New stalagmite technique

[sgtslag]

I tried a new method, using Aluminum Foil to make an armature, and ABS Glue to create the model's skin. Here is a photo of the finished product:

The aluminum foil was scrunched into shape, leaving a mound-like base.   This was then painted with ABS Glue, allowed to dry.  The model was then Hot Glued to vinyl floor tiles bases, then primed with white Gesso, and painted with dark gray latex wall paint.  After that, sand was glued with PVA, to hide the edges, and it was painted with The Dip -- Royal Walnut.

The ABS Glue is black, ABS plastic, suspended in a liquid solvent.  Once the solvent evaporates, only the smooth, shiny, ABS plastic is left behind.  It is normally used to glue plastic plumbing pipes together -- it's available in any hardware store, in the plumbing section.  It is thick, almost paste-like.  The can has an applicator in the lid, so it is quite easy to apply.  I do recommend rubber gloves, however, and a piece of Parchment Paper to protect your tabletop while you work.  Cheers!

[deafnala]

Those do look SPLENDID, AND an interesting technique. It is COOL stuff like your creations that are rekindling my love of Dungeons & Dark Places...thanks for the inspiration. GREAT WORK!

[Draklith]

Look everyone mithril stalagmites

thx for sharing the technique, looks awesome

[DnDPaladin]

thats pretty much what i thought too.
great stalagmites, but they dont look rocky at all. they look more like metal spikes.
that gives it a style of its own. maybe this technique could be used to create Ore mites ?

[sgtslag]

Thanks, folks. Now that you mention it, I guess I should go with more of a brown color, as opposed to dark gray. I've been in a number of caves. I do remember them being more brownish, and less gray, since you mentioned it, but it has been a couple of years. Need to see if I can locate some photo's from our trips. Cheers!

[Grey Tower Games]

Looks good.  Nice work.  The stalagmite on the far left is a whopper!

I decided to make some clay versions a week or so ago after watching the DMGInfos video where he made his out of aluminum foil as well.



If anyone is interested you can see both tutorials here:

[DnDPaladin]

you need to go to videocopilot.net and watch how to remove green on your props during green screen shooting.
the green around the edges of your picture and the miniature really screws the shot a lot.

aside from that, your stalagmites are pretty cool. doesn'T matter if they look like metal or anything. if anything the group ended up in a weird cave full of those metal mites. my god did i just think of a monster thats called metal mites. anyway. they aren't bad at all and the metal thing wasn'T a way to tell you they aren't the right color. it was just us saying, hey we had never thought of it that way. at least thats what i had in mind.

[michka]

These are really awesome. I love the size you got out of these things. I dig the smooth texture of them too. I'd go with brown as well, but the grey works. Did you dull coat them at all? Taking down the glossy effect might make them look a little more natural. On the other hand, caves are pretty darn damp when you think about it.

[sgtslag]

There are two types of caves: living, and dead. The living caves have active water dripping inside, continuing to form new stalagmites, and stalactites, and their entire area (floors, ceilings, walls, structures) are all damp, or wet, with many surfaces being wet and shiny. When you enter a dead cavern, everything is dry and dull to look at: dry stone surfaces, no water present, no new formations in process, hence the term, "dead"; dead caverns tend to have more rubble in them, because when things break, there is no water to morph them into new, rounded formations -- in living caverns, debris gets slowly covered in new deposits, forming mounds, and other rounded shapes, over a period of centuries-plus.  I decided to go with living caverns, especially for the stalagmites. I could go with dead caves later, but for now, I'll go with living.  Most folks don't know about living and dead caverns, so you can go either way with yours.  Cheers!

PS:

I figured out where I got the gray color scheme from...  I purchased some 2D Cavern tiles from Fat Dragon Games, and his stuff is all gray-based.  His stuff, to be fair, does not have much brown added to it, so it was a schizophrenic mix from my twisted mind.  I will be experimenting with The Dip -- Tudor, to see what that looks like.  I will also be using a tan paint, with both colors of The Dip, to see what looks best to my eye.  I hope to post pictures for everyone to look at, and perhaps find something useful for their crafting needs.  Cheers!

[Grey Tower Games]

Apr 16, 2015 1:51:48 GMT DnDPaladin said:

you need to go to videocopilot.net and watch how to remove green on your props during green screen shooting.
the green around the edges of your picture and the miniature really screws the shot a lot.

aside from that, your stalagmites are pretty cool. doesn'T matter if they look like metal or anything. if anything the group ended up in a weird cave full of those metal mites. my god did i just think of a monster thats called metal mites. anyway. they aren't bad at all and the metal thing wasn'T a way to tell you they aren't the right color. it was just us saying, hey we had never thought of it that way. at least thats what i had in mind.

Thanks for the feedback, I will have to check that site out however...

<tongue in cheek>

There was no green screen used for the photo.  I snapped the picture in the hollowed out cavern under my house where I have carved out great pillars and monster nasties wander about freely looking for unsuspecting adventurers to nab and eat..."

</tongue in cheek>



On a serious note, I am going to be making some molds and casting some additional ones.  I will use different coloring schemes (I have a brown to yellow to cream to white concept I want to try) on those and post for people to see.