Hit the Bricks..

Lately I've really been into Malifaux and though I've only played one night I really like the models and the atmosphere of the game. That being said it then made me want to make a Malifaux gaming board and for that I figured I'd want to make it mostly of cobble/flag/bricks. I set out to find what I'd need to make it and there were a few options.

1) Molds - Hirst Arts had some very nice looking molds that I could use to form the base of the board. There were multiple patterns and shapes so I could mix and match.

2) Plasticard - They have sheets of it and while quicker it wouldn't be cheap and wouldn't look as real. 

3) Cast sheets - I saw a few of these but they were expensive and didn't seem to fit well.

It really wasn't much of a debate so the other day I ordered some molds from Hirst Arts and they came in yesterday! They were shipped out quickly so I only had to wait a few day. I had some plaster in my garage but it appears to have picked up some moisture and was no longer good. I ran out to pick up some more to get right into making some plaster stones. 

The molds themselves looked great and seemed like they would be pretty easy to use! I haven't cast anything with plaster in probably 30 years, seriously, my Grandmother and I use to make up all kind of molds and then paint them..  I guess that's where my miniature painting began 8) .. thanks Grandmom! 

After I thoroughly washed the molds I mixed up my first batch of plaster (thinking I had made too much) and started to pour it into the molds. It had been awhile but thankfully plaster is pretty easy to work with but you have to be quick! I wanted to pour all five at once and quickly figured out I was actually not going to have enough. I made up about 4oz of water worth and it was one mold short. No biggy this was just the first test run. I put them on my work bench and turned on my scroll saw to vibrate the bubbles out, for good measure I hit the table with a hammer a few times!

 I'd have to say I'm very happy with the outcome! After 20 or so minutes I popped out the casts and they looked very nice. I had a few air bubbles here and there but for the first batch I was very pleased. They will work great for what I'm looking to do! The only downside is I need to make a 3'x3' board, that is going to be so many bricks its going to be crazy and most likely heavy. I was just going to cut a piece of masonite to hold the table but now I'm wondering if I should make them into tiles that can be switched out. Each way would have it's pluses and minuses.

 Even the little bits came out looking good..

 I bought the big ol bag of plaster, so now I can make 25lbs of cobbles/flag/bricks but holy crap is it going to take me awhile hah..

While waiting for the plaster to dry I got Sonnia's arms attached and are mostly done.. I know she is suppose to be wearing the mask but I think I'll actually paint her without it.. just making her face fleshtone. I'll just have to give her a headband to hide the metal edge or something ...

 Sam is also together and ready to be painted up.. I started some blending on him and mounted him on a piece of wood I started coloring and burned..  I figured it would be cool with his crews burning motif but looking at it right now it reminds me of a old smashed cig .. haha.. I need to get some paint on there !