bowjunkie35 brings his work home to his hobby. He brings home prop making skills to apply to his (and our) hobby.

Check out the In-Depth Step-by-Step feature -rich with tips and picutres.


Molds and Resin

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Great article. Thanks

I think it is time for me to reproduce a lot of resin stuff i have in te drawer..

Upon til now i always scratchbuild a lot of things but i never had the courage to reproduce heads and figures but i will sure try after this article.

greetz

Eric

Excellent write up Steve, very good! I have made rubber molds decades ago which are a lot tougher (not to make, but in strength of mold) they last for a few 100's of pours but they are very unforgiving on undercuts. You can have a few as long as they are not to big or deep.

Super work bro, keep those tips and lessons coming!

Dave

Thanks Guys! It was my pleasure! I realize it is a long read, but hopefully there is some helpful info inside. If I can be of any help during the process, don't hesitate to shoot me a PM or post it on the boards.

great info there.. I also have used the micro mark products to make a few simple molds.. and your article may make me want to go and try some of the more diffucult techniques.. such as 2 sided casting.. i'm only up to single mold stuff so far :>

I will deffintly print this out for my Reference folder for casting that I keep in the hobby room..

Great work,Steve(BTW, how's that eye doing? )
I have done some work in casting for film as well (nowhere NEAR your level)& it looks like you hit all the important points with some helpful extras thrown in. I'm curious as to where you get your resin & RTV. I'm still using 1:10 RTV's from Burman, only because the shipping on the 1:1 is prohibitive from CA to NC. ( they also only seem to have 1:1starter kits stocked...)
As most of our castings were large, I liked to use the Archimedian method for estimating necessary resin amounts:
Fill a container with water to the very top. Set it in a larger container(to catch spillover), and SLOWLY dip your master part into the water.( fix it to a toothpick or some other rod so as to avoid adding to spillage with fingertips.)
As soon as the part is completely submerged, withdraw it from the water. The amunt of water that has been displaced by the part (spilled out of the original container) will be the amount of resin you will need to fill your mold. Pour this into a clear graduated container(baby formula dosage cups are a cheap alternative,or Edmund Scientific sells the good stuff)and divide it in half for the 1:1 ratio. (AS STEVE NOTED-DO NOT use the same container as the water was in to mix the resin. not only will it screw up your casting, you risk some mini explosions & nasty chemical burns as the exothermic reaction of the curing resin boils off the water. )
I know this is really picky, but I just don't like hving leftovers or shortcasts. Hope someone will get some use out of my (overly lenghty)monologue ...

Thanks again for a great addition to the site, Steve!

Ahhh... i just keep a few extra molds....handy when i mix resin...... Can't have too many of some parts!!!!

Good informative article, very interesting. I've often considered making my own castings but have been deterred by the cost and lack of advice- at least one of those hurdles has now been addressed!

Informative article, thanks, now maybe I can get rid of those lousy rubber/vinyl tires......
:-) :-) :-) :-)

Yep, that is what I do also. It's in the article!

Thanks Again guys for the compliments.

LogansDad, I also use the 10:1 ratio RTV as it is more economical but much harder to use especially for someone just starting out. I used the 1:1 ratio RTV for the artivle for simplicities sake.

Great article, Steve. I recently made my first attempts at molds and casting, and it seems like fun. Your info will help a lot. Thanks for all your hard work!

I was trying to use the micro - mark info but it wasn't as awsome as yours.

Now I might be able to do some stuff without ruining it., or waste money to just buy one part from a figure set.

Thanks for the info.

Happy Modeling

Well thanks a million for sharing all these nice info with us . U really capture the whole procedure in a very good way amd very simpe to follow. Now i just have to come over there and get all the materials , rubber silicone and resin ......

Super nice article
Costas

hi Steve,
thanks so much for the great article and very good photos. I felt reading a chapter of a modelling book more than a feature.it was very very helpful.
congrats

Just in time. I'm actually casting a couple of alice packs and German ww2 bergens.

Wow!! You all are far too kind! It was really my pleasure, but the positive feedback is great. I am getting misty eyed! *tear* :-) :-)

Again, Thanks for the comments, they do not go un-noticed!

it's been said,but still...great info, very well presented, nice tone, am excoted about casting! Thank You!