"molding material" Topic

Okay so i have made a custom dumpster and crate out of balsa wood and matchsticks. I thought it might be a good start to try making molds and casts something.

I have order some oyumaru from ebay which is instantamold as i understand.

One thing im stil not 100 percent sure on, what really are the options for casting material and what are everyone thoughts on them? or is there a thread for this?

Any pros and cons to using instantmold for my project any limitations i should know about

Urethane resin for the casting material.

I'm unfamiliar with Instamold.

You might want to check the details on the Instamold pack, since I've heard conflicting info on the use of wood for the prototype materials. Some say you need to seal it, while others say you don't.

Supposedly, with high-quality silicone molds, you don't need to seal wood, but I'm not 100% sure I buy that theory.

It'd be great to get feedback from others who've tried it.

Would hate to see you lose your masters, due to bad info.

With instamold your casting qmaterial is limited to non heat producing material which probably eliminates resin.

A high strength plaster or 'stone' is an option.

Using Hirst arts moulds, I've successfully cast boxes and barrels with approx 1-1.5mm wall thickness and they're very handleable.

You just need to be careful of air bubbles. With plaster, dunking the mould in water with some surface tension breaker (like dishwasher rinse aid) and using a vibrating table or rapidly rapping the moulding surface help a lot.

smooth-on.com

Smooth-on makes everything you need from videos on how to use their products, on site training classes, resin, rubber and any variation you can imagine. Great products I have used many of them.

Mike "Bunkermeister" Creek

"As our nation's forefathers would likely agree, the beguiling problem with quotes seen on the Internet is that you can never be certain they're genuine."
-- Abraham Lincoln

so my options are to use plaster ,hydrostone? What about green stuff, ive seen people reference that havent found much on how to use it. Thanks so far, kinda clueless on what to use and what would be the cheapest while still getting a good cost and ultimately copy

I used the Alumilite starter kit to teach myself to make simple molds. I am 1:1 high viscosity "instant" resin for terrain items and bases. Their website also includes tutorial videos and tips and techniques that work with all mold making products.

alumilite.com

I've recently bought the oyumaru and I'm happy with it! It picks up the detail really good and is reusable. I needed a few trials at making a mold with it (check out YouTube for tutorials) and I would say that the water needs to be very hot
so keep a kettle close to hand. I found Milliput to be good for the casting material.

For people in the UK, I'll include the one I always mention, Tiranti. Basically they cover most bases:

link

Thanks Lee could you possible take pics of the original and the copy? or possibly email me the pics dustingomez@gmail.com

Im gonna to try it regardless just kinda curious what kind of detail loss. LOL im completely fine with minatures like mage knights with are not known for detail so the fact that items will lose detail isnt a huge detail for me.

Any cons of pros of using milliput over green stuff?

Has anyone seen or know what the overall cost of reproducing items would be? I was going into this kinda hoping to cut costs a little bit. My masters are just cut up scrap wood but i was hoping to try my hand at sculpting terrain bits, etc since there so expensive but if the cost over just buying them isnt really worth it. Maybe not unless its super fun anyway.

Don't use resins, they cost way more. Use a US Gypsum product. My current favorate balancing cost, durability and castability is Dry Stone, available through most ceramic shops. This of course assumes that you can have one end of your mold plain, such as the bottom of a building, etc. Resins are great for making copies of items where one side is not open. Check out Hirst Arts Molds if you don't understand what I am saying.

You have some options on the mold material itself. RTV silicone is the most accurate, but if you aren't doing miniatures, it might be too expensive.

I took a class on sculpting with the goal of having objects sculpted in bronze. Believe it or not, the foundry in a video I saw used silicone caulking as the mold material. Then the wax copy would be poured into it. Then the wax copy was covered in silica ceramic for the lost wax process of bronze sculpting.

Silicone caulk is flexible and may be the ticket for items such as terrain. It is worth a shot. You need to do some research too. You will want to cover your master in some sort of release agent. Depending on what your sculpt is made out of, a light coating of petroleum jelly will do.

Anyway, there is a lot to this. Get on the internet and reseach. Too many factors and variables to go through here.

Hi Mindfad

Sorry no photos but check this link and it will probably answer most of your questions TMP link

I've not used greenstuff but Milliput is cheaper and sets solid so you can sand it etc.

Thanks everyone has given me a great start. Depending on how everything turns out. One of my friend can sculpt and considered paying him to try and make thing for me that i cud make a mold out.

Any tips on what it shud be made out of?

Based on what i have read instant-mold is a pretty poor way to mold whole sculpts. Are there any threads that go over these?

What if i had him sculpt it in pieces, would instant mold be acceptable than?

Again thanks for all the help there is some much info out there on this, help whn people can narrow it down for ya