No, Hirst Arts. Just...no.

[H.M.Gimlord]

Thanks BotE. I'm thinking of filling it a quarter way with that table varnish stuff that Bruce recommended, along with some (a very small amount) of green food coloring.

Another alternative is to line the floor with the portcullis bottoms and put spikes in it .

I'm noticing, though, that the 1":5' scale is a little constrictive. I've been told it's better to model at 1":3.5'.

I'll post the second encounter soon. It's about 3/4 of the way glued together (not painted yet). I need some skeletons that are at MOST 1":6' scale. D&D minis are too big to fit in the coffins. If all else fails, I'll sculpt something.

 

[frankthedm]

Coolminiornot.com recently released a product called "instantmold" that is very helpful for making molds.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub70AU5RfmI]YouTube - Introducing Instant Mold[/ame]

Some are saying it is a different product repackaged with a gamer markup however.

Instant Mold - WarSeer
DakkaDakka - Warhammer 40K Forums - Crazy new press molding material/product - Comparable products list added page 1

It seems similar to Friendly Plastic {except FP isn't nonstick] and Oyumaru [which recommends Baby oil as release agent].

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz8FwUEFMzY]YouTube - Oyumaru Modelling Compound[/ame]

 

[kitsune9]

As someone with a tight budget, who has also bought Hirst Art molds, let me chime in and say that the molds will last long enough to make the initial investment worthwhile. I have several of his molds and they are as good today as when I bought them (about seven years ago). I have used them for my children's school projects, vacation Bible School crafts, and, of course, minature war gaming. The $35 seems like a lot but he's likely only going to sell them to you once.

The real investment with them is time, as building any large projects takes many, many plaster pourings with each cast taking approximately 40 minutes to an hour to complete.

Now, with that being said, you can actually, I understand, make your own molds (in fact instructions for doing so are on the Hirst aRts page iirc). You just need to by the material and have an original piece you want to pour around. But I suspect you will find the buy in to making your own molds just as expensive as buying the molds and plaster (which is why I haven't done it myself.)

I agree with Wicht here. I bought molds from Hirst Arts years ago and they still last to this day.

The only alternative I can suggest is for you to take foam board or similar materials and cut out your own tiles, etc. However, I only recommend this to people who have some skill in doing their own art projects. If you're like me, the $35 investment also produces excellent looking projects too instead of craptacular DIY cutouts.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

First off - if you need something like the Hirst molds then they are worth every penny. Really, you can produce some wonderful stuff, and hydrocal is pretty cheap. When you average things out the price of mold and models drops by a lot.

Heck, given that there is a GM screen that is selling for $150 that could be done, better, with Hirst molds.... Make one screen and there's your money back, right there!

If you don't need the Hirst molds then pricing them is silly. Aside from very expensive GM screens it is going to take a while to recoup your investment.

Another option, one that I used back in 1981, is the Linka[/i] system. Cheaper and simpler than Hirst, each mold creates an entire wall at a time. Thinner pieces, less flexible, but easier to use.

The Auld Grump

 

[WizarDru]

Here are some of the examples of stuff we've used in our games. This design only required on Hirst Art mold to create (and one afternoon to cast, another to paint...mostly due to drying times).

Barakus (from 3E):

This one required the addition of a door mold:

Taken further, you get this:

This was made, iirc, with 3 or 4 molds. One of the molds was just for specialty pieces.

This was accomplished by my wife with some crayola plasticine material:

It looks EXACTLY like the picture from the 3E MM3.

This was part of 'The Senate', a colloseum on my players created for a battle. It's made of foam board:

Here it is from another angle. There are four identical pieces. They combine to form the Senate.

And here it is in actual play:

 

[the Jester]

Hey [MENTION=151]WizarDru[/MENTION], which mold was the one that you used (mostly)? Is it #60 again?

This thread is inclining me towards buying a mold and some paints and glue and seeing what I can do. I fear that I'll end up never using it, but I think one good success would really motivate me pretty well- and it looks pretty easy, albeit time-consuming.

 

[H.M.Gimlord]

[MENTION=151]WizarDru[/MENTION]: How did you do the curved walls? Was that a tower mold, or did you wrap the #70 Mold around a can?

 

[H.M.Gimlord]

OK. Update on Kobold Hall.

The second encounter was designed to hook right up to the first for flow. Once the previous room is finished use, then the new level can be added with minimal interruption. The previous level can be used to give a sense of continuity, or it can be removed to save space.[sblock=Pic]

[/sblock]
I decided to go ahead and cover the cloisters where the dart traps are hidden. That way you can reveal the map without revealing the trap. If the players see the suit of armor, they will immediately know something is up, but since you have to bend over and look in, it makes the trap a little more subtle.[sblock=Pic]

[/sblock]Once the trap is sprung, the top of the cloister can be removed for more accessible play.[sblock=Pic]

[/sblock]You'll also notice that the coffins are really more like sarcophagi inset in the floor. I'll be covering them with a two-floor-tile, and the mold compound advertised in the post above gives me an idea. I can make a bas-relief of my metal knight (pictured above). Then I'll lay the relief on top of the two-tile coffin cover to make a decorative top. After that I'll smash them to make them look violated .

 

[WizarDru]

Hey [MENTION=151]WizarDru[/MENTION], which mold was the one that you used (mostly)? Is it #60 again?

[MENTION=151]WizarDru[/MENTION]: How did you do the curved walls? Was that a tower mold, or did you wrap the #70 Mold around a can?

I didn't actually do those, one of my players did. I'll check with him and get back to you.

 

[H.M.Gimlord]

Now I've finished the second cloister and the dais.
[sblock=Pic]

[/sblock]I also tried my hand at casting the bas-relief for the sarcophagus covers. I used the 1/2" flat tiles for the cover slab because the fieldstone tiles were just too "busy". My son got these cast-metal knights from the art museum gift shop, and they were perfect for this. I used modeling clay for the molds just because I was impatient. I wouldn't recommend doing this. It gets little pieces of plaster in the clay (very annoying). [sblock=blurry pic, but you get the idea]

[/sblock]The second cloister, like the first, is removable. Since I did this on 4E scale, the 1" corridors became a problem again. I made a 1/2" wall part of the removable cloister cover so that minis would fit (much like I did with the first map). [sblock=pic]

[/sblock]Here's the map with both the covers off[sblock=pic]

[/sblock]As you can guess, this map is ginormous. I only have three molds: #260, #70, & #71. There are over 130 1" floor tiles, which means I needed to pour, pound, scrape, set, dry and glue at least 13 casts just to make this map (not including the painted one before). I've got a day job, a wife, and two children (8 &10). Needless to say I won't get around to painting it until next weekend, and even then, it might take another week to finish it . But the process is enjoyable...almost therapeutic.

I'm cheap too. I didn't buy the "Octagonal Fieldstone" molds just for the dais. I didn't think it would be worth it just yet. All the same, I didn't glue it to the floor, just in case I change my mind.[sblock=pic]

[/sblock]Here's both maps together[sblock=pic]

[/sblock]