Greenstuff Press Mould - Helmet Crest - Betrayal at Calth

When I looked at the picture I was using as reference to paint up my Sons of Horus test marine I noticed his helmet crest was very similar to the one found on the Captain Sicarius metal model, which I have, in that instant I knew I could use it to make a greenstuff mould. The difference this time is that it needed to be a double sided mould.

There are two ways to approach this:

1) Use a single piece of greenstuff, wrap it around the item and press together, then when dry cut open.
2) Use two pieces of greenstuff and cast half the mould at a time.

I decided for the second option.

I prepared a rough block of greenstuff and pressed the item into the mould about halfway, left it to dry. Once dry I prepared a second block of greenstuff and repeated the process to the other side. I used olive oil as the non stick agent and applied to the item and the mould so the they would not stick to each other. Once that was dry I had my mould in two halves.

Now for the test, I prepared some greenstuff, used the oil as the non stick agent and pressed it into the one half of the mould and pressed the second part on top, left it to dry and amazingly it worked very well.

Highly recommended, although this probably wont work for every part you may want to replicate but give it a try.

Vitor

Betrayal at Calth - Cataphractii Backpack Conversion - Greenstuff Mold - Painted

All I wanted to see with this experiment was could it be done and what did it look like. I didn't want to spend hours to find out it looks terrible and have to clean the entire mini to salvage it. Total time spent was about 15 min excluding paint and greenstuff drying time.

I glued the cut out backpack piece to the terminator back and filled in any gaps with more greenstuff.

Once dry I gave the back a quick prime with black and followed that with a layer of Leadbelcher.

Next a wash with black and a quick red and blue layer of paint with a edge highlight and all done.

The experiment was successful, the one mould is better than the other due to higher detail captured but once painted not too bad.


The next step in this process is to add my Puppets War shoulder pads.

Finally the leg additions similar to what Ron did at From the Warp.

Vitor.

Betrayal at Calth - Cataphractii Backpack Conversion - Greenstuff Mold

I have been wanting to utilize this reusable mold I have had in my hobby box for a while now and this seemed like the best opportunity to try it out.

I love the Cataphractii Terminators backpack detail, they are so much better than the 40k versions. I took my reusable mold and soaked in in almost boiling water for a few minutes then mashed it around the  Cataphractii Terminators backpack, the first mold was a bit hard so I left the second one a bit longer in the hot water and it was much softer and seemed to get into the detail better.

Once it was dry I filled the two molds with greenstuff.

Left to dry and looked at the results.

Not bad for what took a short time. The one on the left was the result from the harder mold, it came out slightly less detailed than the one on the right which stayed in the hot water for longer.

I will now convert them onto to 40k Terminator to see what they look like complete
.

Vitor

30k - Pre Heresy - Night Lords - Coversion - Finished

The finished model, I am really glad the wing sculpt on the shoulder pad looks good painted. I was concerned the greenstuff looked a bit suspect in areas.

The other part of my goal, the skull on the helmet, also came out better than I was expecting and I think it adds a really effective, terror inspiring, look to the Nightlords. The lightning streaks on the armour gave me some pause for thought as well, you naturally want to cover the model with them but in the end a few well placed streaks looks much better.

I decided to use my Red Planet base made from ground black pepper and weathering pigment for the model as the red contrasts nicely with the blue armour.

Below is a very nice piece of art that fully encapsulated the Nightlords for me.

Let me know what you think as always.

Vitor

30k - Pre Heresy - Night Lords - Conversion - WIP

Made a start on painting my converted marine by priming the model with black.

The picture below is my inspiration for the final look and the skull painted onto the helmet is a key feature I want to replicate.

Next I painted the armour with silver.

I then started the glazing/wash process by applying a layer of Drankenhof Nightshade.

Followed by a second layer.

 Finally a third layer.

I cleaned up the details with their respective base colours.

I started with the base colour for the gold with a 50/50 mix of dark brown and gold. I painted the lightning streaks with a fine detail brush in light blue followed by white.

The skull face on the helmet was started with a base colour of brown.

I now just need to finished the final details.


Vitor

30k - Night Lords - Pre Heresy - Conversion

 

I have been more captivated by the Pre Heresy timeline than 40k for some time now and until just a few weeks ago, when the news on Betrayal at Calth broke, there was no plastic kit to build an army from in existence.

The picture below is what I am aiming for for a final product with the different backpack though. I really like the skull painted on the helmet and that was a definite detail to keep.

So I set about doing a conversion with an Assault on Black Reach marine. The conversion entailed a new head, chaos backpack with the chaos details removed and a partial greenstuff sculpt shoulder pad.

The shoulder pad was a bit fiddly, I used a skull then greenstuff sculpted wings on either side. Not perfect but once they are painted I hope they will look good.

Stay tuned to see the painted model.

Vitor

Luna Wolf Shoulder Pad - Greenstuff Sculpt - Hobby

 

This is the last of the hobby posts related to my Pre-Heresy Luna Wolf model. I wanted to push my greenstuff sculpting abilities and had a go at sculpting the shoulder pad icon from scratch.

Above is what the actual icon is.

I started by adding some greenstuff to the shoulder pad and working it into the crescent moon shape. Then let it dry completely.

Next I cut out the bottom where the wolf part of the icon overlaps the moon.

Then I added new greenstuff and carefully worked it into the wolf head shape, then added definition as I went along for the eyes and ears. I tried my best to keep the head small but that is the best I could manage.

It looks pretty rough but once painted up I think it came out pretty well. Of course I made a greenstuff press-mould of the pad so I could replicate is easily for any future models.

Never by scared of trying your hand at greenstuff, if it goes wrong just cut it off and start again.

Vitor

Wolf Tooth Necklace - Greenstuff Sculpt

On my Pre-Heresy Luna Wolf model I wanted to try my hand at many things, one of which was to sculpt a Wolf Tooth Necklace.

I started by rolling out my greenstuff into a very thin roll.

Then using a sharp hobby knife cut to the desired length and carefully attach to the model. In this case it was just the front of the marine as the back is obscured and wont be visible.

Now you have to let this cure before doing the Teeth. I didn't and it messed it up slightly as the necklace was flattened where I touched it by mistake.

Once it is dry properly, mix up some greenstuff and cut out some small pieces in triangle shapes, carefully attach to the places where you want the teeth to attach to the necklace, you can also make small indentations in the top of the teeth. Wait for it to cure properly. Now you can roll out some more greenstuff into a thin line and cut out very small pieces which will connect the teeth to the necklace and fit into the indentations you made in the teeth.

It is not easy and requires huge patience but worthwhile indeed. I few more and I will be getting much better results.

Don't be put off trying this out, if you don't like it you can remove easily enough without causing any damage to the model.

Vitor.

Fur Pelt Sculpt - Hobby 101

Using my fur test knowledge I applied the greenstuff to the appropriate area on the model, which in this case was over the shoulders and hanging down one side. I then used the back edge of my hobby knife to 'pull' down lines in the greenstuff to create the fur effect, starting from the top working my way down, remembering to change direction of the strokes to avoid a pattern forming. Allow to dry and paint.

The backpack is actually obscuring most of the fur pelt which was unintentional but it turned out very nice anyway.

Give this a try, it is actually very easy and you cant really mess it up.

Vitor

Luna Wolf Tactical Symbol - Press Mould - Hobby 101

 

The tactical marking on my Luna Wolf model was done using a greenstuff press mould. (follow the link for more detail on how to make a mould)

Place a small amount of greenstuff on the shoulder pad, use mould to press out the shape, clean up and allow to dry.

Once dry paint to your desired colour.

Use this technique on all sorts of bits you might use regularly in your conversions.

Vitor