Starting my first Hirst Arts

In  my recent blog, I wrote about how I’d started collecting and casting Hirst Arts molds. Well, I thought it was time to give you all a little update on how I was doing. My collection of Hirst Arts molds has slowly grown, and with it, so have the possible permutations and combinations of buildings.

Type ‘Hirst Arts’ into Google and you’ll see the molds being used to great effect to create complete castles and massive dungeons. The first thing to do when designing grand structures is to cast some bricks. Ok, when I say some, I obviously mean a LOT of bricks. It’s not as monotonous as it sounds. I have gotten into the habit of preparing a few molds in the morning and then again in the evening. After a while, my collection of ready casts has grown to a useable level.  

I’m using a low emission polyester resin with a mold release spray (just because I happen to have that lying around), but most people use a dental plaster or similar. There are some useful tools of the trade needed in the casting. I prepare my work area with old newspaper in case of spillage and having a mixing bowl ready with some stirrers is very handy as well. Old plastic tubs have proven themselves in this respect, and they are also useful for storing the castings in afterwards. Finally, a wallpaper scraper is an excellent buy as it can be used to ‘level off’ the tops of molds, ensuring your casts are all the same height and won’t require any sanding.

So now that I have my ‘blocks’ what shall I build? A Roman house? Ruins for Frostgrave? A dungeon complex for Torchbearer? Now that I have the means, I need a good plan. There are plenty of ideas on the Hirst Arts site and forum, but I’ll also be looking at real life buildings and ruins for inspiration. My recent visit to Prague has given me plenty of ideas including an old circular church - namely the Rotunda of St Martin’s in the Vyšehrad and the Rotunda of the Holy Cross in the Karoliny Světlé. Now for that, I’m going to need some more molds!