Outrider and the new resin.

Ramshackle Games recently expanded. I added a new casting studio. We have set up both a pressure casting system and a vacuum chamber. With these Rodent Mastermind and I have been casting lovely, bubble-free orks in high quality polyurethane resin. Its a beautiful resin to work with, its light, tough and we dye it a pleasing green colour. All the kits assemble very easily with a bit of super glue. Great! This is the Outrider, our latest model.

We have been working our way through a big range of super Orky models. Each week we are delving into the box of master parts and releasing a new kit. As you can imagine, this is quite an epic task. I’m running the main Ramshackle Games polyester resin casting in the mornings, while Rodent Mastermind gets on with the polyurethane casting. Then in the afternoon I go to the new casting place and crack on with mould making and trouble shooting. Rodent is an amazing painter and model maker and now a great caster. He is also learning the mystical art of mould making, which is very hard! As you can see, its paying off and we have been getting some incredible casts.

I have been casting now for over 20 years, but mould making is such a difficult art that I am still learning! We have been learning about the importance of good sprue making. The sprue is the channel in the mould that lets the resin flow in, and lets the air escape. On kits this is usually removed and disposed of, but I hate the idea of all that quality resin going in the bin! So we have been detailing up our sprues so they can be used again.

The photo above is of the kit as we ship it out of the door to our esteemed and awesome customers (thats you by the way!). As you can see there is quite a lot of scenery building potential in just the scrap from the kit. Below is an image of Bazza the Games Workshop Ork lending a bit of scale to the terrain. He is used here without permission.

The kit scales well with Warhammer 40,000 models. The Outrider even fits nicely on a standard base, so is ideal to use as a replacement for a Megatrakk Scrapjet or Boomdakka Snazzwagon. The arms, heads and crew fittings on this model will take the Games Workshop plastic Ork parts well, so its easy to change the driver and gunner out.

I have just put up some of the parts from the kit on the web store too, and added some more of the other orc models from before, including the fantasy archers and war machines. The parts from this kit are just such excellent fun, like the new engine.

And of course we had to release the turret. The next items on the schedule  will be some alternate weapons for this turret, plus extra details and new heads to go with the kit.

But making moulds can sometimes go wrong. We designed the first ram mould badly, and we kept getting loads of ugly bubbles! Here is a picture of the awful miscast.

So we swapped the orientation of the part around, and hey presto! Perfect casts.

Its been a big learning experience running this new venture.We have had some ups and downs but the Ork model making community is very supportive of this re-released line. Ork players deserve good models, and it being Orktober we are adding a free set of spooky Halloween themed heads this month. This set will be added free to any order during October, or you get extras on the shop.

We also released a set of goblins. These guys are a crew of fixers, riggers and their Gaffa, along with a commander. Just what you need to keep your Orky tanks trundling along.

Please come and check out what we have been doing. Browse around the shop. You can also help by coming and making comments on Facebook, Twitter, Patreon or if you want to support me a small amount buy me a coffee!