Need help creating "liquid" shadow

[bspoon102]

I'm working on assembling my Witch Coven and in the fluff the Egregore is supposed to have shadow stuff pouring out of it, hence why they get Stealth while in B2B with it. My idea was to drill and pin 3 spots on the Egregore then put those pins into the base, so you essentially have it "floating" 1-2 inches from the base balanced on the 3 pinning rods. So finally we come to issue. I saw in one of the PP Insiders that they used spray foam insulation and the pinning process I just described to create a smoke effect by spraying insulation onto the rods. However the applicator that came with the spray was a still to big, even when checking 3 stores for the smallest one available, and I ended up with less then spectacular results.

So now I'm turning to more experienced minds for some ideas on how to create the illusion of a floating Egregore with liquid shadow stuff spilling out onto the base. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[WereRogue]

Elmer school glue mixed with black ink? Drying process might be kind of slow, though.

-Ken

[Critical]

when you use the foam insulation you put a little on some plastic and then drip/roll a little onto the rod/pin. That will let you control it as much as you need.

Cheers!
-Dave

[frostaxe]

I painted a mini way back when and had him standing in fire. I made 3d flames using hot glue and pulled them with a toothpick in order to get the shapes I wanted. Then I painted them. Maybe that could work for you. Just an idea.

[GreenJello]

Maybe Gorilla Glue would work better? The spray insulation foam sticks to EVERYTHING which makes it a pain to work with.

http://firstranksecondrank.blogspot....blog-post.html

[Menoth Darrell]

clear plastic rod bent to shape, water effects with black ink.

[Gdufner]

So, I used brass rod to "float" the one I painted,and then modeled liquid shadow/ectoplasm out of green stuff....Like this:

(This is one of my EARLIEST models! I was super proudof it at the time, but if I could repaintit again, it would look different....)



Another cool, trick I have seen, have the brass rod coming out one or two of the side "holes" and model the goo around that....There was an old post about modelling the Egregore...Old Forums, probably...

[Broken_shards]

use an acrylic flight stand to suspend egregore , and then if you use something like woodland scenics waterfall effects and let it part set then allow it to droop under its own weight to get natural curves , then once set careful build the shade in the miniature by using watered down glazes of tamiya smoke, itll avoid a uniform shade and colour and give you that hazy umbral look you are looking for

[Valander]

Funny, I had the same thought, and have been thinking about how to do this myself.

My thought is to get the pins in, and then use hot glue to make the dripping shadow, since it should theoretically flow downward and cool, leaving proper drips. I haven't tried this yet, though, so not sure if it will work, though I have done smaller drips with hot glue for terrain (stuff like sewage dripping out of pipes, etc.). After that, it's just a matter of painting it.

The expanding foam spray thing might work, too. I'll watch this thread to see where you go with it.

[Nion]

Just remember that hot glue will soften up and melt in the summer.

[PG_Ghool]

Putty.
Definitely putty.

Sculpting smooth, flowing, and organic surfaces is a hard thing to screw up, even if you're a novice sculptor.
If some parts are a bit rough, it can easily be fixed with paint.

My suggestion is to just use some epoxy putty, and sculpt it. Get some photos of viscous flowing liquids, and go to town.
Green stuff would probably be best suited for this, as it dries a bit softer than most other putties.

[Valander]

Just remember that hot glue will soften up and melt in the summer.

Does it ever get warm enough for that here in Seattle?

Good point, though.

[bspoon102]

Does it ever get warm enough for that here in Seattle?

Good point, though.

Well they did say summer so maybe, but we should be good 11 months of the year.

My green stuff skills are extremely lacking so while it may be a good option I'd be leery of doing it myself. I think I'll look into either the Gorilla glue or hot glue suggestions, or maybe the water effects stuff. Do they make one that is moldable? Always assumed they were like poured epoxies. Anyway I should be able to put up some pics later tonight of it's current state and will update when I settle on a method.

[Valander]

Well they did say summer so maybe, but we should be good 11 months of the year.

My green stuff skills are extremely lacking so while it may be a good option I'd be leery of doing it myself. I think I'll look into either the Gorilla glue or hot glue suggestions, or maybe the water effects stuff. Do they make one that is moldable? Always assumed they were like poured epoxies. Anyway I should be able to put up some pics later tonight of it's current state and will update when I settle on a method.

Actually, now that I think about it, I have some clear acrylic gel medium that's really thick, which I got for using to make water effects and the like. That would probably work; you can find it at almost any art store (mine is Liquitex). It's basically really thick clear acrylic paint, and you can slather it around with like a palette knife or whatever.

[iG4MER]

Well what about buying some glass rod, or clear plastic rod? Melting it to a drip?

[bspoon102]

Well what about buying some glass rod, or clear plastic rod? Melting it to a drip?

Well the thing is it's already pinned with brass rods running down to the base, so I'd prefer a method that doesn't require me to replace them but if the other suggestions don't pan out I'll definitely look into some of the clear rod ideas.

@Valander: As a clear acrylic base would I just add black paint and/or ink to color it?

[Valander]

@Valander: As a clear acrylic base would I just add black paint and/or ink to color it?

I've only used it straight, but I don't see why you couldn't add a little ink into it. Too much and it will affect its viscosity of course. I think it's "Super Heavy Gel, Gloss" that I have at home. I'll dink with it tonight. Even if mixing directly in would make it not as stiff, you could most certainly glaze it afterwords and still have a semi-transparent effect, I think. I'll run some experiements this weekend if I can.

[bspoon102]

Cool, be sure to let me know how those tests go. I'll finish the Witches first and save the Egregore for a bit, still need to finish my DJ conversion too anyway.