Using hot glue for lava

[necronomitron]

So I'm going to try something a bit more experimental with my next model, Pyre Troll. I'm going to have him standing on a thin, flat rock that I want to set on lava effects in the base. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to go about this?

[Zenassassin]

Well lava is just opaque rock, really. It's the painting where it becomes like glowing magma, not the material. IOW, don't try to make it clear or anything crazy.

Plain old putty of any kind would be fine. Or Elmer's glue. Anything that, when dry/cured will hold a "blobby" look. Hot glue would probably work pretty well.

Why don't you try it out on a spare base or something and spray it with primer to see how it looks? The PP-style lipped bases should help a lot. Then post pics of course =)

[necronomitron]

I think I might try something other than hot glue now that you mention it. I've never used it productively but I have memories of messing around with my mother's crafting hot glue gun when I was younger and recall that it's not always very compliant.

On a tangent note, what kinds of putty are good for this kind of thing? All I have is GS. Are there other kinds of putty out there that will serve me better depending on the application?

[Zenassassin]

Well green stuff would work for sure but that hinges on being able to sculpt it convincingly. The hot glue might be easier to form into that gooey look because that's it's natural state.

[artificer]

I've had great luck with Gorilla Glue. When you wet it, as it dries it 'foams' up. I've used it on display boards to great effect. As the bubbles expand and break you get a look like the leading edge of a lava flow, where the rock is starting to cool a bit.

You're going to have to test it first though, because the stuff goes pretty crazy as it expands, and you'll only need a tiny bit smeared on the area you want as lava.

I would definitely give hot glue a miss. It's too glossy and I think you'll have a hard time making paint stick the way you want.

[Askew37]

I just did a lava base for Durgen Madhammer with pretty good success.

For any of the bases I create from scratch, I start with a base of natural rocks, green stuff, and Sculpty (which you can find at any crafts section of any store. Scupt your base, remove it from the actual plastic base, put any holes you'd need for rocks, but take them out. Bake the scuplty clay in your oven for like 20 minutes and it comes out hard as clay. Makes a good base to start applying green stuff to.

[necronomitron]

I skipped right past the hot glue. I tested Elmer's but it wasn't working out for me. I think what I ended up with in my test of Gorilla Glue is going to suit me fine. By itself I think it kind of looks like a horribly made pizza, but I think when I try the technique on the Pyre Troll it will provide enough context.

[artificer]

Looks great so far. I'm glad the Gorilla Glue trick worked for you.
With a bit of practice you can get some really cool formations.

One thing I'd suggest is a bit more 'rock' for your guy to stand on. Sticking a little pink foam, tree bark, or a little slate in there will give you a good texture and a place to stand. As soon as lava begins to flow, it cools, so unless you're standing IN the actual volcano, it's rare to have that much yellow-hot lava.

[necronomitron]

The actual model itself is standing on a rock. I'm going to work the glue under and around the rock and go from there.

[artificer]

excellent! Can't wait to see pix of the finished piece.