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Kaboom! One way of making explosions for your diorama

Posted: September 22nd, 2011, 10:26 pm
by mattbacon
Being in need of some explosions in my box art diorama, I went hunting around the web, and found a mention of using expanding builder's foam over a wire armature. Well... maybe it works for very big scale bangs, but I couldn't get the foam to stick, so I went a bit more freestyle.

You need a can of expanding polyurethane gap filling foam, and a sheet of smooth plastic ( a garden bin bag in may case).

First, make lots of foam splurts:
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You'll quickly get the hang of how to get a blob with a pointy tail, like a "thinks" bubble in a comic book.

Let them set solid, and peel some likely looking ones off the plastic, and mount on a wire:

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Then I got going with some Vallejo Model Air bright yellow and fire red using my airbrush, in several layers, starting with the lightest colour, and mixing some intermediate oranges, trying to achieve a sort of "bubbling" effect:

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You probably could achieve the same effect with a lot of careful drybrushing.

Finally, I used some "german grey" through the airbrush in the same way, and topped off with a very quick squirt of Humbrol matt black from a can, from "above" each one and far away, just to shade and catch the highest ridges:

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and there we are... mountable in the base using their wires, and an assortment of sizes and random-ish shapes. They'll do me...

bestest,
M.

Re: Kaboom! One way of making explosions for your diorama

Posted: September 22nd, 2011, 10:37 pm
by JamesPerrin
Fantastic work Matt! They look really cool erm... hot!

Just don't leave them lying around else the dog might think they are tasty nibbles ;-)

Re: Kaboom! One way of making explosions for your diorama

Posted: September 22nd, 2011, 10:48 pm
by SJPONeill
Great idea! Brews might need some for finishing off his Death Star...

That foam is an absolute cow to use but a very useful modelling resource....

Re: Kaboom! One way of making explosions for your diorama

Posted: September 23rd, 2011, 1:24 am
by PaulBradley
Mmm, cheesy puffs..........


:drool2: