I'm asked all the time what paint should people use? I have to use a laytex free acrylic due to allergies. I will sometimes add pigment to make them richer. You can invest in & use high pigmented paints ($$$). You can use acrylic paints. ($$) You can use water based craft paints. ($) Take a 16.9 fl ounce empty bottle of Icelandic water. Using a hobby knife to puncher & small scissors to trim, separate the top potion from the rest of the bottle. Leave the cap screwed on tight. Discard the rest of the bottle in your recycling bin. *Spray the inside of the bottle with mold release, I forgot to & you'll see the results further down. You will need a flat work surface, Plaster of Paris & room temperature water for the next step. Mixing plaster, 3 "dixie cup" size portions of plaster powder with 1/2 cup of water. Mix together completely. I found this to be the perfect amount of plaster to fill this one bottle piece. *If you are filling multiples, may I suggest you repeat the recipe for each one rather then multiplying the ingredients. The plaster tends to set-up fast & you'll want to avoid any lumps that occur. Fill the bottle shape. Allow the plaster to set up. I left it overnight. Read the packaging for an accurate allowance of time. If you sprayed the inside of the bottle with mold release the plaster shape should slide out rather nicely. And you may reuse the bottle mold! If you don't have some or like me forgot to use it...you will have to cut the bottle away from the plaster. Thereby destroying the bottle mold! Trim off any unnatural looking excess plaster using a pottery tool or hobby knife. Dust off any loose powder & allow the plaster shape to dry completely. Again I let mine dry overnight & well into the next day. As the plaster dries it will go from a greyish color to a white. Choose 5 hues of color & a foil. I'm doing a stone pillar therefore I've chosen: Prussian, Cobalt, Liberty, Stoneware, Regency Blues & Sterling. If I were doing a Cave Pillar, I'd use browns. If a Desert Pillar, I'd use yellows. If a Mountain Pillar, mixture of green & browns perhaps. Double load a small flat brush using the darkest 2 colors in your palette. *Mine: Prussian Blue & Cobalt Blue. Brush into the deepest recesses of the plaster shape. The paint will brush on with the two colors side by side yet perfectly blended from one to the other. **Keep working through these next steps without pausing. If your paint is given time to dry between hues it wont blend naturally. Then moving up your hues palette from dark to light brush on each color. *Mine: Liberty Blue. Then moving up your hues palette from dark to light brush on each color. *Mine: Stoneware Blue is actually a blueish grey. Then moving up your hues palette from dark to light brush on each color. *Mine: Regency Blue Now sparingly with a dry round brush, splotch on the foil color. *Mine: Sterling. Now to highlight the cuts of the bottle design. Using a linear brush & palest of colors accent the outside edges. *Mine: I'm using white. Now to give the highlight a natural shadow. Using a pointed round brush or tiny flat brush & a slightly darker color of your highlight. And a wee bit of paint mind you, this is meant to be a shadow not an actual color of the pillar. Pull paint color straight down from each horizontal line of highlight. Mine: I'm using Dove Grey. Allow to dry completely, do not handle the piece until it is completely dry! Turn over your plaster pillar & paint the bottom to finish. *Mine: I always use black. Allow to dry completely. Not set, not congealed but DRY! Using a glazing brush, seal the entire plaster pillar using Matte acrylic medium. I don't recommend using a brush on or spray on sealer as it can have a chemical reaction to the foil paint. It will brush on milky white & dry clear. Here you can see my finished stone tower ready to block or provide cover for #tabletop #RPG characters! Overall size: 60mm squared at the base & 65mm tall.
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I recommend investing in an artisan set of micro paint brushes to be used exclusively for painting miniatures. Using a 2" long blade hobby knife, slice into the resin to create "grain" into what will be the wooden areas of the casting resin chest. Why the long blade? Because the blade is also a bit thicker then a standard blade, makes it stronger when cutting into the resin. Cover your work surface with wax paper kids, we're going to paint! Choose dark, medium & light colors for the wooden areas of the trunk. I'm using Chocolate Brown, Burnt Sienna & King's Gold pigmented acrylic paints. Using a micro round brush and following the grain, apply the dark color to the trunk. Allow to dry completely. Using a stiff flat brush & dobbing on paper toweling, dry brush on the medium color. Again with the grain & leave the dark color in the deep cuts. Allow to dry completely. Also using the stiff flat brush & dobbing on paper toweling, dry brush the light color. Again with the grain & just adding a minimal amount of color to highlight the grain. Allow to dry completely. Choose dark, medium & light colors for the chest straps. I'm using Black, Brown Oxide & Tan. Using a micro linear brush apply the dark color to the chest straps. Allow to dry completely. Using a micro spotter brush & dobbing on paper toweling, drybrush the medium color onto the straps raking against the texture. Allow to dry completely. Again using the micro spotter brush & dobbing on paper toweling, drybrush the light color onto the straps raking against the texture. Allow to dry completely. Again using the micro spotter brush, paint the padlock using the medium color. Allow to dry completely. Using a micro short liner brush, paint the padlock & rear hinges using a metallic acrylic color. I'm using 10k Gold leaf infused acrylic paint. It's filled with gold flakes which upon drying will separate allowing the medium color to show through giving it an aged finish. Allow to dry completely. Bottoms UP! I prefer to paint the bottoms of my rpg miniatures jet black. That's just me...feel free to paint them whatever color you wish. Use a micro flat brush to paint the bottom using long paint strokes. Allow to dry completely. *I recommend at least an hour extra to make sure everything is completely dry. Using a soft glazing brush, paint a thin layer of Matt Medium over the entire piece. I don't recommend sprays as they can have chemical reactions to the pigmented & metallic paints as well as can cause the resin to "sweat". The medium goes on milky white & dries clear. Don't pour it on...all you need is a thin layer to protect all of you work! Allow to dry completely, roughly 2-3 hours. Minor Details! Well the straps aren't just hanging there, right? They've got to be attached somehow. Perhaps magically? If so, then you may stop here. However, historically they were nailed on. Taking micro brass nails, tweezer to hold & a miniature hammer to drive them into the chest straps. Or just use a paint pen! Painted Treasure Chest ready for a Rogue to open! ;) I recommend investing in a metal jeweler's ruler as one side will have inches, while the other side will have millimeters. Perfect for creating miniatures for gaming! Most tabletop gaming is measured in millimeters. Using wood glue attach 10mm wide half-round basswood trim to a 10mm x 15mm basswood strip, both with a 20mm length. Allow the glue to dry completely. Using duct tape adhere thin strips up the back, around the rounded top & down the front of the wooden piece. NOT on the bottom, leave that flat. Here I'm using standard duct tape. Repeat by putting another layer of duct tape allowing it to wrinkle a bit. Here I'm using a rougher woven duct tape. Repeat by putting another layer of duct tape allowing it to wrinkle again. Here I'm using a textured artisan duct tape. Using layers of duct tape again & a piece of clip art. I've used micro scissors & micro hole punches to cut out a sticky padlock. Google has plenty of padlock clip art to choose from! If you can find a Quarter Scale padlock, glue that to the front with strong bond glue. 1) Put the clean clay into a plastic bowl. I use those Glad storage containers. 2) Press the bottom of the wooden chest into the clay. 3) Brush the chest with mold release. 4) Mix the Rapid Mold Rubber Part A & B together & pour over the chest. Completely covering it. 5) Allow to set completely. I usually give it a few extra hours or overnight though, so I can get more pieces out of my molds. 6) Remove the rubber mold from the plastic tub & gently negotiate the wooden trunk out of the mold. 7) Mix Part A & B of the CR-600 Resin. 8) Spray into the mold with the Easy Release. 9) Pour the resin mix it into the rubber mold. 10) Allow the resin to completely set, at least 30 minutes. I usually give it at least a full hour. 11) Gently remove the resin chest from the mold. 12) Wipe clean of any mold release residue. This is mine fresh from the mold. I expect to get 10-12 perfect chests & then another few chests with character out of this mold. ;) #LOL *If you can't afford to invest in "mold making" supplies which yes, can be a bit costly. Feel free to purchase unpainted miniatures & use the painting technique in the part 2 of this class! :) I developed this sculpting technique nearly immediately after receiving a glue gun when I was 12 years old. This technique is utilized in both of my books & I still utilize this form of sculpture today for many items in my inventory! Feel free to use a dollar store glass but make sure it is THICK you don't want to use a think fragile goblet. This one is 3/16" thick...I got it at an overstock store for literally 3¢! Using jeweler's adhesive and Swarovski flat back crystals (DO NOT USE PLASTIC STONES). Glass jewels will also work! Adhere the stones to the goblet & base of the chalice. Feel free to also glue them to the stem as well. Allow to dry completely, overnight!!! Set your glue gun to LOW heat setting. Begin creating rings of glue around each of the jewels on the base only. Allow glue to cool completely. Continue creating rings of glue around each jewel on the base & begin spiraling up the stem. Until the glass is covered with the hot glue rings. Allow glue to cool completely. Turn the glass upside down & repeat this technique around the jewels on the goblet. Allow glue to cool completely. You don't want the sculpted area to be up to the lip of the goblet so create a glue line around the goblet about a 1/2"-3/4" down from the lip of the goblet. Allow glue to cool completely. Continue applying the rings of hot glue around the jewels until the goblet up to that previous line is covered. Also apply the hot glue to the bottom of the base along the edges just to anchor the design. Allow glue to cool completely. Remove any of those hot glue string-ies that always happen during the process. Using Black Acrylic Paint cover all the hot glue areas using a soft brush to get into all the nooks & crannies. If paint gets onto the jewels, don't panic just use a wet cotton swab to clean the paint off! Allow paint to dry completely. Using Brown Paint mixed with Acrylic Matte Medium using a semi-stiff brush, DRY brush the brown over the black. Focus on leaving a lot of the black paint showing in all the deep areas of the glue sculpture. If paint gets onto the jewels, don't panic just use a wet cotton swab to clean the paint off! Allow paint to dry completely. Using Bronze Paint mixed with Acrylic Irridescent Medium, again with a semi-stiff brush. DRY brush over the glue sculpture. Focus on leaving the black & brown paint is the deep & mid areas of the sculpture. You should see three colors, roughly 1/3 each of coverage. Deep Areas:Black Mid Areas: Brown Ridge Areas: Bronze If paint gets onto the jewels, don't panic just use a wet cotton swab to clean the paint off! Allow paint to dry completely. Using Bronze Paint mixed with Acrylic Matte Medium, with a STIFF brush. Dry brush over the ridges of the sculpture. Just catching all the veining to create a shimmering finish. Use it sparingly. If paint gets onto the jewels, don't panic just use a wet cotton swab to clean the paint off! Allow paint to dry completely. Using Gloss Lustre and a soft brush cover all of the painted areas. Make sure to get into all those nooks & crannies. Allow this to dry completely, overnight!!! Wipe off any stray paint on the exposed glass. Obviously you CANNOT clean this goblet in the dishwasher. Hand-Wash Only! |
Miss KRisFrom time to time I just like to play in the studio. Since the studio is not open to the public, I thought we could create something together here! Archives
September 2018
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