It's apparently my 14th cake day, so here's what I've been working on: Rolling Plunder

First finished casting

I'd been thinking of a funny little car I could make, and then I unearthed this turret from a GI Joe vehicle.

I almost made it into a diorama, cause look at it, but cleaned it out instead.

The idea taking shape

The fenders are made from pill bottle caps, which was not the greatest plan. They're made of HDPE, and things don't really stick to them; came off a few times.

Getting an idea of where the wheels and fenders needed to be placed

My first wheel. The shell is the platform from a push pop I also found stuck in the mud, that I filled with Apoxie Sculpt, and carved with my rotary tool.

Attaching the fenders, and doing some body work with the Apoxie Sculpt

Wheels and gun are test fitted with Blue Tac. I really love the stance of the vehicle.

He's helping put it together

Admiring it from my chair

Some of the "patches" I modeled on, so it had a bit more of a junk look.

Test fitting the controls. I reused the handles from bad shield casts, since they were already meant for his hands.

His arms aren't symmetrical, cause hand made, so I couldn't use a wheel.

These grips help position him in the center, which is great.

Testing the wheels on the steel axles.

Cleaning up the body work.

Assembling the mold case. Trouble ahead.

First complete castings of the wheels, controls, and gun. The wheels and controls are cast in the same pour, so they color match.

I bought the brass acorn nuts, in the thought I could just cut threads on the axles with a die, but I didn't like the look. My original plan was gold skulls, so I quickly sculpted that.

The mold took a lot of silicone to make. I waited 4 days to get this much, and it wasn't enough. I had to wait another 3 to finish it, because Fedex couldn't deliver on time.

First and second castings, after the mold debacle was over.

Gold mica powder dusted in the mold, and poured with black resin

I "potted in" the axels, and made this jig to position them with Lego.

That's more like it

Skulls are definitely the way to go. If nothing else, because they match the texture of the rest of the materials.

The original wheels ended up oval, or maybe egg shaped, so they were hitting the fenders as they rolled. I got these wooden toy car wheels, and only 1 out of 12 were round enough.

Rough sculpted additions

First casting

It works, finally

Now with the axles fixed in place.