Rasputina´s Ice Pillars

[Heriberto Vall]

This topic has probably been done to death already, but Here are my Ice pillars for Raspy, because you know she loves them and that Plastic base with a marker annotation is not cutting it anymore.

You can find in my blog some photos of the process if you're interested. They're a breeze to make. If you're cool with Spanish, you can read the process in cold, hard detail at www.heribertohobby.wordpress.com . Chill! Next thing I'll do is to embed some LEDS inside these babies. If you aren't so friendly with my mother language and still want to know how they're done, I'll be glad to oblige.

Cheers!

[Gorbad]

I never was much good at Spanish so if you could post up a tutorial that would be great as they look amazing!

[dgraz]

Yeah, those are hot......errr........cool? I get confused.

[Omenbringer]

Those look great.

[Heriberto Vall]

sure. Is there a special, better place to post them or Do I just translate here?

[AngryBogle]

Good Work. If you use Sonnia, you should make some flame walls because these look great.

[Heriberto Vall]

Good Work. If you use Sonnia, you should make some flame walls because these look great.

Actually they are next on my list! None of us here in the club have her (I do want her though) but Someone has a master that also spams them like there's no tomorrow (I think It was Kaeris but don't take my word for it)

[Heriberto Vall]

So, this Thread Has just become a Tutorial. Let's go:

Creating and Molding Ice Pillars for Rasputina. Also useful for ANY kind of "crystal" or for Fire walls. Or for anything else that can be molded withouth mold locks or two part molds.

The first step is to generate an original for our Ice Crystal. Of course, you need something to mold from. In my case, I'm sculpting them with the Cheapest Polymer clay around, Sculpey Original Terracota. You can use Epoxy clay or Air-dry clay. Even Normal Non-curing Clay. For a more exact look and better tooling I'm going to go with polymer clay. If you want to do the same but aren't familiar with the material, I've previously written an introductory manual here: http://nemo-h.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4lf826

As you can see. I merely Lumped the clay in an approximate shape and started cutting angles with a flat tool and a Cutter Blade (BE CAREFUL)

Once I was done with that, I stopped sculpting and baked it. Most of the work for this will be done AFTER this is baked.

After the last step, The refinement starts. I Start by leveling the base against a flat piece of sanding paper.

After that, I take a couple of large-grit sandpaper pieces and start removing my finger marks from the cured sculpt. I sand it in a general way and try to keep the angles sharp and the planes well defined.

http://heribertohobby.files.wordpress.com/2013/01/03012013061.jpg

A few planes will be better defined with the cutter. New faces are cut this way. Do so carefully and NEVER cut towards you. I also created some cuts, dents and scratches. The mold will pick up ALL detail so make sure that you want whatever mark you do to be part of the final casting.

After a bit of this, I've got several Crystal pieces done. I'm not showing it here, but I sanded the crystals with a bit of water and some fine grit to refine them more. They're ready for molding.

A very quick method for molding is to simply do a Pour mold. And a Very fast way to get a good wall around it is to build it with Legos.

I'm pouring this in two parts. The Weighted and catalyzing RTV mix was poured in a constant stream, a brush was used to apply it evenly over the visible tips of the crystals (you can do that to create thin RTV layers that will pick detail and have Zero bubbles.) Part of making this mold in several pours is because I'm going to strenghten it for heavy use.

Let's make this Mold a Hardcore Mold. As you probably know, once you pour Fresh RTV over Previously cured RTV, They will incorporate seamlessly. This RTV mix is the cheapest and softest available. To make this mold last and prevent it from breaking when removing the crystal casts (I want to cast HUNDREDS of these suckers!) I applied Medical gauze that's been chopped a bit and then poured a bit more. This will greatly lenghten the life span of the mold.

Here's a pretty block mold! Now, I've mixed some Crystal resin with very little blue pigment (Resins change a lot between manufacturers and there are several kinds of them like Polyester resins and Epoxies so the best advice I can tell you is to REALLY read the manufacturer's advice. and poured. I also managed to make some transparent bases since I poured more than what I needed. I always keep spare molds around for casts just in case I go overboard with the resin Mix.

The finished Casts. The idea here was to be able to mix and match between small and large crystals on each base.

The finished product you've already seen above. You can sand the corners where angles meet for a cooler Ice-looking effect. You can use non-transparent resin and paint them too once you apply primer. You can make other kinds of mixes to create frosty looking resin (did that!) and even trap some leds inside for crazy lighting (I'm on that!)

Let me know if you found this useful, or if you made some of your own.

Edited January 14, 2013 by Heriberto Vall
Horrible mispelling

[Evilbleachman]

Bookmarked. You are awesome.

[Kalkris]

I am simply in awe of this work. Many thanks for the tutorial and kudos to you for taking the time and effort to do what you've done here.

~Lil Kalki

[theJudge]

Thanks for the tutorial. You have me thinking I could do something like this now :1_Happy_Puppet2:

[OldManMyke]

You planning on making these available for sale?

[SteamHammer]

They look awesome.

I think I saw a show on the TV about two guys in a mobile home in the desert making them. It was called Breaking something.

[Heriberto Vall]

They look awesome.

I think I saw a show on the TV about two guys in a mobile home in the desert making them. It was called Breaking something.

You can also use their method, and THEN you can sell them for profit

---------- Post added at 11:57 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:55 AM ----------

Thanks for the tutorial. You have me thinking I could do something like this now :1_Happy_Puppet2:

Of course you can, to tell you the truth they're REALLY easy to make. Resin and Molds sound daunting (And well. 2 part molds and keyed molds ARE daunting, but no so these simple ones) but they're not really. I'm going to be doing some Fire walls, I've already sculpted the original and I'm just waiting for some time to make a mold out of it.

---------- Post added at 11:58 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:57 AM ----------

You planning on making these available for sale?

To tell you the truth I wasn't going to. Believe it or not I've been getting that question in my blog and facebook pages, seems people like them. I'll gladly sell you some if you want them, even at just the material cost and shipping (or we could trade ). Just bear In mind I live in Mexico.

[OldManMyke]

I would definately buy some and have an address in the US that they could be shipped to, let me know roughly a cost and we can work something out

[DaLoon]

Likewise...

[sharpobjects]

Nice job, very informative.

[Heriberto Vall]

Hello Again! Here are the Pillars in action, doing their best to protect Rasputina from the advancing Lady justice crew, and the Ortega Pricks from the right flank. Needless to say, I died, but at least it was cinematic. you can also see the "frosted" Pillars that aren't transparent here.