plaster of paris) and the second in quick set resin mix.

[ATTACH]329711[/ATTACH]

I think the result is very acceptable in both cases. The hydrocal version is probably cheaper to make than the two part resin mix.
I intend to continue casting these sections then to create some kind of house or castle etc by simply sticking them together maybe on a light cardboard backing. Notice that with the form I have made they fit together top to bottom, end to end and you can turn each casting in any direction so that the finished wall does not appear too repetetive.

I hope this is useful to someone.

John

John,
One word of advice, if you are going to do multiple castings then use a release agent, it can be a brush on or a spray can, I prefer to brush as more control. But once you have worked your magic on the walls i am sure they will fit in. Mike.