No, Hirst Arts. Just...no.

frankthedm

First Post

• Apr 22, 2011

• #81

The person who suggested this was correct.

-Posted by Toomy @ Hirst Arts Casting Page
I've experimented with this and found that 3 parts plaster of paris mixed with 2 parts concrete will have almost the same durability as dental plaster

Click to expand...

I just tried it out tonight with Quikcrete & Plaster of paris. It also sets with the accelerated speed of dental plaster.

I almost had it set too soon because I added too much water and had to add more plaster to counterbalance, then had to open and pour from a new bag of sand for aggregate / filler. By the time I was using the back massager to vibrate the air bubbles out of the mold, it was losing most of its fluidity / movement.

The mold was allowed to set for 4 hours because it was CoD:Modern warfare 2 time. This was FAR more time than was needed.

After taking the barricades out of the mold I was surprised how durable they were already. While they could still be thumb scratched, they were already harder than concrete would be after it had been curing for a few days.

[MENTION=6588]pogre[/MENTION] Have you tried this mix yet?

 

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pogre

Legend

• Apr 24, 2011

• #82

frankthedm said:

[MENTION=6588]pogre[/MENTION] Have you tried this mix yet?

Click to expand...

frankthedm - I have not. You have me curious though. I'm on a bit of a modelling hiatus as I'm crazy busy, but I will give it a shot this summer. I really like the look of your barricades!

 

H.M.Gimlord

Explorer

• Apr 24, 2011

• #83

Alright! Room 3 is in production![sblock=Here is the floor layout WIP pic]

[/sblock]When I play this room, I'll rig the Skull-Skull rope on an actual scaffold, such that instead of rolling d20 to determine a hit, I'll line up the rock on the rope and let-er-fly! If the mini is hit, it will take damage and will slide to wherever the mini landed as a result of the impact. Pretty cool no?

I did some pythagorean calculations and came up with 7.25" as the optimal scaffold height. This allows a rope to suspend a rock that will reach floor level over the center of the pit, and barely clear the 2" wall at the northern edge of the map. I think the "Kill Zone" will be a little larger than in the DMG. Oh schade .

 

Last edited: Apr 24, 2011

frankthedm

First Post

• Apr 27, 2011

• #84

pogre said:

frankthedm - I have not. You have me curious though. I'm on a bit of a modeling hiatus as I'm crazy busy, but I will give it a shot this summer.

Click to expand...

Second warning, the mix sets fast. Maybe i didn't clean my mixing bucket enough from the last plaster-crete mix, but the last batch set while pouring the second of 3 trays. Or the seemingly quick set could just be I took too long getting the 4: plaster, 2: concrete, 6: sand & 3: water mixed together.

I added some extra water and re-stirred the mix to salvage the last bits, but casts from tray 3 are weak and brittle. I might crush the bad casts down for aggregate.

pogre said:

I really like the look of your barricades!

Click to expand...

Thanks, do want to mention though, the mold for them seem prone to warping slightly. Oddly, one colour, the darker blue hold up better than the aqua.

 

Last edited: Apr 27, 2011

frankthedm

First Post

• Apr 28, 2011

• #85

Here are both types of casts that Progressive ice tray can make. The chewed up ones are made when i forget to remove air bubbles with the back massager after pouring the cement / plaster.

Some have a black glue wash while others have a layer of grey latex pant.

~

img571.imageshack.us/img571/1950/jerseypainted.jpg
img585.imageshack.us/img585/408/jerseypaintedtop.jpg

 

Last edited: Apr 28, 2011

H.M.Gimlord

Explorer

• May 4, 2011

• #86

I'm back. Not much progress on room #3 of Kobold Hall, but I did manage to get the pit installed. Here are some pics showing how I did it. BTW: this is how I did it in room #1 too.[sblock=The Pit]Cutting out the pit is easier if you lay the floor tiles first:

Then, you cut out the foam, but don't stop at the edges. Undercut the floor tiles by at least 0.5 inches.

This makes it easier install the pit as a walled structure all at once.

[/sblock]As I've been doing this, I noticed that it's quite a challenge to get minis to stay on the stairs, so I created some scaffolds to help.[sblock=Stair platforms]My first try was pretty stable. It was made from three tile layers offset by 0.125 inches:

This was a bit big, though, and didn't allow the mini to stand in the square just in front of the stairs. The following design works well for that:

This design, though it holds up pretty well, sacrifices some stability. For example:

[/sblock]

 

frankthedm

First Post

• May 4, 2011

• #87

The stair-step looks great.

 

Holy Bovine

First Post

• May 4, 2011

• #88

frankthedm said:

Here are both types of casts that Progressive ice tray can make. The chewed up ones are made when i forget to remove air bubbles with the back massager after pouring the cement / plaster.

Click to expand...

IMO those chewed up ones look battle damaged. Which is awesome! Makes me want to experiment with some pock marked dungeon walls. My awesome wife got me 2 Hirst Arts molds (#60 Prison Tower and #260 Flagstone Floors) for my b-day!

 

frankthedm

First Post

• May 4, 2011

• #89

Getting the air bubbles can be tricky.

Use some aggregate like say, clean Play-Sand and pebbles to make a plaster mix that is very thick. Thicker than a good chili, thinner than chunky peanut butter.

Slop the mix on top of the mold carelessly, using a tool rather than gravity to get the mold to fill.

Another way to get battle damage is to put broken pieces of cured plaster in the mold, then fill the mold with an aggregate thickened mix. EDIT: once set, flick some, but not all of the broken plaster away and you'll have a good rough broken look.

Either way DON'T shake or vibrate the mold too much since that will reduce the air bubbles you are trying to get.

 

Last edited: May 5, 2011

AzgrymnThePale

First Post

• Jan 30, 2016

• #90

Finding Cheaper Alternatives

One thing I found that is a great place to find alternatives to miniature building is DM Scotty's page on Facebook. It is filled with gamers who come up with the cheapest alternatives to making great stuff that comes out really well most of the time. Check it out.

on Facebook... a group called:

DM Scotty's Crafts N' Games

One really cool thing I have found on the actual Hirst Arts site is that he explains in detail about designing your very own molds as well and how he does it, so he isn't just being an ass and trying to keep his secrets from anyone or anything, he is saying if anyone wants to do the work this is how, I respect that a great deal about that site. I'm contemplating the same thing right now, justifying paying for the molds. I have a $3,000 collection of Dwarven Forge and there is still plenty of things I would like to add, so I kind of want to create things myself, as well as possibly sell things. Which is another cool thing about Hirst Arts. You can sell the things you make, up to a point. If you are making a business out of it, you need to pay some royalties to the man, fair deal.