Start of my Viking Army-DIY.

Being a P.O.P.(poor old pensioner) I have to watch how I spend my money,so when I decided to build up a Viking Army to match my Warrior Miniatures Saxon army,My thoughts turned to some old Prince August moulds which I had stored in my loft for ages!
I got my wife to go up into the loft(far too dangerous for me to go up!) and find the moulds-of which she found 8!! so tonight I will cast a few figures from each mould to see what is suitable,but in the mean time I thought I would show the method used for casting.................

I first numbered the moulds for easy identification,and made some "clapper boards" to hold them,and keep them tight shut whilst pouring the metal.

This is the equipment I use-camping cooker,ladles,clamps and cutters,plus a dish of talcum powder to dry the mould and ease release.Goggles and gloves would be recommended too!!

Here the mould is clamped between the "clapper boards" prior to pouring the metal-it's a case of trial and error as to how tight you clamp the mould,to get the best results.

The metal is being heated in this shot-care must be taken when transferring the full ladle over to the mould-hot metal hurts-I know through years of casting figures!!

The metal has been poured into the mould,right up to the top,followed by "tapping" the mould to get rid of any trapped air bubbles.

After a minute or so,the mould can be opened-it's at this stage that you can see if the figures have cast ok or not-if not,simply start the procedure again!!

The figures,of a spearman,swordsman and axeman have been prised out of the mould(mould number 1) and look good-I just have to cut of the pouring sprue,which of course will be put back into the melting pot,so no waste of metal at all!!

Job done,only another 197 to go!!!!!-these figures are "true" 25mm,but Prince August do 28mm,32mm,40mm and 54mm moulds-have a look at their web site,you might just be inspired to try casting your own figures.