1/35 Stormtrooper (First Order Style)

[John Everett]

If Dragon won't tell us when their AT-AT (presumably with figures included) will be released, then I guess it's up to us to make our own.


Just the beginning here. I need to trim down the lower "jawline". This will be done after the putty hardens.


More to follow as I progress with the rest of the figure. I'm hoping to be able to make a mold from this one and produce loads of copies...At least until Dragon get busy.

[Leon]

WOW...Nice start on the Stormtrooper John! Going to interesting to follow.

[kaytermarram]

Great idea! The hardest part is the helmet of which I have thought to do it only with sculpting, but that would not work. So be sure I follow with the biggest possible interest. MAYBE one idea: When you will make copies, why not trying to do the sculpt as a Multiple Pose kit, do some arms and legs, like the Preiser Adam and Eve series so you can create tons of different poses. Many different weapons aren´t needed, and with a speperate head it will be a fest!!

Btw, is this a sculpted helmet on the head or a plastic part??

Frank (hell, where is my popcorn and coke??)

[k1w1]

Great stuff. I don't know what it is about Stormtroopers but they have a special appeal for some reason. I think they are great but none of the other Star Wars characters hold any interest for me.

[adt70hk]

WOW! Quite a project!!!

Good luck!!

[kiwibelg]

You certainly don't mess around John! This looks like a mammoth project, I will be bookmarking this one.
Have to disagree with you though kiwi, as much as I like stormtroopers I'm more partial towards ewoks and wookies!

[deafpanzer]

You are definitely going to make all Stormtroopers proud...



Count me in too!

[wbill76]

Pulling up a chair and hope you can pull it off without too much hassle John!

[John Everett]

Jan 14, 2016 14:52:35 GMT -5 wbill76 said:

hope you can pull it off without too much hassle..

Me too!



Crappy old Tamiya Panzer commander, a good foundation.


Still needs tweaking. But getting there.




One word! Codpiece! 






Let this harden and then another layer to go....maybe tonight?

[k1w1]

Jan 14, 2016 12:21:25 GMT -5 kiwibelg said:

Whoops ..... Forgot about the Ewoks !

[tigrazor]

What a project. Im following too.

[John Everett]

Moving ahead....s-l-o-w-l-y.


The helmet is far from perfect. But it's a good as I'm going to get it The figure will still need a lot of smoothing as well as a set of arms.

[Leon]

Making good progress John!

[wbill76]

Stormtroopers are deceptive in their complexity, particularly their gear. Looks like you've got this one headed in the right direction John.

[adt70hk]

Looking like some good progress john z

Andrew

[John Everett]

It's been a month. But I've finally got the trooper ready for rubber and resin.


There was a request from a couple of members about the need for a thread covering the basics of resin casting. I'll put this series of photos in here. But if Todd or other admins want to make a whole dedicated section, just let me know. It would be easy enough.



When casting, it's important to consider how best to design the sprue gates to allow the liquid resin to flow easily and avoid trapped air bubbles. (Arms and hands are the most difficult parts of any figure cast.)



The use of Lego blocks is convenient, but not required. Any stiff material can be used as a mold container.



Where they sell resin and rubber they will also sell something like this. It allows the masters (patterns) to be more easily pulled free from the cured rubber mold.





I'm using this stuff. It's a good all-around mold rubber. There are dozens of formulations with an equal number of subtly different characteristics. But it all works pretty much the same.



The rubber is just a sticky goo as it comes out of the bucket.



This particular brand requires a ratio of 20:1 rubber to catalyst.
(My scale only does US units.  A gram scale would be better.)


It's puuurrrplllle! I should vacuum degas the liquid rubber. But a vacuum pot is expensive. Instead, you can crush most of the smaller air bubbles by applying pressure during the 24 hour cure.



Pour it in slowly to avoid trapping air bubbles.



Engine master in its mold box. I allowed about 40 minutes for the air to find it's way out before topping up the remainder of the mold.


In the pressure pot awaiting "the big squeeze".

The use of a pressure pot is optional but will improve to quality of both the rubber mold and the castings which are produced in that mold. 



50 PSI



The pot will gradually leak off pressure. The compressor regulator insures that the rubber will be held under pressure for the full 24 hour cure time.

 Check back in 24 hours!

[k1w1]

Thanks for showing us the moulding process. This is something I want to try in the future.

[dierk]

Watching with bated breath!

[Leon]

Fingers crossed John!

[kaytermarram]

Perfect! We should seperate this and pack it in an extra thread for further adventures. Direct one question: would it be wise to "paint" the figure fist with the silicon stuff and pour it in AFTER or does this paining end up with even more bubbles??

Frank

[adt70hk]

John

Thanks for the info!!

Andrew

[Deleted]

[John Everett]

Feb 22, 2016 7:16:06 GMT -5 kaytermarram said:

Would it be wise to "paint" the figure fist with the silicon stuff and pour it in AFTER or does this paining end up with even more bubbles??

Frank

Correct. The silicone mold release is sprayed on the pattern (master) prior to the liquid rubber being poured. This helps the pattern to slide out of the finished mold more easily.


24 hours and the rubber has hardened.


You will often need to cut the rubber to be able to remove the pattern. The trick is to cut the rubber as little as possible. The fewer cuts, the more accurate the copy.

Damage to the patterns is an unfortunately common occurrence. You can see here how the hand broke off as the arm was pulled free.



There are various types of resin. This is one of the more popular brands and provides "pot life" of about 5 minutes before it begins to stiffen.



Easy ratio, unlike the rubber.



Molds filled and placed into pressure pot.



2 hours later, resin has hardened and molds are pulled from the pot. You can see here how 50PSI has left a concave surface in the hardened resin.




Fist copy! His hand is missing due to an air bubble trapped in the mold, not the fact that the hand was broken when the pattern was removed from the rubber.

Casting defects like these are common in the first few copies and will diminish as the mold becomes fully cured and you learn to tweak the resin while still liquid.



Not exactly a Ban-Dai level stormtropper, but it's as good as I'm going to be able to produce until Dragon finally begins to release their 1/35 kits.

Some of the odd shapes at the arms can be fixed with a little careful sanding. This is just a rough fit straight from the mold.



Hope you enjoyed it. I'll need three or four of these guys to stand outside the landing craft.

[Leon]

WOW....Awesome job on the casting John despite the hand issue!

I really enjoyed your SBS process.

[kaytermarram]

Yap, very informative and cool! Love this stuff and we must have many more of those articles! Great work so far and hell, I should start this ASAP!!

Frank

[Deleted]

Awesome Tutorial! Thanks!

[deafpanzer]

G-R-E-A-T work casting!

[tobias5555]

Cool

[wbill76]

On your way to getting the lazy gang standing around that you need for the lander!