Resin Casting Primer. By Jack Wendt - images & text © 2001 This article is not intended to be an, "everything you need to know about resin casting," but rather my trials and tribulation with resin.
The end game for me was to reproduce some of the parts that would be used in making the Victory-Class ship Excalibur, from Babylon 5's Crusade. I also had another model that I wanted to cast that will be seen briefly. Whereas I have been vacuforming for many years, I just recently got started in working with resin. This is a messy and costly form of our hobby, but can have some surprising good end results. The product I used on the recommendation of fellow contributor to this site, Vince Hoffman is a resin and rubber produced by Smooth On. If you are already proficient in casting, then skip the article and go straight to the pictures. First, some terms that I will use: Blank; the object that is what you will be duplicating. Sculpture Mold Tutorial of “Wealth” Sculpture. Sculpture Mold Tutorial of “Wealth” Sculpture Clay original model.
Sculpture Mold Tutorial of “Wealth” Sculpture Hi Friends, This sculpture mold tutorial is going to be very lengthy and in depth. I hope that it will benefit you in your efforts at mold making. Here is my journey with making my first multi part silicone mold. Supplies Needed: Krylon Crystal Clear acrylic sprayT-pins, mixing buckets, stir sticks, disposable brushes, latex glovesSilicone, FGR plaster, fiberglass, Cabosil, Ultrafast catalyst (optional)Black marker penWeighing scale, air compressor with air nozzle (or can of compressed air)Exacto knife/razor, teaspoonOil based clay, petroleum jelly, dish soapNuts and bolts Okay, here we go, I first added an oil clay base underneath her to raise her up. Clay original of Wealth sculpture. Here are a few more pics of the original which is made from ceramic clay: Hirst Arts Mold Making Page. Important notes.
"Hey! Aren't you hurting your own business by telling others how to make molds? "Not really... There is no way I can make molds to suit everyone's needs. Several people have asked for special pieces such as skulls, doors, tombstones and other items that I may not get around to making. Besides, making exact blocks (within 1/1000ths of an inch) is fairly time consuming, not to mention shrinkage factors and other silicone problems. Please note that my Castlemolds(TM) and all of the pieces made from the molds are copyrighted by Bruce Hirst (me). However, if you start selling molds made from my pieces you're violating the copyright and breaking the law. Latex moldmaking compound. Silicone RTV moldmaking compound. Silicone RTV (room temperature vulcanizing) mold making rubber is the best choice for making molds.
Sources for buying your own silicones. Here's a little information about Silicone RTV (room temperature vulcanizing) mold making material. Now the bad news. Molding the sculpture. Molding with silicone...
To me, Silicone is the best molding material available, it picks up incredible detail and you can cast almost anything in it! For this Project, I chose Smooth-On Max-30 condensation cure silicone.This is real neat stuff! It has a shore of 30A (soft) and it has what they call "a knotty tear propagation", (if the rubber is torn, the tears quickly terminates in a "knot" reducing further mold damage)... Cool, Huh? Getting started... After completing the sculpture, I take one final "idiot" check (I learned this term from working in the film industry, it means "... check again, some idiot may have forgotten something... ").Silicone picks up EVERY detail, so you want to make sure your sculpture is perfect.Always mix your components as per the manufactures specifications.What I've learned is, it's not the speed of mixing, but the quality of the way you stir, making sure you scrape the sides and bottom while mixing.
Photo - 9 Photo - 10 The mother mold... Micro-Mark: The Small Tool Specialists.