materials for making moulds and casts??

[Gapow]

Anyone any ideas what materials to use for some cheap moulds? I have a missing leg on a dreadnought, but my mate said he will let me do a mould of his so I can make my own cast. what materials do I need to buy to make the mould, and then my own casts?

I\'ve heard of some people melting down old sprues, but is resin cheap enough?

where can i get the materilas? ebay??

 

[airhead]

Kinda like silk-screening shirts. The first one is $200, after that they are about $2 each.

try here:
www.smooth-on.com
www.hirstarts.com

Why not just order the bit?

 

[Gapow]

It\'s OOP

 

[Spacemunkie]

It\'d be cheaper to buy the model on Ebay than to get all the casting stuff you\'d need.

Cheapest way would be to make a 2 part plaster mould and press mould it with putty. Probably....

 

[Gapow]

Hmm that sounds like a do-able option, have to try it. It sounds better than our current experiment anyway haha.

Me and my friend are looking into buying some moulding/casting products as he wants to make some clear resin stealth suits, and I was looking at making some casts of some old OOP space crusade dreadnoughts.

It looks like some kind of pourable silicone should be used to make the casts, but there\'s so many to choose from, anyone any ideas which is the correct one?

 

[jamsessionein]

Originally posted by Gapow
Hmm that sounds like a do-able option, have to try it. It sounds better than our current experiment anyway haha.

Me and my friend are looking into buying some moulding/casting products as he wants to make some clear resin stealth suits, and I was looking at making some casts of some old OOP space crusade dreadnoughts.

It looks like some kind of pourable silicone should be used to make the casts, but there\'s so many to choose from, anyone any ideas which is the correct one?

A few things to add to this:

If your friend wants to be casting anything in clear resin, he\'s going to need a pressure casting system, which basically means a large compressor and a chamber which you can pressurize. Without that, the \'clear\' resin will be plagued by the presence of thousands of tiny bubbles.

If it helps any, I\'ve put together an hour-long video series on pressure casting. The principles of how to make a mold, and the materials I use in terms of rubber and resin, are exactly the same as what you can use without pressure casting, as well. The only thing pressure casting will actually do for you is eliminate air bubbles in your resin, ensuring you get perfect casts each time.

 

[airhead]

??
I thought you used a vacuum system for resin? Make the air bubbles get big so they escape then release the vacuum and they are all gone.

(I wish we had a spell check on this forum) :flame:

 

[jamsessionein]

Originally posted by airhead
??
I thought you used a vacuum system for resin? Make the air bubbles get big so they escape then release the vacuum and they are all gone.

(I wish we had a spell check on this forum) :flame:

Vacuuming is another way of removing the bubbles from resin and rubber. I am not sure as to the exact procedure of it, though.

Pressure casting, on the other hand, is in my opinion pretty simple and straightforward. It removes air bubbles in whatever you mix by literally crushing them out - the increased pressure makes the bubbles shrink and forces them to incorporate with your mixture. You mix and pour stuff same as you do without a pressure tank, only you throw it into the chamber at the end and crank it up to 40-60 psi. Things come out perfect every time.

 

[Gapow]

A few things to add to this:

If your friend wants to be casting anything in clear resin, he\'s going to need a pressure casting system, which basically means a large compressor and a chamber which you can pressurize. Without that, the \'clear\' resin will be plagued by the presence of thousands of tiny bubbles.

If it helps any, I\'ve put together an hour-long video series on pressure casting. The principles of how to make a mold, and the materials I use in terms of rubber and resin, are exactly the same as what you can use without pressure casting, as well. The only thing pressure casting will actually do for you is eliminate air bubbles in your resin, ensuring you get perfect casts each time.

thanks this is probably exactly what we need, I\'ll check this out when i get home from work, my boss has started to take an interest in what I\'m looking at,lol