Misc: Silicone Moulds & Resin Casting, the Saga Begins (Kind Of)

Ammo from the Hasegawa 88s I previously built.*

* The observant might notice I've drilled out the ends of the spent shells.

Things have gotten a bit asynchronous, if that's a word? What with techy issues plaguing me, from Apple iStuff that holds charge for 2 seconds to Blogger updates that pout the kibosh on the workflow, things aren't as smooth as they might be.

Anyway, the result is that this post ought to precede the last one, but I can't be arsed, faffing about any more than I already have. So here it is. These pics and the accompanying text document the run-up to the previous post, where I poured my first few silicone moulds...

My two main mould forms, ready for the first pour.

I used rice to calculate the approx' volume of silicone I'd need.

Not using the scales yet, but I've marked two lines...*

* The thicker lower line is actual volume required; the thinner higher line allows for a little extra, just to be safe.

As can be seen, I built forms using foam-card and, for the two-part mould for all the scratch-built 88mm gubbins, embedded the parts in plasticene, with the added channels for vents/sprues. The ammo is purely for an experimental test moulding: can I reproduce stuff in a one-piece mould and get it all out on long single beam style 'sprues'? The 88mm bits, on the other hand, I'm intending to produce in small quantities, to detail my models.

I mixed the silicone in a disposable cup, and... gulp, poured it.

About two hours later, it looked like this... i.e. much the same!

I spent a fair bit of time after pouring the silicone tapping the forms, and popping air bubbles as they rose to the surface. This was kind of satisfying in the same way that dealing with blackhead can be (overshare?). I now had to wait, between 8 and 24 hours, to de-mould. I'd then be ready to pour a test batch of the ammo. But the 88mm bits and bats would need the second half of the mould pouring first.

Misc: Silicone Moulds & Resin Casting, the Saga Continues...

Two extra last-minute moulds...

The above photo shows my first two silicone moulds to be, er... de-moulded? Is that the right term? At left is my first attempt at an 88mm erdpfahl, or stake. That mould is one-piece, with a slit cut along it longitudinally, on top. In the centre is a repro of a German truck wheel. That is a two-piece mould, but made by cutting a one piece silicone mould in two laterally, around the circumference.

Both of these are purely experimental tests, not for 'production'. The erdpfahl, 'cause it's too crappy, and the wheel, because it's a copy of a commercially available model piece. Anything that I might plan to reproduce for actual use will have to be original, so as to not infringe on copyrights. But in terms of testing out the mould-making process, it's helpful to try out a complex shape with fine detail. In addition, both pieces, the erdpfahl and the wheel, have holes that pass though the whole piece. And I wanted to see how moulding and casting such things worked out in practice.

These two moulds were actually afterthoughts, made with leftover silicone - which had already been left an hour or more - from pouring the two larger moulds I'm making. I really wasnt sure if the silicone was too far gone already. But they appear to be usable, from a brief visual inspection. These moulds have been opened up after about 8-10 hours curing time. I'm going to leave the other larger moulds for the full 24 hours (the product recommends between 8-24 hours).

Tiny ill-formed moulds, made with leftover silicone.

I'm putting this post together without access to my iPhone - battery dead/charging, elsewhere! - on which I have most of the photos of all this process. So I might return to and amend this post, to show more of what I did. But here's a brief summary: The erdpfahl stake is scratch-built from styrene, the wheel comes from a kit, they're both 1/72. I used foam card and plastic (styrene) card to make forms, or enclosures, to hold the silicone. And on these two instances, I rather messily slopped the partially cured silicone into one side of a rectangular or near square form. I then placed this on a small foam card substrate, popped the piece I'm moulding into the silicone, and then plonked more of the blue goop on top. 

The silicone and resin moulding and casting set came with wooden spatulas, like oversized lollipop sticks. I used these to press the silicone and mummified parts into the form. These were then left overnight to cure, and freed from their forms this morning. The moulds needed tidying up a fair bit, as I'd made them in a very messy ad hoc way... the were after all afterthoughts/experiments. And finally I had to to cut into the silicone moulds in order to retrieve the cast objects. One cut along the top of the mould, from the pouring sprue/vent, for the stake, which I popped out by deforming the mould, and an all round lateral circular cut for the wheel (I'll also need to cut a pouring and possibly also an air-release vent for the latter). 

I also had to do some fiddly cutting inside the moulds to release both pieces, on account of the through-holes they both feature. After all this stretching and butchery, will these moulds produce usable castings? I'll have to have a try, and see. In the meantime, I'll try and add more pics from my phone, once that's back to life, and exercise patience re the larger pair of moulds.

Misc: DIY Static Grass Applicator

Basing my 54mm Napoleonics recently I realised that I may not have the proper tools to make best use of 'static grass'. So called - I believe? - because a static or electrical charge is meant to be imparted to the plastic fibres that constitute this fake grassy green stuff. This charge makes the fibres stand on end, thereby looking more like real grass, as if reaching skyward for a sun-fuelled chlorophyll fix.

I quickly discovered that commercial static grass applicators are ludicrously expensive, with decent one costing in the £80-120 range. My hopes were momentarily raised when I discovered some folk, both commercial and independent, suggesting a simple plastic bottle with pepper pot type apertures atop it, merely shaken about a bit, might produce the required static. I made one myself, and was quickly disabused as to the efficacy of this method. Or put more simply, it did'nae work for me!

I then watched this video, by the talented Luke Towan:

... and his gizmo certainly seems to work for him. But being a bit lazy and impatient, i.e. not wanting to go to the trouble of ordering all the components required, wait for them to arrive, etc, I sought and found another similar video. In this one, from the antipodean Dave's Model Workshop, an electronic fly swatter is the basis of the doodad, as opposed to Towan's completely bespoke design:

So I decided to try and hybridise these designs. I'd use the fly-swatter as suggested by Dave, but follow the overall design (shape/style) adopted by Luke. I got me down to Boyes, a handy and somewhat old-fashioned local department store, which had everything I needed bar crocodile clips. I got them from West End DIY, another very useful local store. The core parts: metal sieve, electric fly-swat, plastic tub with removable lid and croc' clips came in at under a tenner. Result! Or was it?

My DIY static grass applicator, alongside some test samples.

I certainly enjoyed buying the bits and building this gizmo. Doing a bit of working and soldering was great fun. But the key thing is, does it work? In order to find out, I did, as I had done previously with the 'shake-the-plastic-bottle' technique, a comparative experiment: one load of static grass was simply dropped on a base, by hand, whilst another was applied using my new applicator. 

Hmm, can't really tell?

The image above shows my first attempt. At left is the untreated grass. At right - and the giveaway is the metal pin in the cork, for attaching the croc'o'clip - is the gizmo applied grass. Alas, these areas are, I suppose, too small. They look pretty much identical to me. So I resolved to try the experiment again, but on a larger surface area. 

If anything the untreated grass at left looks more vertical.

This time I divided a bit of wood into two areas. I also used a slightly different mix for each area, to help visually differentiate them. Once again the untreated section is at left, and the treated section at right. The odd thing is that when the 'grass' comes out of the 'hopper' and through the sieve, it definitely feels much nicer and more efficient than when I sprinkle it by hand. The latter requires tons of grass to get coverage, resulting in lots of messy overspill and excess grass that needs to be removed.

But visually the result is either inconclusive again, or... dammit! Is the grass on the left more 'fluffed' up!? It does look that way to me, especially in the picture above. Many 'pro' static grass guys do multiple layers. And once again this entails using expensive products (this time a polyurethane spray adhesive). And the effect of the vertical static stacking is very cool. I'd like to try more layers, and see if my applicator helps.

Slightly different viewing angle. Yep, the left has it... damn!

But, truth be told, for all the effort, and even the admittedly minimal expense, I'm feeling a bit disappointed and deflated by how this project's turned out. I think what I'll do next is check if the electronics are working. Either with a multimeter or continuity screwdriver, or possibly by giving myself a twin AA battery induced shock. Hmmm?

---

In the end, with the power button depressed, I touched the crocodile clip to the sieve. There was a loud pop and a bright blue spark. Glad I didn't go the self induced shock route! So the tool works, as the charge is definitely flowing. Sooo... what now? I guess I need to try and devise a spray glue applicator? So I can try layering a bit more grass. I suppose a cheap spray bottle using a watered down PVA mix should work fine. I just need to be very sedulous in cleaning it out, or it'd get bunged up pretty sharp-ish I imagine. Time for a cuppa, methinks.

Misc: Started A New Blog!

The latest post at my new blog.

For years now I've been meaning to start a blog attached to my sebpalmer.com domain. That has been my illustration 'business' website for a long time now. But as I'm currently not doing much illustration, it's been laying dormant.

My illustration website, currently dormant.

I've long wanted to make that a more general website, with different pages for my various different interests and activities, such as my drum teaching and art, as well as the illustration. I also had a yen for making the blog attached to the website a WordPress one. Not exactly sure why? But I suppose learning to publish in both Google Blogger and WordPress just seemed sensible/attractive.

This blog's most recent post.

Actually it turned out that choosing to do it using WordPress contributed to the long delays getting set up and started. But I've finally made a start. Whereas I've blogged quite extensively in the Google platform, and have arrived at a style I'm currently happy enough with, the same foes not hold for WordPress. It'll doubtless be a while before I learn how to present that as I really want to.

The most recent post on my inactive music blog.

So, I now have three blogs: this one for my wargaming and mini-military hobbies, sebpalmer.com/blog for my all round personal and professional stuff, and sounds from the funky goat, another Google blog, dedicated to music, and currently inactive.

Misc: Shed Renovation

NB - Apologies for any formatting issues; Apple iOS blogging compatibility is pretty poor! Esp. when posting - as now - via iPhone or iPad.

Our new home has a very delapidated shed in the back garden. But rather than tear it down - we won't be able to afford a replacement for a good while yet - I decided to renovate and refurbish.

My rather primitive router set-up.

The first thing I started to work on were two new windows. Pictured above is my very simple router 'fence': timber clamped to the worksurface, with the wood to be routed screwed down! These first four cuts - the shorter uprights for the window frames - came out very nicely.

Routed uprights for my new DIY window frames. 

Next I removed the old door, which was rotten, and quite literally falling to pieces. I bought a 'new' door - solid wood (none of that horrid UPVC rubbish!) - from our local municipal dump, for £5! And collared a friendly local, asking them if they'd mind helping me get the door home. They agreed, kind souls!

I really love my little MX5, but it does present me with some logistical issues. I offered the old folks who generously helped me get the door back a fiver. But they wouldn't take it, and suggested instead that I give it to charity. Bless 'em! So I gave it to the poppy appeal guy at our local Sainsburys.

My £5 door, before surgery.

The lock and handles combo I bought wouldn't go into the pre-existing holes. Alas, my first attempt to reshape the area - rather foolishly without taking the door down - was an unmitigated disaster. I'd done this once before, when fitting new locks front and back, when we moved in. And I'd done it pretty well then, tho' I say it myself. This time it was godawful!

Oh dear! 

It was so appallingly bad - see above pic - I decided to start again using a block of waste wood that I found laying around, which appeared to be about the right size. What a bugger of a job it was, drilling and chiselling, and drilling and chiselling, and drilling and chiselling, and drilling and chiselling, and drilling and chiselling, and drilling and chiselling, and ... ad infinitum.

A chip or two (more like two thousand!) off the old block.

The lock in situ. Sans faceplate. 

Having done all this work, I then discovered that my lock has no faceplate. It should have come with one in the pack, but it didn't. That's it above, nestled into the laboriously carved insert. I'm tempted to go ahead sans faceplate, only the two ruddy great holes on the lock itself are both huge and are not countersunk, presenting difficulties in fixing it.

Window frame #1: clamped, glued, with the glass sitting on a bead of silicone.

So... having hit something of a dead-end with the door (which I'd already hung, to get the positioning right, only to have to remove it when my in situ carving went agley), I decided to resume making the windows. I'd abandoned them because after the first satisfyingly clean cuts, my attempts to route out the 'rabbet' on the longer horizontal elements of the frames was, initially, as disastrous as my first shot at lock-recess carving.

Reconstructing the window frame with 2" x 4".

Having started out by glueing and clamping the frame for one window, I then put a bead of clear silicone all the way around the recess, to receive the glass. The glass was a very tight fit, causing me some anxiety as I sought to get it bedded in. I probably put too much silicone on, as when I pressed the glass down it oozed out all over the place! Once the silicone had started to set I applied a bead of glazier's putty to the outer surface. Again, I put too much on, making it a very messy process when I tried to finish it neatly.

The new frame (and door, etc!) viewed from outside.

The next stage was to replace the missing cross-beams - the previous ones for the window I was working on had rotted away! - tilting the lower one slightly so that any rain or other moisture will run down and away, off to the outside of the shed/window. I also added some of the excess glazing putty I'd scraped off the window frame to seal a gap between the frame and the external wood cladding.

The window in place.

The dark stained verticals needed some planing to make them flush with the new inserts. The final few pics, one above and two below, are of the window seen at night. Above, looking in, and below, looking out. Tomorrow, as well as constructing the second window, I intend to add some more sealant, and paint this first one with some rain resistant outdoor paint.

The new window, seen from inside the shed.

A second view from inside.

I've been getting into the annoying habit of flying by the seat of my pants, DIY wise, lately. With regard to the windows this has meant that I measured quite approximately for the lumber shopping, and then forgot to measure more accurately for the actual window manufacture. 

The end result? My windows and their frames aren't a proper fit for the gaps they're intended for. Still, thanks to the new frame elements, I was still able to fix the window to the structure.

The last things I did, prior to taking night time snaps of the window in situ, were, clean the glass inside and out, which involved some trimming off of both the silicone and the putty, and add a strip of hardboard to the gap above the window, which would otherwise remain open to the elements. 

I'm certainly going to need to replace some of the shiplap timber cladding, a fair chunk of which is suffering from both woodworm and rot, around the shed  as a whole!

Tomorrow: window #2, and the door!

Miscellaneous: Shelves!

Having moved to a new home, all my free time has been consumed by home-improvement type activity. I was hoping that during this half-term (I'm a teacher!) I'd get the chance to do some model-making or figure painting. But, alas, that's not transpired.

Instead, today I decided that I'd build some small display shelves for my growing collection of (mostly) WWII armour, etc. This will be my second DIY shelving project, the previous one being bookshelves along one entire wall at our previous home. This time, however, I wanted to use a router my dad gave me a while back.

My workspace, and the plywood, prior to starting.

The shelves are made from plywood in 6.5 and 12 mm thicknesses. My router is an old American one, with shank and bits in imperial sizes. So I've been working to roughly 1/4 and 1/2 inch sizes. I decided I'd kind of busk this; the previous bookcase project was laboriously planned, with diagrams, etc. This time I just got my local DIY store to cut the wood to exact widths but only approximate lengths, to be decided/finished on the fly at home.

I had to spend a while clearing up a workspace in the shed (itself in need of renovation!), but that's no bad thing; now I have a creditable working area, and a few tools in situ, ready to go. This was my first project using a router. Something I've been looking forward to for ages. And, just as I'd hoped it would be, it was great fun! 

This was one of the best of the YouTube router tutorials.

YouTube is fab: I watched several tutorials on using a router, and although most of the routers (well, all of 'em actually) in the videos were more modern, and had numerous features my olde beast lacks, they taught me what I needed to know. I ended up having to build a 'jig', to help guide the cuts I'd be making for the shelves. That in itself was fun. And I can use it for other future projects.

Glued and nailed.

I bought sufficient plywood to build two sets of shelves, each pretty small - they'll be displaying 1/72 vehicles and figures - and built one set in about an hour. I need to work out a better way of assembling and gluing them. And I'll probably be adding backboards, and painting them, before I decide how to mount them. 

The whole project is as much about protecting my models in the short/medium term, as it is about displaying them. A number have suffered damage during our move, as they're simply bubble-wrapped and stored in plastic tubs at present (several layers deep!). I'm also hoping that having them on display will encourage me to start finishing them properly. Mostly it's just an issue of getting the durn things painted.

The 1st models to hand...

Anyhoo, even if it's not actual model-making or figure work, it's good to have finally done something related to my mini-military-models passion! If anyone reading this has done anything similar, let me know/see. After making a second one of these my own future projects in this line will, I hope, be more de-luxe versions - glass fronted, possibly with built-in LED lighting, and perhaps even  decorated with some ogee style ornamentation? (an excuse for more router fun!) - and some kind of drawer-storage for my mini armies.

I liberated a bunch of stuff from bubble-wrap, just to see how things might look.

The pair get a 1st coat of paint; undercoat white.

Since first posting I've built the second set, added backboards to both, and started painting them. After two coats of white, as a base, I did the inner areas in green, and the outer areas in a pale beige. The green needs a second coat, to neaten it up. And then I'll seal it all off with some kind of vanish. Still not quite finished. But I'm pleased with how they're shaping up.

Greening the inner spaces.

Beige, or 'Roman Stone', on the outer surfaces.

Unpacked more models, to test drive the shelves, so to speak.