29 December 2025

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast #542 and Like A Hood Ornament #87: Trying a New Technique by Creating a New Rocketeer Figure Part 2 and 2025 Reflection

The Thirteenth Hour Podcast

About

In today's episode, I wanted to continue what I was working on last week, trying to get resin to adhere to a base plastic figure to create an easier way to make custom action figure duplicates. I will be experimenting with a number of methods to create snap on/ snap off molds to see what works best, but today, I'm using a kind of thermoplastic called Instamorph. You heat the pellets in water, they become soft and squishy, allowing you to press something into it to make a mold, like I am doing here:

https://13thhr.wordpress.com/2025/12/29/the-thirteenth-hour-podcast-542-and-like-a-hood-ornament-87-trying-a-new-technique-by-creating-a-new-rocketeer-figure-part-2-and-2025-reflection/

When it cures, Instamorph turns white. It is also very hard. That can be a plus and a minus. I did find that it was really hard to get the mold out since it didn't want to bend. I really hard to yank on the limbs. The torso, however, worked really well:

The mold was supposed to apply on the Rocketeer's jacket bib with the buttons and a few other details, like the straps for the rocket pack on the sides and shoulders. The torsos of these figures might be a different kind of plastic since it has different melting properties than the limbs (which I suspect are PVC), but the resin actually adhered just fine. Getting the resin to release from the mold was difficult, but I wonder if I use some oil or some other kind of mold release, it might a different story. I have some other mold putties to try in the coming weeks, so if this method ultimately does not work, perhaps other will. I am also wondering if this kind of plastic can be used in place of epoxy clay. It dries hard but could be shaped with heat ... something to think about.

This project will continue into 2026, but 2025 has been a pretty good year. I'll talk about this more next week, in the first episode of the new year, but some of the things that happened this year were:

-great guests and new friends

-the release of Once Upon a Dream on tape, CD, and digital streaming after many years

-a fair bit of progress on The Thirteenth Hour sequel (about 70 pages)

-episode 500 last March

-started to learn how to use a DAW as another way to make music

-Wrapping up the reading of The Rocketeer movie novelization (started 10/14/24, ended 7/7/25)

Looking forward to seeing what we can do in 2026! See you in the new year!

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Once Upon a Dream, the second Thirteenth Hour soundtrack, is now out in digital form and on CD!

It is out on most major streaming services such as Bandcamp, Spotify, and YouTube Music. (If you have no preference, I recommend Bandcamp since there is a bonus track there and you will eventually be able to find tapes and special editions of the album there as well.) The CDs are out now!

-Check out the pixelart music videos that are out so far from the album:

-->Logan's Sunrise Workout: www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7SM1RgsLiM

-->Forward: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9VgILr1TDc

-->Nightsky Stargazing: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S0p3jKRTBo

-->Aurora's Rainy Day Mix: https://youtu.be/zwqPmypBysk

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The Thirteenth Hour,

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Long Ago Not So Far Away

Thirteenth Hour