Moonscape and Blastscape Part 1

I pre-ordered a set of the new GW Blastscape and I got them in the mail yesterday. With all the talk on the boards about the quality, or lack thereof, I thought I should get these painted up. I also happen to have a Moonscape set laying around so I figured I would do them both at the same time.

First off, I want to say that I cannot see a huge difference in quality between the Moonscape and the Blastscape set. They seem to be made of the same type and thickness plastic. The Moonscape has more fine detail and the they are a little lighter color out of the package. They are both vacuum formed sets and are a little flimsy. This seems a little more so with the Blastscape as the details are larger causing the plastic to be stretched farther in the forming process. Both sets need some reinforcing.

For the reinforcing material I decided to use some Spray Polyurethane foam insulation. This stuff comes in a spray-can and will stick to anything. In fact it is a little dangerous. Make sure you use safety glasses and maybe even gloves. Once you open a can of this stuff you need to be prepared to use it all or throw away what is left over. You will not be able to keep the nozzle clean for reuse.

Clean off your craters and flip them over. Fill each one with a small amount of the foam. Be careful not to do too much or let it come out too quick. If you overfill one take a straight edge and scrape off the excess. I used an old piece of wood for this. A paint stir-stick would be ideal. Anything you scrape off use to fill another crater, don't waste this stuff.

After you fill them all they will look something like the picture above. The foam takes several hours to cure and as it does it will expand. In Arizona at 110 degrees these took about 4 hours to cure completely.

Fully cured you can now see how much the foam expanded! It will more than double in size and the only thing you can do it trim off the excess. This is not too tough but it can be messy. For this phase you will need a fine tooth hacksaw blade and a dust mask. You should ware the mask while you are cutting this stuff. It will make a lot of dust and light particles that you should not breath in. You should also be careful with the saw blade. These are not meant to be used in your hand and will break easily. I have the scares to prove it.

As you cut the foam try to keep the blade flush with the base of the piece. You only want to remove the amount that sticks up and you want to leave as much as possible in the model. In the picture above you can see one that has been cut and sanded. For the sanding I used 100 grit in a long sanding block. You might want to use a courser grit. After sanding I rubbed each piece on the driveway. The rough concrete surface worked as a large sander.

Above are the first couple of filled and trimmed craters. There is slight warpage on the Blastscape piece. This was there before it was filled and the filling did not change the warpage. Each piece is now sturdier and heavier. They are much more stable and will be excellent on the game table. I am very happy with how these are progressing.

The next part is to address the large flash edge and prep for painting. I will be working on that tomorrow and I hope to have these done.