http://search.deviantart.com/?q=by:ROBOPOPE&section=today deviantART RSS for by:ROBOPOPE en-us Copyright 2009, deviantART.com Sun, 20 Dec 2009 11:25:06 PST deviantART.com http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://s.deviantart.com/minish/widgets/apple-touch-icon-precomposed.png http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/24332949/ http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/24332949/ Sun, 19 Apr 2009 19:42:28 PDT
]]> ~ROBOPOPE http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/21980575/ http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/21980575/ Sun, 14 Dec 2008 12:46:34 PST ~ROBOPOPE http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/21788409/ http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/21788409/ Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:59:19 PST
]]> ~ROBOPOPE http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/20643754/ http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/20643754/ Tue, 23 Sep 2008 21:26:29 PDT [link]

Last Saturday I had my first tactical event as a rifleman with the 37th Guards Rifles Division. It was in a small town about 40 minutes west of Harrisburg called Newville. The battlefield was actually a World War I area, with an extensive trench system and no man's land covered in shell holes. Barbed wire ran from post to post and was a general pain in the rear. Only half of the battlefield was open, though. But still, the whole place was overgrown with poison ivy and thistles of every type. It was hard to remember to look into the shell hole or trench before diving into it because I was more concerned about staying alive than running into a thistle or poison ivy. And the day was hot. It was 90+ degrees and humid, and we were out in full kit and gear, and I had camouflage on over that. It was fun, though. My favorite part was when I got shot, I'd fall over and start screaming in Russian. There was a German who did it too, and I wanted him to crawl out into the open so I could give him a merciful bullet. The Russians won the event, which is surprising given the amount of machine guns and heavy equipment on the German side, and they were very nicely dug in in the trenches and shell holes. I hear from one of my friends who got captured that some of the Germans were pretty sadistic, but that's in character, especially for the SS. But still, we won, and a good time was had by both sides.

]]> ~ROBOPOPE http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/20011499/ http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/20011499/ Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:15:02 PDT
1. Silicone rubber mold mix. It's sold in a box with a jar of silicone and a little bottle of catalyst. Just follow the instructions, mix, and pour. I have a preference for Alumilite's high strength stuff, it only just started to break down after I finished Proiteus's stuff. You can find the silicone at hobby stores and craft shops and will cost about $30.

2. Resin. This stuff comes in a two bottle set, mix in equal amounts and pour into your mold. I use Alumilite's low viscosity resin, which you can get at the same places as the silicone for about the same price.

3. Some Lego bricks. I use these to make pouring molds easier.

4. Polymer clay.

5. The pieces you're casting, obviously!

6. Some paper towels for cleanup.

7. A smooth, rigid surface. I find a clipboard works well for this.

8. Vaseline or other petroleum jelly.

9. Measuring cups. These come with the resin.

10. Some scrap sprue for stirring.

Once you have all these things, you're ready to go. Now here's how you use all this great stuff.

Step one: Build your mold box. Assemble the Legos into a box that's a little bigger than the area of your mold, and put the box on the clipboard.

Step two: Make the bottom mold. Put a slab of clay in the bottom of the box, and then work it out to the edges. Then pull the Lego box away, and press your pieces down into the clay. You may need to sculpt the clay a little to get it to line up correctly with your pieces. I find that pressing the pieces into the clay with the most detailed side facing up saves a lot of work. After you're done, put the Legos back around the clay. Lastly, key your molds. This cuts down on miscasts dramatically. To key a mold, simply poke a flat area of the clay with a narrow object, like the end of your paintbrush, to make a dent in the clay. This will create interlocking features that'll hold your mold together while the resin cures. Make sure you do this in at least two places.

Step three: Pour the first half of the mold. Get out the silicone and catalyst, and mix according to the directions on the bottle. Pour the silicone over the clay and pieces. To cut down on bubbles and other mold errors, you should pour slowly, starting in a flat area of clay with no pieces, and let the silicone flow over your parts. After the pouring is done, sit back and let the silicone cure. It'll take about 24 hours for the stuff to work, so go take a nap or read a book and come back tomorrow.

Step four: Remove the new mold. It's simple, break down the Legos if you have to, but pull the now cured silicone off of the clay. You've just made half of your mold. Now, remove the Legos from the clay, and replace the clay with the mold you just made. You now have a silicone mold in a Lego box on your clipboard. Remove the pieces from the clay and put them in their appropriate places in the silicone. You might have to clean some clay off of the parts before you pour the next part of the mold. Once you're ready, coat all visible silicone in Vaseline. The Vaseline acts like a mold release lubricant, and prevents the silicone from curing to itself. When you're done with that, mix up more silicone and pour the second mold just like the first, and give it the same amount of time to cure.

Step five: Remove the new mold again. Just pull it off after it cures, and it should come right out. You now have a pair of molds to cast whatever parts you want. Now put away all your silicone, Legos, and clipboards, and get out the resin.

Step five: Cast your parts. Before you do anything else, get a piece of your sprue that's about the size of a pencil. Cut off all the extra bits so that you have a smooth shaft, and then whittle an end down to a rounded point about the size of a .7mm mechanical pencil's lead. This'll be used to pop or herd away bubbles when you start casting. First, set out your molds and make sure you are clear on how one fits onto the other, because when the resin is mixed you have about two minutes to get everything done. Next, get your resin and mix equal parts of it in one of the rubber measuring cups. Stir it quickly until it becomes a uniform color, and then pour it into your molds. Fill both molds, make sure you get all the parts you want to cast, and then get your bubble popper and start popping bubbles, or at least pushing them out of the mold. Bubbles are bad, they cause miscasts. The less miscasts you have the less time you need to spend with greenstuff sculpting away bubbles and other annoying things. As soon as you are done, or the resin starts to get tacky, quic... ]]> ~ROBOPOPE http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/19526700/ http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/19526700/ Mon, 21 Jul 2008 21:11:08 PDT
]]> ~ROBOPOPE http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/19191505/ http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/19191505/ Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:41:05 PDT [link]) about entering a modeling contest he's running. The theme is pre-heresy Space Marines, and I'm planning to convert, paint, and enter a member of the Adeptus Custodes. I've been doing a lot of Fantasy work lately, what with my new Dwarf army and all, but a break back to the future would be welcome. INQI is requesting that any and all hobbyists enter his contest. It's open to everybody, and it would be cool if I had some good competition from DA. I don't want this contest to be a pushover. ;3

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But more than that, I've decided what colors to paint them. After almost four months of changing my mind, I've settled on the Emperor's Children. At first, they were going to be the Angrymarines - always angry, all the time. Their primary colors are yellow and red, but I remembered how much of a pain working with light colors is, and decided I wanted something darker. Next, I thought that I could make a Chapter closely aligned with the Adeptus Mechanicus, which would have me painting in blacks and dark reds. But then, I thought about my favorite pre-heresy Legion, the Emperor's Children, and I was convinced. Read the Marine's page for a little information on the 5th Company of the Emperor's Children.

I'm actually satisfied with where this army is going, and I've only done one model. There are going to be 29 more just like him, Marines in living poses, painted in deep, rich colors. It makes me smile to think about it. I'm also going to do some crazy conversion work for the Terminators, to make them look older than GW's current models. My Emperor's Children army sort of combines my desire to do a pre-heresy army with my restlessness and will to create a new force. I've come to the conclusion that the Star Foxes have run their course, and it's time to do something new. I didn't think that the new project would be for something so old.

]]> ~ROBOPOPE http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/17511328/ http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/17511328/ Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:04:33 PDT
Old-ish news: I placed first in the Eye of Terror's painting competition. Looks like I'll be the front page feature for a while. Now if only they'd put up the other stuff I sent them...

Next week I'll be traveling around Europe. I'll be visiting Paris and Berlin, among other places. I'm looking forward to Berlin, it'll be nice to go to a place where I can speak the language. Right after I get back from that trip, I'll be going to England, to Nottingham, to see Games Workshop's global headquarters. I'm going to take my Star Foxes for a game or two as well.

]]> ~ROBOPOPE http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/16799914/ http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/16799914/ Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:08:12 PST
anyway.

I entered the Eye of Terror's modeling competition. I'll be submitting a Space Marine Librarian and familiar, it should be pretty awesome.

For those who don't know, I'm studying abroad this semester in Rome, Italy. It's pretty cool, I guess. Things are laid back and it looks like this'll be an easy semester.

]]> ~ROBOPOPE http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/16799900/ http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/16799900/ Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:07:21 PST
anyway.

I entered the Eye of Terror's modeling competition. I'll be submitting a Space Marine Librarian and familiar, it should be pretty awesome.

For those who don't know, I'm studying abroad this semester in Rome, Italy. It's pretty cool, I guess. Things are laid back and it looks like this'll be an easy semester.

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My Sheezyart page gets a lot more attention than this place. Not sure why. anyway, I'll add all this stuff to the WH40k club when I figure out how to do it. For now, enjoy all the pictures. Comments are copypasta from my Sheezy page and therefore might be a little confusing. The Warhammer demo was actually three weeks ago, and Apocalypse was launched last weekend. Got myself a Baneblade and a cool backpack. Going back for a tournament this weekend, should be loads of fun.

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]]> ~ROBOPOPE http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/9093743/ http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/9093743/ Sat, 17 Jun 2006 06:39:25 PDT ~ROBOPOPE http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/7943724/ http://ROBOPOPE.deviantart.com/journal/7943724/ Sun, 19 Feb 2006 13:40:11 PST [link]

You can make fun of me now. ]]> ~ROBOPOPE