Greenstuff : how to harden ?

[Doctor Perils]

Hi there, I'm a bit of a beginner at greenstuff, but I've tried sculpting a shield in it:

I started of mixing half and half of the green and blue components, then rolled it out about 1 or 2 mm thick, before cutting out the shape I wanted, and placing it over a cylindrical can to give it a rounded effect. Then I let it cure over night (in fact, 2 days)

 

The problem is, though it's cured now, it's still rather flexible, even though the shape itself is pretty well defined now. Since I want to mold it, I need it to be a lot harder, even if that means sacrificing in terms of fragility.

 

Does anybody know how I might fix this problem ? Do you think freezing or baking could work ? Or could there be some sort of chemical ? If so, what sort of precautions should I be thinking about (ie, since the only oven I've got is also used for food, would baking it cause weird noxious fumes etc.) ?

[Atia]

I always mix my green stuff with milliput - that makes it hard as stone at the end ^,^

[JeffTibbetts]

Atia's right. A 50/50 mix makes a really, really excellent sculpting material that's easy to work with, and sandable after it cures. 

[Doctor Perils]

Cheers for the tips, I'll have to get my hands on some then :)

[Itsacon]

You can also mix the green stuff in different quantities. If you use more blue, the GS will dry faster and harder. Increasing yellow will extend working times and give a more flexible end product.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Or make the shield out of sheet plastic?

[WarriorFish]

I agree with BCK, if it's something like a shield (which is presumably straight/flat to a degree) something like plasticard would be a better meterial. GS is best for more "organic" shapes or proper sculpting.

[Lucio]

Greenstuff isn't for solid shapes, it provides details on top of exisitng structures. I'd personally make the basic shield shape from plasticard (or an existing miniatures shield filed smooth) coat it with greenstuff and then sculpt.

[Doctor Perils]

Thanks for the tip, but, the thing is, I haven't really been able to find any plasticard around here (I don't really know what it's called in France) and I'm not fond of ordering on the internet (blame the technophobic parents :-P). Plus I don't know how easy it is to put a curve in one (as I said, real newbie). The final problem with plasticard is that I wouldn't have any projects with what's left.

 

I've been to the hardware store and I found something that sounds like milliput, so I'll be trying that out soon, and I'll let you know how it goes.

[AndrewChristlieb]

If you're just needing a thin bit of plastic for the one project maybe try looking at different containers? I've used stuff like the impossible to open plastic packaging that a lot of smaller items are sold in, shampoo bottles, etc as the base for different projects. You might even be able to find something that already has the curve your looking for with a shield and just cut the basic shape into it. 

 

Another alternative is thick card, like index cards or poster board. Just be careful not to over saturate the card with glue or paint as it can easily fall apart.

[Doctor Perils]

Thanks for the ideas :)