Sunday, December 4, 2011

40mm Casting Report 2 - Creartec Infantry

Next up, Creartec. These come with a painting guide, two wooden holders and a robust rubber band. The molds are silicone, they feel light and rubbery.  I was concerned how they'd hold up to repeated casting once up to temperature but they can take it.  As with the Zinnbrigades, the layout and air channels seem to be well thought out. And, it's very easy to cut more if needed given the softness of the material.  One quirk of the Creartecs, the figure bases are open at bottom. It's a rude shock to see all you metal flow out the bottom of the mold if you don't brace it well against something.  For the infantry, the metal flows directly through the top of the skako, makes for reliable casts but consequently care must be taken not to lop off the skako ball when prepping the figures.



I have two molds at present, the line infantry elite company fantassin/drummer and mounted British dragoon.  I had some problems casting the dragoon but got it going just at the end of my casting session - at any rate none are yet painted so I'll save the result for a subsequent post.



As you can see, the results yield rather antique looking fellows.  They are fairly flat as semi-rounds go, in the style of the old Schneider figures. But I think they'll look good massed in formation.  That's the next unit in the queue, ready to start later this month once the first Zinnbrigades are done.

One drawback, these first infantry figures are 45mm giants, dwarfing the poor Zinnbrigaders.  I'll post size comparisons shortly, featuring PA, Zinnbrigade, Creartec, S&S, Irregular and Meisterzinn (if I can get any decent casts from the latter).

4 comments:

  1. The size comparison will be welcome, sir.


    -- Jeff

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  2. Very nice painting and they certainly have a nostalgic look. Best, Dean

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  3. Ahh. I kinda like the thought of semi-flat and the samples look good. I'll be interested to see how flat the horse and Dragoon are. If 45mm Giants, they should fit along side the Meisterzinns.

    The pictures I've seen of the 18thC range indicate very nice figures of very different style. I thought about them for AWI Hessians but just don't have a real need for them.

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  4. Thank very much, Dean.

    @ Jeff & Ross,

    Size comparisons should be up in a day or two. So far as the flatness of the cavalry figure goes, think Prince August just a bit more rounded. For size, the dragoon figure is halfway between PA and true 45mm.

    Regards,
    Steve

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