Hirst Arts Moulds

[Logan]

Not sure if this is the best place for this but it seems as good as any.

Been doing a bit of D&D-ing lately so I\'m thinking of taking the plunge and getting some Hirst Arts moulds and making my own stuff. I\'ve had my eyes on these for a while but the time seems right now \'cos of the ridiculously good exchange rate.

However, I\'ve a few questions that I hope you kind peeps can help with. (I\'ve read an old thread on this but have some different Q\'s in case anyone thinks I\'m treading old ground ).

1) Who\'s actually used these? How easy are they? Are the results worth it?
2) Those of you in the UK, what do you cast them in? Apparently dental plaster is the best stuff. What\'s the difference between Crystacal and Crystacast (apart from the very obvious price)
3) How much plaster is sufficient? Is 5kg plenty? 25kg seems waaaay too much but is it in the long run?
4) i\'m getting about six moulds. If anyone in the UK had been wanting to order any moulds but was put off by the shipping, let me know. Shipping\'s free on 10 or more moulds. I\'m getting some anyway so it\'d be a way for some of you to pick them up post free so to speak. Just let me know \'cos I\'ll be ordering in the next few days.

Okay, now pausing for breath.

 

[Legacy Account]

They are good, but take bloody ages to mould up enough bits to make stuff! If you\'ve got lots of moulds, it\'s not a problem.

5kg of plaster will be enough. You will be sick of the sight of the stuff by the time you\'ve used that lot (and your sink will be blocked...)

As for plaster, what are you going to do with them once they are built? Chuck rocks at \'em? I prefer the cheaper stuff as it\'s much lighter. Just mix some PVA in with the paint when painting them!

 

[cyrano111]

I\'ve got a few of them, and they are pretty easy to work with - the instructions on his site are also very helpful. It is time-consuming because it takes about half an hour to cast each mould, and the models require you to cast each mould a lot of times (over twenty for some of them). You also end up with lots of extra pieces, since you don\'t always need as many of each piece as you\'ve cast, but that\'s not really a problem.

I just use plaster of paris, which is cheap and has been fine so far. It takes a couple of days to really dry, so you have that further delay to factor in, but the final product seems perfectly sturdy.

 

[provoke_me]

wht are hirst moulds? got a link to somehwere for me to see?
edit: never mind i googled it.

 

[War Griffon]

Here you go Provoke_me enjoy Hirst Arts
They are very nice I havve been concidering getting a large selection for some time.
Gamers Quest do a few in the UK but their prices are nearly twice what it would cost me to buy them direct, the only real factor that is stopping me besides money for 20 molds (might as well have a discount as well as free shipping ) is how mush customs will hit me for when they get this far and that is not a nice thought

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Logan
Are the results worth it?

Judging from what I\'ve seen online, definitely.

Originally posted by Logan
Those of you in the UK, what do you cast them in? Apparently dental plaster is the best stuff. What\'s the difference between Crystacal and Crystacast (apart from the very obvious price)

Dental plaster is good, but not the best. I\'ll get back to you with more later, I\'m on the wrong machine but I have something on my Mac I think.

Originally posted by Logan
Is 5kg plenty?

More than enough I\'m sure.

Einion

 

[War Griffon]

Not sure of the price of dental plaster or the strengh of it but this guy has some good stuff Plaster & Bits

Just click on products then casting and the list of the plaster they do is right at the top of the list there is some serious OTT strengh stuff in there

 

[Einion]

In what I think is a rough cheaper-to-more-expensive order: Hydrocal, Hydrostone, Tufstone, Excalibur, Die Keen, Forton MG; they\'re all very good apparently. Durhams Rock Hard Water Putty is also worth considering although you might read conflicting opinions on how well it casts.

If you\'ve using the Hirst Arts site you\'ll have a link to both Douglas & Sturgess and The Compleat Sculptor where you can buy most of these.

If you have a friendly dentist you may be able to get a sample of dental plaster, I got some alginate for free when I asked about his supplier

If all you can find in the UK is plaster of Paris then you can strengthen this and reduce its absorbency with additives but it might take some experimentation to get the right properties. Simply adding some PVA glue is a start and you can also try acrylic medium (Golden make a range including some harder ones that should work well, you can buy these in the UK now). While we\'re on the subject most casting materials that are white can be tinted with a little added acrylic paint or dry pigment to make the painting a little easier down the line.

Einion

 

[War Griffon]

The link I posted is for a UK firm/supplier. If you are going to use ordinary plaster/gypsum then the best method of sealing it is probably French Polish comes in a 5 Ltr tin but you\'ll need meths to clean your brush out afterwards. Not sure where you will get the French Polish from though as I use it when I do ships Crests but you should be able to pick some up in any decent hardware store such as B & Q warehouse under the paints and varnish isles.
(Gypsum is also known as Herculite)

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by War Griffon
The link I posted is for a UK firm/supplier. If you are going to use ordinary plaster/gypsum then the best method of sealing it is probably French Polish...

What\'s sold as French polish is basically shellac (true French polishing is different incidentally) usually. You can buy simple shellac quite cheaply in most places you\'d expect would stock this sort of thing; button polish is very similar, just made from orange shellac instead of the bleached variety.

You can also use denatured alcohol, rubbing alcohol or isopropyl alcohol as a thinner and brush cleaner.

Einion

 

[finn17]

They are brilliant....

Thoroughly recommended.

Thay are not that much of a pain to cast up...you just have to get into a rhythm....

As you are in the UK this is the site you will need:

http://www.tiranti.co.uk/indexhome.asp

Get their \'Modell\' plaster. It dries in a couple of minutes and is very durable.

I simply finish mine off with watered down PVA or \'stabiliser\' from B&Q which appears to be the same stuff.

The only \'secret\' I have found is...let the bricks dry out thoroughly before glueing and watch out for mould when you store them.

 

[War Griffon]

Finn thats the link I posted

You should bbe able to de-mold after about half an hour if you are careful then set them aside to harden on paper or paper towel so you can give the mold a quick clean then recast.

Drying temperater is going to be a pain but if you can squirrel a space in the airing cupboard you should be OK to start sealing them in about 48 hours
Make sure if you put them in the airing cupboard though you put a board under the paper so anything that soaks though doesn\'t stain anything otherwise wife/mother throws a fit lol

 

[Logan]

You lovely bunch

@ everyone who replied.

Many thanks guys. I do appreciate people taking their time not only to give opinions, but also to provide casting information, websites etc. It restores my faith in humanity (well the CMON community anyway )

I\'ll be ordering some this weekend (when I get back from a bloody wedding in Birmingham) and will post some pics when I get some stuff made up.

 

[Logan]

Originally posted by Spacemunkie


As for plaster, what are you going to do with them once they are built? Chuck rocks at \'em?

I know, but it\'s my Chaos Knight you see. He wears really heavy armour. I tried to get him to downgrade to something lighter but he won\'t bloody listen lol

 

[GamersQuest]

Originally posted by War Griffon

Gamers Quest do a few in the UK but their prices are nearly twice what it would cost me to buy them direct, the only real factor that is stopping me besides money for 20 molds (might as well have a discount as well as free shipping ) is how mush customs will hit me for when they get this far and that is not a nice thought

Umm - sorry missed this thread - but what is it we are supposed to be doing at Gamers Quest - as we don\'t stock Hirst Arts - and I\'m worried now incase my pricing is all wrong - arrgghhhhhh

 

[finn17]

A case of mistaken identity methinks...

I think Mr Griffon means Wargames World, as they are the licensed UK dealership. He is correct though, in that last time I looked, it was much cheaper to order direct from the States.

 

[airhead]

Logan, if you do not want to go to the expense and effort of purchasing and casting the molds, there are several Hirst Arts authorized resellers ( and even more un-authorized ) that will sell bits or kits for a given structure.

I purchased my first HA mold today. The graveyard mold mostly because it was easier than scratching up something myself.

 

[GamersQuest]

Phew - thanks Finn - was worried we had something badly over priced

Jxx

 

[Logan]

Originally posted by airhead
Logan, if you do not want to go to the expense and effort of purchasing and casting the molds, there are several Hirst Arts authorized resellers ( and even more un-authorized ) that will sell bits or kits for a given structure.

I purchased my first HA mold today. The graveyard mold mostly because it was easier than scratching up something myself.

Cheers AH but I\'ve already done the deed.
Ordered the moulds last Friday evening and they arrived yesterday (Wednesday morning). All the way from the good old US of A to sunny Blighty in just over 4 days.
Bruce Hirst is a pretty cool guy. Not only did he discount my order, he managed to get it all in one package so knocked money of the shipping aswell. He deserves to succeed.
The irony is that the moulds arrived before the plaster I\'d ordered in the UK lol

I did some prelim casts last night and even for a first attempt, I\'m very happy with the detail and subsequent results.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Logan
The irony is that the moulds arrived before the plaster I\'d ordered in the UK lol.

Isn\'t that always the way?

Einion