I had no intention of posting this week. It's not that I haven't done anything with the hobby, it's just I have no ambition. I did receive this week, several lots of 1st generation Napoleonic Minifigs, with several strips that are new to me. Besides painting some figures and having a couple of wargames to try out some ideas, there is little I had to report on.
A couple of posting ago, I used some home cast Peter Laing goose-stepping Germans in a game. I forgot how much I liked these figures.On a whim I decided to try to cast some today. Usually I have had little success casting in the cold basement in winter, and expected little luck today. Today, however, was a very productive session. In an hours' time, out of 28 casting, I had 24 usable figures. But best of all, I found a more productive way of casting. Now I am sure more experienced casters already do this. If you do your own casting, you know that you have to wait for the metal to solidify, usually about a minute. Before I would stand around waiting. This time, after cutting off the pouring spout off the figure, I found that the figure was cool enough for me to handle without gloves. I got a file and filed the base while I waited for the metal to cool in the mold. I came up with a new system of casing. It involves 1: Pour the metal into the mold. 2: As the metal solidifies, cut the pouring spout off the cast figures and return the spout to the pot. 3: File the base of the newly cast figures. 4: Once the figure bases are done, open the mold and remove the casting; inspecting the figures as you remove them. If the casting is poor, put it aside for now. 5: Put the mold back together and pour a new casting. 6: Remove the pouring spout, and put the spout and any defective casting back into the pot. 6: Repeat. By doing it this way, I was busy the entire time I was casting. I also managed to clean the figures up and base them on plastic that night, so the figures are ready for priming tomorrow.
* I WOULD CAUTION PEOPLE TO BE VERY CAREFUL PICKING UP NEWLY CAST FIGURES WITHOUT GLOVES ON, SUCH AS I DID. I BELIEVE THE SMALL 15MM FIGURES COOL RAPIDLY. LARGER FIGURES WOULD PROBABLY TAKE LONGER TO COOL.
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| Some of the newly cast figures. |
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| Some figures waiting to have their bases filed. |
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| A check list I wrote up so I would remember next time. |
The American genius for mass production ! The goose-stepping figures are superb. Enjoy painting them.
ReplyDeleteAs I have been home casting for years now and only figured it out, "genius", might be overstating it! However, I did finally figure it out and it is a big step in the right direction. The figures are already primed and I went to start painting some of them with some high gloss enamel paints. As I was finishing them up I realized that the paint was drying flat! I picked up the wrong paint. What's more, the hobby store reversed the credit card amount; they charged me $52 for $25 worth of paint. So after work today I have to go and get my money back, and pick up some gloss black paint. Hopefully in the next couple of days I can parade my new units.
ReplyDeleteJohn, I love how your castings are turning out these days. Makes me want to do that third battalion of Prussian Guards....
ReplyDeleteAfter the first couple of castings, I did cut away some rubber which I think was stopping the molds from filling properly. I ordered some more rubber, which I haven't opened yet. I am thinking of trying the Officer, drummer and band leader. I also plan to form my figures into 12 man regiments, made up of 3- 4man companies. Hopefully officers and drummers will follow.
ReplyDeleteJohn
ReplyDeleteI do the same thing taking out and picking up castings before they are fully cooled. Ouch!
Lovely castings.
Mark Man of TIN
The first couple of times I held my fingers near the figures to see it I could detect heat, then lightly touched them. It seems by pulling in the figures out, inspecting them, putting the mold back together, pouring the metal, then cutting the spout off, it gives enough time for a 15mm figure to cool. I could see larger figures, such as 40mm and up, taking longer to cool. Perhaps next casting session, I will experiment with a 40mm figure.
ReplyDelete