Monday, October 10, 2011

Adventures with magic sculpt and the darker side of milliput

Putties!  I love putties!  I have dozens of them and mix them together in weird, blasphemous experiments that would curdle the blood and boggle the mind of mortal men.  Two more rocked up into my lab of epoxery pokery recently, and I thought I should comment on them.  Tis what I do.

Magic sculpt is cheap to buy in bulk, clean to handle, thins with water and dries to a solid finish that can be drilled and sanded.  If your used to milliput, magic sculpt feels 'airy', kinda lighter and fluffier, and will take a little getting used to.  The trick here is to wait for a bit before sculpting.  As a filler, its a killer.  Cleaner and less crumbly that milliput, with less of an acrid stench, if your filling gaps this could be on your consideration list.  Bulking out, weapons manufacture and other such goodies appeal, and it would be the first thing I reach for when sculpting scenery.

I have been using it to make some dead trees after I got a batch for free in an ebay deal.  I rate it.
One tip I picked up is to get some rough woven cloth, wet it and press this into the magic sculpt to produce a bark finish for trees.  Works nicely.

The downside for me is it costs the same to post as it does to buy- which cuts down the appeal somewhat for us Aussies.  The sculpting properties are not really going to replace my usual mediums, but I have to say that when mixed with green stuff it produces a killer putty- lighter in colour, less sticky, easy to blend into surfaces, able to form a crisp edge, yet with enough memory to make organic forms.  I have taken photos of an orc I have converted using this mix, and I will post it in a tutorial on my lunch break.

I rate it.  Now if I can only find a supplier locally.


BACK IN BLACK

The second putty I have been playing with is black milliput.  I poked some into a silicone mould of a modern lipped base and got a perfect base cast out- though its more fragile than resin- its a damn sight less toxic when casting as you can wear gloves and do not inhale anything.  If you saw my Grom goblin last episode, that's the base I made.  Shatters when force is applied, but you can reinforce it using some wire or mesh and its good.
The appeal of black milliput is that you can fill bases without needing to paint.  Great for under those slottas!

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