How Metal Miniatures Are Made - Episode 1
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ย. 2024
- I hope you are keeping well!
In the lead up to (and possibly during) my upcoming KickStarter campaign to fund the production molds for my Mirrors of Tullarn fantasy miniatures, I'll be sharing everything I know about molding and casting miniatures in metal.
I am by no means an expert, everything I know and have learned is by trial and error, and making assumptions. I've found it very difficult to find any in-depth information about this process and it's my hope that by sharing what I know, those with more information will either share what they know and/or correct me where I am wrong.
If you have questions about this process, those would very much be welcome as they will help me focus and refine these videos into what I hope will be a more comprehensive look at this process than what I have seen in the past.
Keep an eye on the Knights of Dice facebook page and website for details about the campaign and a launch date!
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I would genuinely love to see as much of this content as you're willing to provide. It's a niche within a niche within a niche that I didn't know I wanted to watch - Keep it up!
same, i've been doing hobby stuff on and off for 20 years and this is basically the first glipse behind the curtain
It's certainly becoming less and less relevant, what with 3d printing and advances in plastic injection molding .. but it's still fun! Thanks for watching
amazing, this is great info
Thanks Trent. Once I can get back into the studio full time (once home schooling ends after this lockdown!) I can get back to this. Your new studio looks like a wonderful space!!
Viv, we are miniatures geeks. We want all the detail! I'll be on the lookout for your kickstarter.
Thanks ... just as I was getting ready for the relaunch, we went into another lockdown so hopefully I can get that back in action soon!
This was very informative, thank you!
You're welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!
Gigantic crash course, answered so many questions.
This is really good to see, I really like metal miniatures so I love seeing them made.
Aye, I prefer a metal miniature over plastic or resin any day of the week!
Metal minis 👍💪👍
Awesome start! Many pro casters are very tight lipped with info and materials. I’m more of a hobbyist sculptor/castor. What I’ve learned is by trial and error like you.
Most online info is just an overview of the process. As you know, the devil is in the details. Temps, times, pressures, mold materials, organic vs silicone, even venting and gating molds are often treated as secrets. I know it can be frustrating searching for information. So, I’ve always been willing to share what I know. There aren’t any secrets. I think any details you’re willing to share could be valuable and would love to see more of this series! It could be quite the rabbit hole. You could easily do an entire episode on model positioning relative to mold rotation or another on gate location and kiss gate cutting. Rabbit hole. And interesting and seldom explored rabbit hole though. (Sorry about the long rambling comment… topic dear to me)
THIS - "entire episode on model positioning relative to mold rotation" ... you just can't find this information anywhere! I'm very much looking forward to sharing what I know, and hopefully learning more as I do!
Takes me back to when I was casting at Citadel
I would be so wonderful to have had industry experience like that! I love metal miniatures and much prefer them over any plastic or resin I have. I guess, for me, it's like reading a book which is something I very much prefer to PDF's on digital content.
I would definitely like to see an over shoulder look at loading the production moulds and then releasing them after spinning, that would be cool to see.
I had an old video on my RubbishInRubbishOut channel that showed that I think, but we'll certainly be covering that here in this series!
Really informative! Good stuff!
Thanks Bill ... it's a wonderful topic, so much goes into it with very little access to detailed information.
As much detail as you can. Fascinating
I can't guarantee all of it will be "best practice" but I'll share what I know! Thanks for watching.
Great vid, really intresting, have been looking for info on all this myself so this is brilliant 👍
Thanks. Looking forward to getting back to this once our lockdown ends and I can get more time in the studio
On the surface, it's a "simple" thing, this moulding and casting lark.
Until you start looking into it, then you realise just how deep that rabbit-hole goes, Alice. :D
It does go REALLLLY deep, too.
Hahaha, it really does! So many little topics that all come together to form an entire process. My understanding and knowledge is limited, I'm certainly far from an expert, and each time I make a new mold I realise something new .."I should have positioned the model like 'this' instead" etc.
Awesome video, very informative and as always your way of telling stories is very pleasant. So great video, as always.
Hehe, thanks ... sometimes I watch my videos back and cringe! I rarely script anything and consequently things go all over the place!
I really enjoyed this vid Viv. Detail is good.
Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed it!
This is very nice to have! I wish you had made this video (and the rest of the series) back in 2015 when I was trying to look up the miniature making process for my master's degree. Out of several hours of searching the Internet, I managed to find only two sources of information on how the casting process work: a video from Reaper Miniatures, and a video from Zombie Smith Miniatures. Both were enough to get me the information I needed back then, but even those were very introductory.
As someone who is interested in all aspects of this hobby, I would greatly enjoy seeing a video series on the metal miniature casting process - greens, master molds, production molds, spin casting, vulcanizing rubber - all of it would be great!
I will be covering all those topics. Josh (from Zombiesmith) has done some good videos in the past (he is also doing a new series at the moment), but as you mentioned, many are high level overviews.
This initial video is very helpful, thanks so much. I aspire to cast my own models in the future so this is a great start
I have a friend Tom Darga who learned at Reaper and did it for a smaller company. I see him at conventions now and then. We were in a college wargaming club together. He took me back and for a day showed me what he did. It was rather fascinating!!!! But it was 20+ years ago also. If I can find him and you want to talk to him let me know Big Guy!!! I noticed your wearing a pull over and then remembered winter and summer are opposet for us. Love ya Brother!!!!
I don't think much would have changed in those 20 years Bill, the process is the same! :)
This is amazing. Please go into more detail! There is so little info about the process out there. It's so strange that other creators are unwilling to share information like this. Time to pull your heads out of the sand, people!
Yeah, it's very strange. For a skill/trade that many would consider a "dying art" (given the prevalence of 3d printing these days), it's odd that many aren't keen to share their experiences and/or knowledge
As someone who loves vintage GW metal miniatures, this is very interesting. I had heard about vulcanizing etc., but it's very nice to see some of the process. I'm not through the whole video yet so not sure if shown, but I'd love to see the actual metal casting.
Thank you for the video!
This is fascinating stuff! Please keep up the detail. :)
I'll put as much detail in as I know, glad you enjoyed it!
The more info the better Viv, I'm also interested in the differences between white metal fab vs resin casting and what things change, aside from the whole temp and pressure thing. Love your content mate, cheers
A great topic suggestion, thanks! Metal and resin casting are two entirely different bags with different techniques both in terms of molding and casting. I certainly talk about this in future videos, Thanks!
Hey Viv, you have been quiet. l hope all things are well with you. Don’t let lockdown get you mate. Looking forward to your next video.
I've been up and down. I haven't had much time to film at the studio, hence the lack of videos. Once this lockdown ends and Charlotte can go back to school it will free up some time to get all the various balls in the studio rolling again!
Inwould love a uni lecture about that! More info the better! Were not here for the shorts 😂
Really nice to see how the process works, never knew exactly was meant when people said they'd sent things away to be mastered :)
Glad you enjoyed it ... looking forward to continuing the series!
Please share all that you can. Its inspiring to know everything about the process. 😁
I'll certainly share all I know. After our lockdown ends, it will be nice when I can actually spend some proper time in the studio so I can get back to this series!
@@KnightsOfDice sincerely looking forward to it. 😁
Hey Viv, definitely want to see the whole process in detail particularly the equipment breakdown and if you don’t mind sharing the set up costs. All the best.
The equipment would be a good video! I'm happy to share my costs, but those will vary depending on peoples location, but I'm happy to share my experience.
that was very interesting!
I haven't responded to many comments for ages, and this one brings me back to this project!! Hopefully I can get back to this soon as I jump into the molding process for my miniatures!
I'm happy seeing plenty of detail. I create art for boardgames, and knowing about the practicalities and pit falls in production helps a lot. I'd like to know about those kind of issues in figure production.
The relationship between the sculptor and the ones who are casting is important. It's very easy to sculpt a model that cannot be easily cast. If the sculptor doesn't understand the molding process, it can lead to time and money being wasted!
That was super interesting, so sad couldnt go all the way to explain the whole process. But still hoping to see more episodes about metal miniatures casting. Id love to see everything in detail from A to Z. But thanks for the introduction! It was great
I'm sure I'll get back into the casting room at some stage! Thanks for watching.
I'd love to see how I could sculpt my own gobbling to get 50 of them for a wargame at a reasonable scale
unless your doing something production for sale small batch stuff tends to be much more economical on sla printers.
The types of latex/rubber you need for making white metal moulds are generally very pricey for an enthusiast and they always create duplicates so no dynamic posing. that's another big advantage of sla printers you can take a digital version and modify it between prints. if you only have a hard copy of your one miniature and want 50 identical copies then regular pouring latex and 2 part resin are probably the best way to go for resin copies.
As Lewis has mentioned, 3d printing is certainly changing things and is extremely accessible these days.
Thanks, much appreciated. I'm curious to know how multi part models are cut before they are molded.
This is usually something that is done by the sculptor as parting out a model generally requires some clean-up at the joins. My experience is limited with this (i love a good single piece metal model!) but I'll talk about what I know in a future video ... great suggestion! Thanks.
Awesome video
Great info. I'm game for anything you can / are willing to share.
I'll share as much as I know! No secrets here.
The more detail the better! Great video, thank you for sharing.
Amazing video thanks Viv. I would love more detail on everything and find this kind of explanation on the methodology fascinating. Out of interest how did you learn all of this? Was it a slow burn or did you meet a industry guru who shared their secrets? Can’t wait for your next video!
Everything I have learned has been trial and error ... it's an expensive and sometimes demoralizing way to learn, but there just isn't much out there outside of very high level overviews of various processes. I'm very much looking forward to getting back to this once our lockdown ends!
Super informative. A bunch of information I never knew I wanted to know. As far as how much information I say open the flood gates.
"A bunch of information I never knew I wanted to know" ... haha, I feel like that so often! I'll stumble across something and then get lost for hours as I get more and more into it.
Super interesting topic!
Indeed!
Good content, this is something I want to know as would love to do it myself so for me as much details that you can cram in would be perfect.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for this. I've been fumbling around youtube and this video was an oasis. The problem is that I'm only a couple weeks of research in, so I don't know what I don't know lol. I do sculptures in monster clay and I was trying to find a way to make them more permanent.
That was a cool video! I'm thinking that what could be cool is to follow the process journey of the life of a metal miniature step by step from day one, which will be from concept to painted miniature ready for battle! ..That will be CoOL :)
After I get around to launching the KS for my current batch of fantasy figures, I would love to do more ... that will be the perfect time to follow that journey!
I used to use something similar. I had silicon molds though and used it with hot wax. Then I would take the wax items and make spew trees for lost wax casting.
I want to sit through your university course, I want to do this myself one day.
I am no way qualified to teach anyone about this ... but if I can share what I know (warts and all), I might come across people who know more and in turn teach me more!
Excellent video. I have a few questions:
1. How do you produce bigger figures?
2. Can you use galvanized rubber mold for materials other than metal (resin, plastic)?
3. What is the average life (casting cycles) of a production mold like this?
These are some great questions and something I very much want to answer in future videos. Bigger figures are usually done in resin these days (due to the cost of metal) but otherwise the model needs to be 'parted' and each piece molded and cast. You can cast resin in spin casting molds but not plastic, plastic requires injection not gravity or centrifugal force. Average life for a mold like this would be circa 1000 spins, but that can vary a lot. It depends on the metal, the temperature, under cuts, shore hardness of the material etc.
I want all the informations!
I enjoy listening to you rable while i work
Hahaha, I'm very good at rambling on. As future videos come out, hopefully most of it will be on topic!
Very cool Viv, no one else does stuff like this so it is really cool to see.
Is the process for plastic or resin minis completely different?
Hopefully I can get back to this soon ... lack of time in the studio has caused big delays to everything at the moment! Plastic is certainly very different. It is possible to spin cast resin but the molding process is slightly different than metal, specifically in how the molds are gated and vented.
@@KnightsOfDice Hopefully you can get some more time in soon mate!
The complete casting handbook by J. Campbell
So its aimed at production engineering casting and not art based casting but it has a wealth of general information about casting and understanding the flows of liquid metals within moulds that may be very useful just to broaden your understanding. Im pretty sure there is a section about spin die casting which should be informative.
Im not sure how viable it is in your locality but it may be an idea to have your master sculps 3d scanned so you have a permanent digital copy and the means to recover it should any issues with your physical workspace arise. My university does it, though its not a commercial thing so I doubt the service is available to outsiders but it may be worth asking at your nearest uni engineering department.
I have not read that book. Nic from Eureka Miniatures lent me a book on casting some time ago that was fantastic (I forget its name sadly), but it's last reprint was early eighties and the copies I found online were going at $400+. I have been looking for a high quality scanner to provide such a service to our local market, I've seen a few machines but the search continues.
@@KnightsOfDice yea decent quality scanners are fairly difficult to acquire. im sure it would be a valuable investment if you can find one.
Have you ever considered using resin instead of metal? I have a close friend who does resin casting, makes his own molds and such. If you get the method down you're golden.
I do some resin casting and it will be something that I cover in these videos. I am also keen to show how resin can be done in spin casting molds ... it is something I have limited experience with and am keen to explore it more!
Are there more episodes to this subject?
Eventually ... I've got a lot of molding I need to do so there will be more!
Can you provide unit economics how much will it cost to produce a 20cm miniature
Extreme Detail Please
It shall be so!