Timothy L Mayer | 25 Mar 2014 6:53 p.m. PST |
Does anyone use silicone molds to cast miniatures? I know spin casting is the way to go for mass production, but some people use RTV silicone for small runs. |
redmist1122 | 25 Mar 2014 7:15 p.m. PST |
Sure, check out Micromart. P. |
Sho Boki | 26 Mar 2014 7:19 a.m. PST |
I use. Results are not bad, but some practice needed..
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Mugwump | 26 Mar 2014 7:26 a.m. PST |
It's called drop casting. You can use a hand sling to do centrifuge for a single mold. (Pratical Casting by Tim McCrieght?) |
Aidan Campbell | 26 Mar 2014 9:18 a.m. PST |
I make my living out of model making and would always rate liquid RTV silicone above heat/pressure vulcanised organic rubber in terms of initial detail and quality of casting. However whilst good for a few castings it's disadvantages are it's cost and lack of durability as it won't last anywhere near as many castings, that said I've some RTV silicone rubber moulds I'm still using in my centrifuge ten years after making them and they must have done a few hundred casts by now. |
shaun from s and s models | 27 Mar 2014 10:00 a.m. PST |
the problem with drop casting is getting the metal into all of the mould cavities hence spining it, i have used both liquid and vulcanised rubber for metal casting and vulcanised is by far the better option |
Aidan Campbell | 27 Mar 2014 10:25 a.m. PST |
I have used both liquid and vulcanised rubber for metal casting and vulcanised is by far the better option I'm surprised to hear you say this, RTV, providing it's degassed to remove bubbles captures better detail and doesn't suffer from anywhere near the same degree of shrinkage. Spin casting or drop casting can effect how well metals fills the cavity but cutting vents is part of mould making for either system and either type of rubber can be used with either method of casting, so RTV liquid rubber doesn't exclude spin casting. The advantages of heat/pressure cured rubbers are they are cheap, long lasting and require less skill and time in making moulds, so they favour mass production. As for being the better option well that depends if your focus is actually on mass production? |
Timothy L Mayer | 27 Mar 2014 6:17 p.m. PST |
I would think it also depends on the type of Silicone in use. The reason I was asking is because my company, Kraftmark, is considering offering an RTV silicone molding compound to our customers. |
spontoon | 27 Mar 2014 9:15 p.m. PST |
Used both. They both have their pro's and con's. However, vulcanized rubber doesn't get all those nasty air bubbles and lsts longer, so that's my preferred method of moldmaking now. |
LeonAdler | 28 Mar 2014 2:34 p.m. PST |
Silicon is great for detail certainly true getting good castings via drop moulding is another matter. Depends on what your moulding I suspect. 90mm stuff is fine as it has to be in parts anyway but drop moulding doesnt care for undercuts in my experience. With all the vulcanising silicone these days can have the best of both worlds. Never found shrinkage a problem at somewhere around the 2 % mark. As with all these things depends on what the job is and who is doing it, some mouldmakers can be very hard on designers lol. L |