I'm a bit late with this update on the Genestealer build. Last week's stormy weather and a couple of days sick in bed hit me with a one-two punch combination that completely knocked out my productivity.
This week will be different.
Regardless, last week Jeff stopped by and did a bit more cleanup sanding and polishing on the carapace and we sprayed on one more coat of greay primer. After that had dried, I slathered on another coat of XTC-3D epoxy resin:
Regardless, last week Jeff stopped by and did a bit more cleanup sanding and polishing on the carapace and we sprayed on one more coat of greay primer. After that had dried, I slathered on another coat of XTC-3D epoxy resin:
![Second Hardcoat in Progress](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53520376260_8041d0c567_c.jpg)
The goal here is to make the whole thing shiny and smooth in order to make it easier to mold:
![Hardcoating Genestealer Carapace Again](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53520266379_c10f48b38a_c.jpg)
Then I set it on a stand so that the epoxy coat could cure:
![Second Epoxy Hardcoat Curing on Genestealer Carapace](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53520376090_678e814802_c.jpg)
Shiny:
![Second Hardcoat Curing on Genestealer Carapace](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53519057412_4d10748008_c.jpg)
If I was really thinking I would've taken the time to flip the thing over a few times during the remaining pot life and early in the cure time in order to keep the resin from pooling or building up runs anywhere. I wasn't thinking, so what I ended up with was a handful of drips like the one on the back of this spine bit:
![It may be hard to see, but that little nipply bit in the middle of the frame shouldn't be there.](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53520112163_5a02d31771_c.jpg)
Or these more noticeable ones on the edge of one of the recessed openings:
![Drips!](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53520375725_ac28b93026_c.jpg)
The worst of them were the run and drips hanging off the very bottom edge of the whole thing:
![Goddammned DRIPS!](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53520266059_81aaf9de22_c.jpg)
So the next day I went after the drips and runs with a knife, some files, and progressively finer sandpaper. I ended with 600-grit:
![Edge Polishing](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53520265819_67a06c29a0_c.jpg)
This, of course, made it not shiny:
![Polishing GS Carapace Bottom Edge](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53520111788_043711b96a_c.jpg)
So I gave the whole thing a few layers of wax and buffed the gloss back onto it. Then I glued some cardboard flaps onto all of the edges and built up some clay margins around the edges in preparation for molding:
![GS Carapace Mold Margin Progress](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53523889414_8801844b8a_c.jpg)
Next thing I'm going to do is build a parting line along the top edge of the whole thing in preparation for molding:
![GS Carapace Mold Margins](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53523391421_284143e402_c.jpg)
It's starting to look like the mold for the carapace is going to be made in 12 parts. Possibly 14. This will be a bit annoying during the molding phase, but it'll have the benefit of making it easier to store the mold when we're not using it. For now, it looks like so:
![GS Back Mold Margins Added](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53523391366_596cff7703_c.jpg)
Meanwhile, the head armature was sitting where I had left it the previous week:
![Epoxy Coated Head Curing](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53496427172_c67de751ba_c.jpg)
Rather than subject it to a lengthy period of static endurance testing,* we went ahead and started adding a layer of oil-based clay around 1/8" thick:
![Jeff Begins Claying Up Genestealer Head Armature](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53499628968_d08df1bb3d_c.jpg)
Here it is with a complete clay layer in place (as well as some glass eyes that were laying in the sculpting toolbox for no reason at all):
![HEEEEEEEEYYYYYYYY!](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53499628863_664af5e19d_c.jpg)
There will end up being more clay built up as the skin gets detailed and textured, but this first layer will give us a minimum thickness of rubber for when we mold it and cast the final pieces:
![Popeye the Genestealer](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53499473651_47d20853d3_c.jpg)
So now here I am, staring at the beginning of a fun sculpting project:
![Face-Off](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53511987564_6a92430b15_c.jpg)
The fun sculpting project is also staring at me.
Stay tuned for further updates. I'm starting to think of ways I can improve upon the stilt plan and I'll be carving out the arm parts as soon as possible. That, and the ridiculously complex molding of the carapace in fiberglass.
*"Static Endurance Testing" is when you put something on a shelf and forget about it for a long period of time.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the mold comes together (or really, comes apart).
ReplyDelete