[WM] Casting 10mm stuff - any advice?

[pw]

Can anyone give me some advice on casting 10mm stuff? Or point me in the direction of a mould-making forum?

I’m wondering if I could cast up my own strips of figures and so far I’m thinking of getting the starter kit from Prince August (http://www.princeaugust.ie/) along with some of their Modelmetal.

Along with that I’ll need something to make the mould out of and it looks like a two-part Silicone is what I need ad there’s quite a bit of choice on that on ebay (and I’m confused as to which to get and how much I’d need to make a mould (I’m thinking about making moulds for around 15 different strips). Maybe something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RTV-Silicone-Mould-Making-Rubber-275g-Kit-ShoreA-27-/320399482276?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Crafts_Other_Crafts_EH&hash=item4a994c1da4
But I can’t see what temperature that’d stand.

More research in the offing, but I’d welcome any advice from those of you who’ve given this a go.

Oh, and just in case anyone’s wondering, I’m not planning on casting any stuff that’s available from GW, nor do I have any intention of selling stuff.

[Nat]

As far as I know (and im open to correction) you will need a centrifuge to obtain good detail replication at 10mm size, gravity flow is not enough to overcome the surface tension of the molten metal when it flows down small channels.

You may try asking Peter from Baccus, he sculpts/mouldmakes/casts for his 6mm ranges, baccus6mm.com, he has a lot of experiance in small scale stuff and is active on his forum.

[DaveC]

I have been asked this recently so I have reposted my reply with a few modifications

Please remove this if it breaks any rules:

Here's a good Mold making tutorial


http://www.hirstarts.com/moldmake/moldmaking.html

This is the RTV silicone I use. The 2 bottles will make 4 or 5 double sided molds (depends on the size). The thing to remember is these are temporary molds they will warp as they dry over time and as you add resin or metal to them as both generate a lot of heat (don't touch resin as it sets it will burn you learnt that the hard way!). It will easily take the heat from molten metal. The shipping to Europe is expensive but it's still cheaper than anything I've found locally.

http://www.micromark.com/ONE-TO-ONE-and-RAPID-MOLD-RUBBER-32-FL-OZ,7883.html


You also need mold release agent to stop the 2 halfs of the molds sticking together while they set.

http://www.micromark.com/RUBBER-TO-RUBBER-MOLD-RELEASE-2-FL-OZ,7507.html

I use lego for the mold boxes like the hirst arts tutorial I highly recommend it for mold making. I use white plasticine when I'm setting the first half of the mold rather than clay which is too messy.

Micromark also do resin but I don't recommend resin at this scale.

http://www.micromark.com/CR-300-QUICK-CURE-CASTING-RESIN-32-FL-OZ,7776.html

I use Prince August 's casting kit and Model metal

http://www.princeaugust.ie/

click on accessories then tools or metal. Buy the full kit for €12.99 it has everything you need. I have 3 full kits so that I can cast something else while I wait the 2 or 3 minutes the metal needs to set in another mold. If your buying the metal get the 10 bars of modelmetal, 3 tends not to be enough.

I cast individual figures as strips are to hard to mold up properly due to the small size. A centrifuge would be nice but you do not lose that much detail gravity/drop casting once you get the hang of it.

If you have questions just ask and I'll try and help. Be prepared to mess up the first few molds it can't be helped but you'll learn from your mistakes.


Here's the mold for my rhinox so you can see the finished article




Dave

[pw]

Thanks Dave, that's really helpful. It looks like a tricky but satisfying business, certainly something that I fancy trying once my current modelling projects are off the work bench.