Crusader Seals for Heroes and Legends Games

Our Latest commission came in the form of a set of limited edition crusader seals for a local wargames store for whom we've done a few projects now. The seals are for the new release of Warhammer 40,000, Games Workshop's latest edition of their popular table top game. The store are having a release day this Saturday (30th) from 9am, and the first 25 customers to purchase a rulebook get one of these seals. Since they are limited edition and there are only 25, it's worth taking a look! for more information on this, what they'll be running on the day and for purchases from the hobby, see their site here.

We've recently been getting slicker, quicker and better with our seals, so that we can produce them to the same high quality but with better delivery times to retailers and customers, so this was a great chance to put the new processes into action. In a previous post we showed the (fairly medieval) way we were creating seals. They looked great, but weren't as accurate as we wanted. So we went for a press-stamp that we could use to create clean edges and crisp imprints.

Imprint mould for the plastic

Imprint mould with a better view

We designed the centre and outside script with the guys at Heroes and Legends and then took it back to the workshop. The two new design features they we included were in response to their comments, so they all now have tear-resistant paper due to a textile coating on the back and a sticky square so that customers can attach them to things more easily.
 
Finding the best way to create a template for the stamp was tricky, but we ended up with a pretty good plasticine replica of what we wanted the end results to look like. With that set up we cold-cast resin into and were really happy with the results - a very clear and crisp outline and stamp to use on our clay.

The resin stamp - not a great picture, but it's actually very accurate as a stamp :)

From there we included the previous experience with the clay and seals, so we had uniform sizes/edges, and with some more tooling for cutting and shaping we came out with 25 seals ready to add scrollwork.

25 seals all ready to ship

There are differences between all of them, but they are slight and we wanted to keep this in because it means that each of the 25 is unique - the way the scrollwork is burnt and worked makes them all individual as it is, so we wanted to continue that into the seals.
The end result looks like this:

Final seal - 1 of 25

Waiting for the first 25 customers this Sat. the 30th

 We'll be down at Heroes and Legends on Saturday to hear what people think, get some feedback and talk about other projects on the go and future ideas people would like to comission us for. See you there, then :)

NB - we've been sorting out emails, blogs etc recently,so we've been a bit lax in places, but we're now up and running with our email sorted and website soon - Contact us on hammerandforgereplicas@gmail.com

Current projects: June 2012

So we're in the middle of a few things at the moment. First up, we're imporving our seals so that they are more durable before we start selling them. The paper used before looks amazing on static pieces, but we want people to be able to put them on figure cases, bags, computers or anywhere they want really. With that in mind, we've changed the basic design to have a much stiffer card instead of paper as the scrollwork and added an adhesive square to the back.

Different types of paper we went through to get it right!

We'll be posting soon about how to get them personalised with what you and want.

We're also on course with a few projects for clients, including some Stargate-style replicas, and a possible sci-fi Halberd in the future.

Last (but not least) we're modeling our gauntlets before making them in metal - card first to make sure we get them the way we want, then on to the cutting.

Starting rough mock up of the wrist and knucles for the Gauntlet.

Soon as we've done the whole thing we'll put up pics and show people how we're getting along.

The next big thing...

We're deep into design-land at the moment, mocking up the card outline and basic structure for our Gauntlets - more pics to come!

We're also changing the design of our Hammer and Forge Seals so that the have a stylised look and are unique to us. The main theme of latin quote round a wax-looking seal will stay the same, but we want more detail in the imprint so we can cast a better punch in pewter and then produce them. They'll soon be available from Heroes and Legends Games, and we can do more specifically personalised ones one request by contacting us here.

This is what part of the design desk currently looks like!

Cluttered desk but there's method to the madness..

Project Finished: Chainsword

So we've finished our Space Marine Chainsword! We took it to a local wargames tournament over the weekend to show off, and it went down a storm. Pictures of the finished sword are below, and it will soon be found in its new home Heroes and Legends.

One side of the finished piece.

Close up on the Hammer and Forge Wax Seal (not actually made of wax or they'd break - more durable)

Cleaned up shot of the Sword - the other side has scrollwork and intricate writing - you can see it better on facebook at our Facebook Page

We'll also be selling Hammer and Forge Wax Seals from the beginning of next week - like those on the side of the Chainsword but with a different motif. More pictures to come!

Finishing: Details and Final Touches and 'Seal of Approval' Deal

So we're almost finished our Chainsword, now we're just adding last minute details to it and we'll be ready for its first time showing in public at Tolworth 1st Founding's 'Mayhem' Tournament this weekend.

As mentioned we’ve added yellow and black danger stripes, and started on the painted on (rather than embossed Blood Drop) scrolling, which we’ll be finishing off today/tomorrow.

Scroll-work from the template.

Long shot view for scale of the scroll

All sprayed! we have to paint the detail in afterwards by hand, which is why the outline looks slightly odd.

We’re also coloured the activation stud, and done the Seals.

All the makings for a Hammer and Forge Seal.

The Seals themselves are plastic/clay with an imprint - Wax itself is far too fragile to use, and this actually looks more realistic!

The basic seal. Scroll works changes from piece to piece, as can the imprint on top as we personalise them.

The paper is specifically treated in the workshop to get the right look.

And here's the finished article.

We will eventually be selling personalised and bespoke Sci-fi Wax Seals as seen above, however you can get your own first and for free as part of our ‘Seal of Approval’ deal. The first five orders during/after this coming weekend (13^th April) will come with a bespoke seal free with the order, so get on to us at Hammer and Forge via Dominicbarry.eng@gmail.com with your replica orders to get yours.

Finishing: Blood Drop

Just a quick post about the sudden speed up of activity on the Space Marine Chainsword; It's now got colour! we're on a red theme today/tomorrow, with hand wrapped cord for the handle and the blood drop sprayed red (as you can see below).
Next up are the yellow danger signs and then the teeth, with scrolling and smaller details the last to be done. All coming together very nicely.

Masking tape ahoy.

Mid-spray

Finished result - great contrast with the surrounding black.

Final colouring: Black, Silver and Red

So the usual (far too long) time has elapsed between posts, but we're now into the finishing phase.
Sparying the main body of the Space Marine Chainsword has given us a uniform black coating and now we're about to mask off parts of the sword and spray/paint on details.

Close insert of the newly black engine block.

The blood drop will obviously be red, but we're also going to add some scrollwork to the other side and black and yellow hazard strips to some parts.

The Teeth have now been sprayed again after having been given a coat of aluminium paint basecoat, this time to make them look a more metalic and slightly more muted/less shiney.

More muted but more realistically metalic-looking teeth

As you can see below we haven't been idle when not posting, and have a brand new workshop space for plastics and woods that's been added to our more metal-work orientated workshop. It's all systems go - more and final pics coming soon.

Part of the new workshop space with spare wood ready to be used...