Replicas from Moulds

'Spooky' Steve's- I

Here are two wonderful, detailed copies of Spooks in his collection made by 'Spooky' Steve, who made some moulds for Tilly and Sidney from play dough, filled with ordinary plastic from an airfix kit which was melted down with solvent to form a runny mixture which was then used to fill the mould... im pretty pleased, especially as all the detail from the originals is reproduced in the copies. Its early days and i didnt expect success straight away though its pretty gratifying.

Great to see how well the details have come out (such as the ruffs on Tilly's dress, her hair, ear, Sidney's 'nose', teeth...).

Steve made another replica of Sidney, which he kindly sent to me. Again it's made from melted plastic. The picture doesn't do it justice, but the details are there.

The Phantom Highwayman's

This marvellous replica of Whitie was kindly sent to me by Stewart who followed 'Steve's method, using sprue from a glow-in-the-dark kit. This made my day, and a few more besides, when it appeared out of the blue, with a note saying 'Look what the Spook dragged in!' The replica has all the details I'd have expected, and more: eyes, ears, mouth, fur and whiskers, and I think I see a nose!

Stewart says: The liquid plastic technique does seem to have been overlooked but it really is very useful and user-friendly. Steve insists he is not the inventor but I would never have heard of it otherwise and yet we know the principle only too well from over-liberal use of plastic cement. (Or is that just me ?) I found that there is plenty of room for error and if it does all go wrong it goes back in the melting pot anyway.

You can't go far wrong as far as the mix is concerned. If it's too thick you will know because it just won't pour but roughly the consistency of golden syrup (Steve's phrase) seems about right. Put the plastic in a jar and pour in enough Liquid Poly to cover it. Then wait until it is dissolved. I kept wanting to mash it up but that doesn't speed things so leave it and it will melt in its own time. Add more LP if it needs it. Once you start you will be comfortable with it whatever you do.

For the mould I thought of that old standby Copydex which has so many uses that I almost forget it is actually a glue. It will definitely not harm whatever you are making a mould of. Build up with thin layers and once it is firm enough to remove the original you can then add more to the reverse side and around the edges until it is a solid block that won't distort with handling. Again patience is required while it sets like rubber.

I have been relaying this to Steve and he has thought about using Maskol instead. It is very similar and I have used Copydex for masking so it may work. As a further alternative he suggests silicon sealant but I think that would stick to the original in a way that Copydex doesn't.

You definitely need a release agent otherwise when the liquid plastic has set it will stick to the Copydex like superglue and even tearing the mould apart will not separate them. I used washing up liquid, applied as a thin coat well brushed out so as not to obscure the details and left to dry overnight, then a second coat. One coat may be enough but I did not risk it. The Liquid Poly evaporates as the plastic cures so I had to do several applications to get the casting thick enough. You have to judge when it has set enough to remove from the mould, but I left it for several days. If you ease the casting out of the mould carefully you will still have the mould to use again.

Retromat's

And here's my own attempt at casting a Spook. I made it with a mould of play dough taken from a laser-cut Alf and filled with luminous glue. I found the glue difficult to use - it doesn't exactly flow! The mould deformed somewhat as I was trying to fill it and the edge of the figure slopes outwards towards the back, so we have a fuller-figured Alf as a result. The back edge is slightly rough, because it's from an open mould, but possibly this adds to the spooky effect. I'd like to give the hot glue another go, this time in a silicone mould but if that doesn't work, I know that Fimo should give excellent results!

'Spooky' Steve's - II

A little while later I heard again from Steve, who showed me this terrific mould of Tilly Tudor that seems to have captured all the details of the original very well indeed. He told me:

I've known about silicon putty for quite a while now, it crops up in model magazines in regard to making moulds. I got some from Hobbycraft a long time ago, pre Covid! As you can see from the picture, I've managed to make a mould of Tilly which has come out quite well. The inspiration for what to fill it with came from you, Matt, on the website a long while ago_ luminous glue sticks, applied with a glue gun! What a brilliant idea! Easily obtained, plentiful and cheap! I havent actually tried it yet, so many other things seem to get in the way, but i will and of course i will let you know how it goes.

Naturally I was eager to see how Steve got on with the mould, so was very excited indeed to be told some time later to expect something in the post!

This is what I got - the pictures don't really do them justice - the details and the glow are wonderful!

The first Tilly (to think I got two!) is made from the mould shown above by:

squeezing some melted luminous hot glue... and then, because the glue sets quickly, stopping at regular intervals to melt the glue properly into the mould with a heat gun. The heat gun was a mistake, i think because it caused the air bubbles, because i heated the glue too much. I think it would be a better idea to squeeze some glue into the mould and then put it into the oven on a low heat and let the glue melt slowly and gently, taking it out and topping up the glue until the mould was full. Another problem i found was, the glue, when set, is rather rubbery and difficult to trim, even with a new blade, or sand.

Well, it is quite clearly of Tilly, glows nicely in the dark and has something of the appearance of the plastic of the original, so of course I was thrilled to receive it. Possibly because of the material, the details aren't so obvious in the pictures, but they are indeed there. I've noted Steve's comment about trimming - I may have a go myself, but will proceed with caution of course and will practice first, perhaps on a casting made from the cake topper mould.

As to the challenges posed by the material, I wonder if it would help to put a flat backing piece with suitable entrance and exit holes for the hot glue? Then it would effectively be an injection mould. Must give it a try...

The other two Spooks are made from Fimo. Steve says:

they were much easier to make, just "work" the Fimo in your hands until it is nice and soft and then press it into the mould, then put it in the oven for 30 minutes, i think it was. One of the advantages of making the moulds from silicone putty is that it will withstand high temperatures. Although the Fimo spooks dont look realistic in daylight, i like the way that the details are highlighted. At least all of these replicas glow in the dark!

Indeed, the details are very clear in daylight, much more than I would have expected, and also quite visible too in the dark, as the picture below hopefully shows. The Fimo works incredibly well.

Stewart also received some Spooks and says: The look and colour are spot-on. Instead of a padded envelope, I think I just opened another box of Sugar Puffs.

Well put Stewart and thanks so very much Steve. I feel like I'm an excited 7 year old again and am still pinching myself! Must dash and take another look at the Spooks glowing in a cupboard - can't wait for night time!

'Spooky' Steve's - III

I could hardly contain my excitement when this superb near-complete set arrived in the post, kindly created and sent by Steve!! Each Spook was individually wrapped and at first I intended limiting myself to opening just one a day, to savour the anticipation, but unsurprisingly temptation got the better of me in the end!

Thanks so much Steve!! They look absolutely fantastic, with a lovely green tinge in daylight, the appearance being even better I think than that of the originals and as they glow a gentle Spook Green (TM) in the dark, these are IMHO true Luminous Spooks!

To make these, Steve has been busy developing and perfecting a technique he first tried a while ago using luminous green pebbles and liquid cement. He says:

The pebbles are rock hard, i cut them in half to speed up the melting time, but they are so hard i have to use my razor saw. Even so, it takes 2-3 days for it to melt down. You might have noticed the plastic is tough, this is no bad thing but they are probably brittle and might snap if bent.

At first, he used:

Tamiya liquid cement and the result was horrible, hundreds of small bubbles. It looked like Aero mint chocolate but with smaller bubbles, also ,it started to set too quickly in the mould, it "skinned over" before id finished filling the mould.

Undaunted, after getting hold of good old Humbrol Liquid Poly, he tried again:

the main trick for moulding success is to have the mix THIN. Thin enough to drip readily off the stirring stick in little round droplets. Well, initially, after stirring it will run off in a stream, but then it should readily drip quickly in round droplets. If it drips reluctantly in a sticky string, its too thick. If in doubt, thin it some more with liquid poly. I dont think you can overdo the "thinness". There are 2 reasons (i think) for having it thin. First, it "finds" all the detail in the mould, and secondly, no bubbles seem to form. I always stir the mix before use in case the luminous bits settle, but as youve seen, the glow is patchy, which is the main fault. I pour a bit of mix into the mould, straight out of the jar, then carefully push the mix into all the nooks and crannies with a cocktail stick. This is necessary because although the mix is thin, it has surface tension and needs coaxing into, all the extremities, especially" at the edges. You may have noticed, at the edges, some "repairs" on some of them where the mix failed to reach the extreme edge, and i had to add an extra blob of mix after removal from the mould, wait for it to set, then trim and file it to final shape, using the original as a guide. All good fun though. The mould takes 3 or 4 filling sessions until its full because a lot of the mix evaporates. Also, its a good idea to do it in the shed or garage because the fumes are powerful and im sure they are not good for you. After leaving each "coat" overnight, you can give it the next one. When finally full i put them in the airing cupboard for 3 or 4 days to fully cure. This seems about right.

Well done Steve for persevering - the results are amazing!

And here they are along with Winnie and Whitie, in Stewart's Haunted Manor, all glowing very nicely under UV light! You will see that Bertie was so excited, he wouldn't stay outside!

For the suspended Spooks, I made small loops, all the same size, from white thread wound around a cocktail stick. A small dollop of Copydex glue was put at the back of each Spook (I reused the cocktail stick for that) and then the loops were carefully positioned with tweezers and bedded into the glue (again with the cocktail stick).

I made stands for the other Spooks by bending some paper clips and securing them (for now anyway) with sellotape.

Thanks so very much to Steve and Stewart - I'm absolutely delighted to now have my own set of Spooks on display in their own Haunted Manor!

(Not shown is Alf's little brother, courtesy of Stewart, who will be housed ASAP).

Spooky Steve's - IV

Here's another wonderful replica, made by Steve to mark the 60th anniversary of the Luminous Spooks in August 2025! He says:

I think her best feature is how she looks in the daylight, the plastic, which is from the blue pebbles this time, is closer to the original colour... One other happy outcome was the mix ended up a good deal thinner than intended which meant i could give it a good stir between "coats" without trapping any air bubbles. This was fortunate because i noticed the mix settled after a day or two... it's something to remember 60 years of Spooks by (as if we would ever forget). If you give her 3 or 4 minutes under a good light, hopefully you should see a glow of sorts.

Interesting to compare and contrast with the ones Steve so kindly sent me a couple of years ago. Nice details and authentic-looking as before of course. In daylight white rather than green, closer perhaps to the originals in appearance, as Steve notes above. After a good charge of light, it glows nicely for a decent time, indeed with a slight bluish tinge.

Thanks so much Steve - I really appreciate this and the time and effort you have put into crafting these excellent replicas!

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