Slate Slated

[cybersquig]

Ok, so I\'m looking at Mr. Scream\'s Empire engineer (sweeeet model by the way), and it occurs to me that he must sculpt or otherwise fabricate his slate. How has this never occurred to me before?! I\'m spending my time hoarding pieces of the stuff big and small, in the hope that one day I\'ll need a piece just like that for a miniature. Surely this makes me ten times a muppet? I\'m happy sculpting most other things (except faces - darn faces never get the expressions right), but it simply never occurred to me to take that control over slate. So then, I\'m sitting at work, slightly bemused, and I\'m wondering if anyone has a favourite way of making fake slate (flake?) for their bases/dio\'s. I can prod and poke until milliput/gs looks right, of course I can, or maybe use plasticard, but it wouldn\'t hurt to ask around too I figure. Any favourite ways of doing that?

Cybersquig

 

[rocketandroll]

I started sculpting slate-like rocks out of SuperSculpey Firm a while back, probably came out best on my Lathiem model:

http://www.coolminiornot.com/188226

Slate\'s quite easy because it\'s basically lots of thing flat layers... I sculpted the top flat rock by flattening out a chunk of sculpey on a sheet of thin aluminium and sculpting the top and sides then after it was baked I put a thin layer of greenstuff on the underside, sculpted in a few layers of detail on the bottom and then firmly wedged it onto the supporting rock so it\'d have a good \'key\' when I glued them together later.

I find sculpting rocks is far easier with sculpey because you can get sharper and rougher edges whereas with green stuff it seems to naturally look soft/rounded no matter how hard you try.


Ben

 

[demonherald]

two ways I use is Fimo/sculpy.. roll it out fold it roll it out fold it... around 10 times or so then bake then when I need it I break it off and use .

The oher way is with milliput make the basic shape.. Then press in pieces of slate to make impressions in it.. justwet the slate first and you should get faily cle impressions...

 

[cybersquig]

awesome, I\'ll give that a shot Ben, thanks (awesome mini btw!) Now I\'ve gotta find someone who will sell me some sculpey...

demonherald - what you\'re saying is that you\'re making your slate like you\'d make a katana? lol! I haven\'t used fimo since I was like 9, maybe it\'s time to give it another try...

 

[DaN]

Y\'know - Slate isn\'t that hard to \"shape\" if you have a piece larger than you want.

Once you get it the right thickness anyway - the hard part is cracking it \"against the grain\"

If you\'ve ever had to cut tiles you\'d know how much of an arse this is
But it can be done - so if you DO have a decent supply of slate, there is absolutely no reason to synthesise it except maybe for weight purposes

 

[alextheartist]

If you have a next door neighbor you have an endless supply... :innocent:

No, thats not a good idea... the best way to get em cheap (by cheap i mean free) is to ask any roofer for broken roof tiles. One tile is about a life time supply anyway, just put em in a bag and hit em with a hammer.

Alex

 

[donga666]

The two big monoliths are mostly sculpted (the top of each is a stone), the best tool for sculpting stone is.....a stone (a knobbly one).

But for most slate bases I use slate, it\'s easier/quicker/more natural looking.

 

[donga666]

The two big monoliths are mostly sculpted (the top of each is a stone), the best tool for sculpting stone is.....a stone (a knobbly one).

But for most slate bases I use slate, it\'s easier/quicker/more natural looking.

 

[cybersquig]

lol, I think I\'m going to have to add a couple of decent stones to my tool kit!

I always get frustrated looking at pictures of dioramas, especially ones as nice as that, I wanna see them in the flesh, turn it around, get in there with them (in my mind, not literally). Very pretty though, love the river with the leaves in!

 

[cybersquig]

Originally posted by alextheartist
If you have a next door neighbor you have an endless supply... :innocent:

given that I live in a caravan, I\'m thinking that roofing tiles are going to be sorely missed - the neighbours will be able to see me take them through the gaping hole it\'d leave!

I think I need to go drinking with a roofer...