It's carried by Green Stuff World (www.greenstuffworld.com )and comes in semi translucent blue bars. It feels like hot glue sticks. I didn't know how much I would need so I bought a few packs. It doesn't go bad, and can be used over and over.
The last time I checked, you can only get it from GreenStuff World in the UK. But shipping is really quick these days.
Blue Stuff works by heating the material. Boil some water then take the pot off the stove or out of the microwave, then put a stick into the water. The compound will be soft in 2 or 3 minutes. Carefully pull it from the very hot water and then start to knead it. From there you can impress something into it. The Blue Stuff cools very quickly and a mold is made.
For my application, 1/72 model kits are notoriously short of pilots. So once I found one, I put the Blue Stuff into very hot water, got it soft and then kneaded it into a pillow shape. I then pressed the pilot into the material trying to have it tight to the pilot's sides about 1/2 way up.
 |
| Note registration pins |
If I was making a one sided mold, that's all I would have to do. But because a pilot needs front and back I made registration holes along the edge. This will allow me, once the mold is complete, to line up both halves without problems.
From there I heated another stick of Blue Stuff and repeated the process making sure, to the best I could, that the Blue Stuff made contact with all parts of the figure. Now just let it cool.
Unlike a regular silicone mold that you see for making resin parts, this does not need a mold release. I just made sure there was a lip on one side to help me separate the parts once cooled.
From there's it's time to make the pilot. I mixed up a little batch of Aves putty and pressed it into one part of the mold leaving enough raised to make contact with the 2nd half of the Blue Stuff. I put the 2nd half on making sure the registration pins lined up. Then gently pressed. You want to press hard enough for the clay or whatever to keep in contact with the mold halves, but not too much that you're bending the mold.
Because it's very hard to "just put enough" clay or whatever into the mold, you *will* have some flash to carve off. I used a sharp Xacto blade. Be careful!
Giving the Aves time to dry I opened the mold and found the Aves still wet! It turns out that I discovered (after talking to the Co.) that whatever is in Aves reacts to whatever is in the Blue Stuff. You will need to use either Miliput or Greenstuff. I've used both with success. As you see in the image the pilot is green, and turned out more or less ok for a first try.
On subsequent tries I found for better detail on the front of the pilot to put him face down into the first half of the mold. This is the part you will see, and who cares if the back of him didn't cast well. Only you will know. ;)
Another plus is that The Stuff is reusable, If you need only one part then just reheat it, and push something else into it. I want to keep my WW2 pilot mold, and have actually made another for a modern jet pilot. So I'm good to go having my plane models "in the air" with out the empty cockpit look.
So try some out. You know you could always use an extra ammo box, jerry can or life preserver.
No comments:
Post a Comment