"Dutkins 54mm molds" Topic

A few questions about these. First off, I'm not terribly interested in the detail of the finished product. These seem to be toy soldier molds rather than historical miniatures molds (if there really is a distinction, but that's another topic…), however, I AM interested in the following:

1. How well do they hold up? Are they good for hundreds of castings, or do they start to chip and pit after a few dozen?

2. Do the molds fill pretty well immediately, or require extensive venting?

3. Will pretty much any metal from 60/40 lead tin to 40/60 lead tin do, or do you have shrinkage problems with the greater lead content molds?

4. Any hidden traps for the unwary that I'm not thinking of?

Now, please don't take this next statement the wrong way, but I know that, in the spirit of good natured help, SOME TMP members sometimes have a tendency to run off at the mouth on subjects about which they have no actual experience, and, as I stand to make (or not) a substantial invetment here, PLEASE RESPOND ONLY IF YOU HAVE ACTUAL EXPERIENCE WITH DUTKINS 54MM MOLDS. Not with Dutkins 25mm, not with Prince August molds, not with making molds out of RTV in your basement, but with these specific molds only. As any experienced caster knows, the difference between molds from different manufacturers, and, especially in different scales, can be enormous.

Again, I'm not trying to be snide, but as I said, I stand to make a substantial investment here, and really need good, informed advice only, not speculative well-wishing.

I have about 10 of the Dutkins 54mm molds- I have probably made a average of thirty castings from each (because of available time rather than product quality)- they hold up very well.

I have found they require occaisonal venting to ensure proper forming of a sword point or bayonet tip, but this is fairly easily done.

They have worked pretty well with all the metal mixes i have used- i tend to experiment a little, but the details on certain of the molds do require a certain tin content to do them justice.

Which molds were you looking at? Many of the newer ones have a pretty impressive level of detail for drop cast molds, while some of the older ones are a bit crude.

If there are any questions that dont get answered in this thread- give Rich Dutkins a call- i have spoken to him over the phone and at conventions several times with questions like yours, he's a good guy and very helpful.

Thanks for the advice. I am thinking of getting into the 19th Century stuff, specifically French Foreign Legion, Prussians, Brits, Arabs and Zulus.

Do you have any of these? Detail on some better than others?

Thanks