Yesterday I collected a copy of GWs new game Dreadfleet that I had pre-ordered for my local gaming club. B.T.W. Don't you just love GWs "we don't believe that the game can stand up on its own merits so you must but in a two week window or else" approach.
Whilst at GW, my eye was dawn to their new product, "Liquid green stuff"
Now, this is a product that quickly grabbed my attention. I feel have spent a lot of time mixing together green stuff then desperately trying to squeeze it into joints. I always seem to mix together far too much and end up throwing away more than I use. I am also not a great sculptor, so any help would be appreciated. I have tried myself to get a more flowable version, but if you just add water to the traditional version, it goes grainy very quickly. Therefore I was very keen to give the liquid version a try.
To this end, I quickly assembled the scenery components of the dreadfleet..
From this I chose two components, the "castle Island" and the "corpseface cliff" which needed some work doing on the joints.
Before pictures....
The product
The liquid greenstuff has a constituency of a bread dough mix. It is pretty thick but is consistent in texture.
I spoke to the guy in the shop who suggested that it might be worth adding a little water. This worked quite well and I found I could add a little to give me a very nice paste.
I then applied to the models using an old brush.
First try..
The first tries where pretty frustrating. I found I had trouble directing the mixture to where I wanted it and that when it dried it shrank back into the crack. All I ended up with was a similarly poor joint just with less definition.
I then sanded back and tried again, but this time with the raw product, undiluted. This was just as difficult to control, but felt a little better going on. It still had a tendency to shrink into the crack whilst drying, which is frustrating.. Drying time was around half an hour.
The finished surface...
Above are the finished items with a covering of undercoat.
In conclusion;
This is a product that will require a few trial runs or a good user guide to get the hang of. The downside is that it shrinks and is difficult to control application. It appears to work better if you dilute it less. In all I am happy to continue experimenting and I believe that it has potential, but it was not the panacea I was hoping for!
Till next time, happy modelling.
Thank you for writing a review of this new greenstuff so quickly after its release. I am still hopeful about its utility but feel my expectations are more tempered and realistic now. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteFirst Review Bud ... well done !!!
ReplyDeleteCS
Heya! I just stumbled across your blog by accident and I've been reading your posts and marveling at your painting skills.
ReplyDeleteFor sculpting and seam-fitting, have you ever tried Aves Apoxie Sculpt? It's a 2-part modeling epoxy that is just awesome stuff. I'm sure a few web searches would reveal more about it than I could possibly elaborate here, but it's amazing stuff.
It's nontoxic, water washable (and smoothable), has a 3-hour cure time wherein it gets firmer and firmer, and it dries to a reasonably strong solid that will stick to itself and most other stuff securely, and can be sanded, painted, etc. And it comes in different colors, too.
I use it on my own little figure and model kit projects, and it's just indispensable to me. I can mix a tiny ball of the stuff in my hand, press it into cracks, and then use water and a finger or old paintbrush to smooth it over the joint.
I've never used the green stuff, but you might give this stuff a try -- it's really cheap anyways, but I've found it a worthy addition to my crafting workbench supplies.