25 May 2010

15mm Terrain - Early Test Casts

Greetings all,

This week I've had a chance to attempt some test casts from the terrain rapid prototypes! I snapped a few pics alongside some undercoated Rebel Minis Titan Marines for scale (and because that's the army who will use these in my own games!)



These were simple one-part molds, so the bottom detail wasn't captured. The final production pieces will have two-part molds, so the bottoms of the buildings will be much cleaner. What amazed me is how much detail the silicone I used captured... I had no idea the texture from the 3d printing would cast so well! I am going to sand a couple of the test pieces down to smooth surfaces, leave a couple more with the texture, and see how they both look when they are painted. If the smooth version looks better, I will make sure the final production models are cast in that style.


The barricades, on the other hand, look terrible in this picture. But don't fear! Rather than the actual poured RTV molds, these were done with "quick putty" silicone. This is basically silly putty that dries semi-solid, which means it has quite a few air bubbles and "smoosh" joints in the finished product. The production molds for the barricades will be FAR better quality than these, and I will post those test pieces by this weekend as well.



These "quick putty" casts for the barricades are simply a way for me to see how they look en masse, and try to get an idea of how I want to package the starter sets.

Stay tuned for more updates!


Chris

3 comments:

  1. These look awesome! I may have to start a 15mm army in order to enjoy them!

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  2. Thanks for the compliments! Brother V: don't be scared to take the plunge - the water is clean and not too deep. You can easily buy an entire 15mm army for the same price as a Marine tactical squad. And the miniatures that have come out over the past 18 months are just outstanding.

    Chris

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