STC 1: Imperial standard ferrocrete barriers for long term structural applications.
The wastelands just outside the Reactorum are framed with standard template construct imperial walls. They frame both edges of the wasteland area, and mark the imperial influence on the isolated mechanicum site. So far, only some color has been added, but before I show more pictures of that, I wanted to describe the fabrication process.
I started by going to the local library and 3D printing a very simple wall section designed on a free CAD (FreeCAD) program online. As with many cheap 3D prints, the part showed the layered lines form the plastic extrusion process. The part, in grey, was first sanded to flat surfaces all around to remove some of the extrusion texture. I then cast a silicon mold using an old spray paint cap. This process is pretty easy: glue the part down to the inside of the paint lid, then pour the silicone liquid over it, wait to dry and finally cut the lid off the mold. Voila!
Once I could cast a few parts, I made 2 five-piece wall sections. I sanded each of the polyurethane plastic sections and then added a little bit of wear and tear. This was easily done with a small razor knife. I made sure to round some of the edges to show typical wear of solid concrete features in an urban environment. I added a couple plastic components, and then spray coated the whole thing in flat black primer. The last step of spraying primer adds a little softness to the detail. Basically, where there were scratches or deep ruts from sanding, the spray coat smoothes the features out making it more realistic and weather-worn.
Once I had the two wall sections, I then glued them down to the inside of a small sturdy cardboard box for casting the mold. Below is the final mold, from which I could then cast lots of five-piece sections. Once I had this, it was quite a quick process to cast up lots of wall segments and each segment was easily cut or broken off from the five-piece set to adjust the length to match what I needed. If you are interested to know the products I used (PolyTek), you can check one of my older posts about casting polyurethane parts.
I always get bubbles in my molds but now i have a secret weapon: A foot massager. It's more of a "advice taken on board" measure rather than stressing about it. I actually don't mind so much as i just reference "Grim Dark" to any defects in the castings.
ReplyDeleteI'm having to make 'backups' of all the old Citadel terrain as with the release of the new Kill Team, they're gone from stores.
Thank again for the Blogging. We are here listening and eagerly waiting for more of your fine work. Keep it up!
That's a great idea. I do get some small bubbles, but in these pics, I actually carved it out to look like bolter round impact craters. I get small bubbles when there are features that are undercut in the mold. I will try the massager, it sounds like it will really work.
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