"Thinking of getting into resin casting models" Topic

looking for advice on needs and materials to get started

goals: i have a couple dozen completely sculpted or modified to the point of unrecognizable concept models that i would like to reproduce for wargames, and I have a friend with a few dozen more that I would like to do as well

I would like to make a significant number of copies of each in order to fill out the concept armies (for example 5 of my models are calvary -5 horses and 5 riders for 10 models, i would like to reproduce them 6+ times each to fill out a decent calvary unit of 30+ calvary men)

i would like to be able to preserve the detail in the units like the horse manes and very small tassels

so given the number i'd like to achieve i would like to avoid doing single models, i bought a simple little resin kit from the store to basically see how everything worked, but only made a few usable replica's with what was in the kit and a few failures as i tried different things

so ideally this is my thinking:

i would like to make a master for each type of unit, for example a master of the 5 riders and 5 horses (maybe even 1 master with all 10 units)

i would like the resin cast models to be more pliable than the ones that were produced with the kit i played with before… they came out very brittle, i broke off 1 riders leg trying to press it back to a horses body a little bit and several small pieces broke as i played with them in my "stress test :)" i dropped them from about a foot above the table to see how they'd do and got a broken sword.

also i couldnt help thinking to myself that a slower setting resin may help produce better quality models as it would have time to fill in gaps better – does it make a difference in reality?

I've watched several videos and read tutorials and i like the idea of essentially creating a sprue linking the models and injecting the resin with a syringe to run through the connectors and fill all the models from the bottom up, does anyone have any experience with this?

i've also read several people swearing by the vacuuming method to remove air from both the silicon and the resin… does it make that big of a difference? if i do really get into this maybe it would be worth the investment down the road, but i cant see spending several hundred dollars for all that equipment to try something that i may not really follow through with

enough of my rambling, given what my goals and ideas are so far, what suggestions do people have both for the process and for what types of silicon and resin to use to get what I'd like?

edit: **just wanted to note the models are 28mm

Check out Smooth-On they specialize in casting and resin

i just looked through their site, looks nice

a quick follow-up question

anyone have a review / comparison of the task resins to the smoothcast resins?

a preference for miniatures and why?

On the topic of air bubbles in the silicone and resin. If you do not have a pressure pot, you can reduce air bubbles by doing a high pour. Basically you pour the mixture from a high distance from the model. About 8 feet. You pour a slow stream into the mold and let gravity remove the bubbles.

Matthew

thanks for the tip, very helpful

another few follow up questions as i read more

almost all of these guides and tutorials talk about clay, but nothing ever says exactly what it is

is there a certain type of clay needing to be used? is practically anything capable of being used from playdo to sculpting clay?

also, once i make the silicon molds, most of the sites say they are reusable, but dont give any kind of lifespan or guidelines for that

can silicon molds be used practically indefinately? is there a rule of thumb like after 4-5 times they begin to loose details or anything like that? also in terms of storing them for later use is that possible and if so does storage need anything particular? for example i'm in florida, humid and hot practically all year, do i need to make sure they are stored indoors? stored cold? (if a fridge or just a cold room? etc… what guidelines are there for storage of silicon molds?

I use Van Aikens plasticine for embedding masters for moldmaking. It's practically reusuable forever and doesn't contain sulphur (which doesn't react too well with RTV.)

I've made molds with Smooth-on's pink stuff. I use them for casting plaster pieces (thousands of them) and they haven't worn out at all over 3 years. Not sure with using resin long term (don't have much luck with it, personally.) For storage, I keep them in a closed box (and not touching each other.)

thanks for the info

how about the clay, does it need to be anything particular or is it really only there as a place holder in making a 2 piece mold?