The concept of "Green Stuff" is fairly new for me so I have a couple of questions.

First off, if building a larger part, for example partial titan body, do I need to use a wire support frame and pins or will the putty hold both pieces well enough? Secondly, is it better to build the basic shape first then add putty on after the core dries?
Thirdly, how workable is this stuff after it is cured? can normal tools carve it or does it need an engraver to work?

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MadMagician
Epic Tyranids

Working with a big mass of just GS will be awkward, use an armature or some other form of bulk (crumbled tin foil etc). It will hold on its own to a certain extent once cured, but it would not hold large thin shapes well on its own before curing.

Yes, the extent to which you need to do this varies though. Personally i tend to use other materials for the core (such as oven bake clay) so that i don't have to wait for a GS to cure.


It is workable (eg you can sand it, cut with knife, carve), but annoying. It has a slight rubbery give to it once cured compared to other materials (Pc, milliput standard etc) which makes it annoying to sand.

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AFK with real life, still checking PMs

Pretty much what Apoc said.

Green stuff is well suited for making organic stuff, but for mechanical bits, sharp edges and smooth surfaces it takes a skilled sculptor to make a good result. Another two part putty like Miliput is better at this and also much easier to sand or carve once cured but also more brittle than Green Stuff. Some people like to mix the two putties together to get a bit of both worlds.

If your plan is to build a titan I'd stronly suggest using palasticard and tubing for any part you want to look smooth or have sharp edges. Not saying that it cannot be done with greenstuff, but if you're just starting out with the material, a titan is not the easiest thing to build Personally I think you might find using p0lasticard or miliput (which you can carve and smooth easier once dried) a bit easier to work with.

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Sofa General

Nobody expects the Inquisition!!!
http://theepiclounge.wordpress.com/

As for the actual sculpting: Build a basic shape first and leave it to dry. Then add layers on top of that and don't build everything at once. There's nothing more annoying than accidentally destroying somehting you just sculpted with your fingers because you needed to work on the opposite side of the model.

Green Stuff cures faster with heat, so you can place your model under a warm lamp to speed up the process. Some people even make "putty-ovens" from old tin cans and a lightbulb, but I've never tried this myself.

As for pinning and wire frames, this really depends on what you are building, and if it is going to support something heavy later on (like if you plan to add some heavy metal bits on top of the greenstuff. A wire frame can be helpful to keep your model the right shape as you sculpt, but may not always ben needed for smaller stuff without too many flimsy parts.

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Sofa General

Nobody expects the Inquisition!!!
http://theepiclounge.wordpress.com/

I used Greenstuff to fix the Land Raiders weapon placement problem ...

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Legion 4 "Cry Havoc, and let slip the Dogs of War !" ... "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

Sorry to threadjack here, Madmagician!

Did you grind out the front doors L4, or just stick the sponsons over the top of the moulded doors? I'm looking at doing the same as you have. How did you get the right thickness on the GS moulded doors? Cheers!

Not a problem! I think I have the answers I am looking for, and any further education in Green Stuff is welcome!

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MadMagician
Epic Tyranids

I made a mold the front doors with G/S ... then once the doors were molded, I sanded & cut them to the thickness to fit the space where the sponsons were supposed to go. Then sanded the sponsons to fit over the front doors ... Easy yes ?!

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Legion 4 "Cry Havoc, and let slip the Dogs of War !" ... "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

mad.


um, madmagician, You've probably found this out already, but water stops greenstuff sticking to things (like your tools). In the case of L4's mold above, he probably splashes a little water in first before pressing the greenstuff in. This means when it is cured he can pop it out.

Vaseline also works well, but can interfere with painting afterwards. I've heard of people using talc, but never tried it myself.
Water on milliput seems to cuase the top layer to dissolve slightly. THis means you can get it to almost a mirror finish without needing sanding.

Greenstuff is great for press-molding becuase of it's rubberyness - getting the part out afterwards is much easier.
Greenstuff and milliput both expand very slightly as they cure. This is something worth bearing in mind.

Also greenstuff and superglue have an intresting chemical reaction.

Personally I use a bit of olive oil as a lubricant for press moulding. Inexpensive and easy to wash off once the GS has dried. So far I've had none of the problems you get with vaseline, and oil still works much better than water.

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Sofa General

Nobody expects the Inquisition!!!
http://theepiclounge.wordpress.com/

Yep, olive oil I actually use a small bottle of complementary olive oil vinaigrette (nice small bottle, easy to move with paints etc) (25% vinegar by content but doesn't seem to adversely effect things)

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AFK with real life, still checking PMs

Vasaline is all I use ... and have not had any problems ... But I wash the part off ...

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Legion 4 "Cry Havoc, and let slip the Dogs of War !" ... "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."

I use olive oil for GS casting - it is thin, cheap and washes off easily.

I use Vaseline for sculpting although you only want to apply this once you have the mixed G/S stuck to where you want it stuck cos it loses its stick once loobed up.

In between layering I clean my dried GS to get the Vaseline off by using a soft tooth brush and washing up liquid under a running tap. Then leave it to dry.

No problems with undercoating once washed. In fact I have started washing all models in this way before undercoating to get all oils human or other off them.


I really want to do more with making moulds out of the stuff or is it better to use milliput for moulds?

Depends, 2 part moulds or 1 part? Just pressing in pre made parts (or bits of same) or creating your own mould by sculpting the mould material itself?

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AFK with real life, still checking PMs