Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Time for Casting
Okay, I finally made it and by that I mean a mold that worked.
I was originally going to brush in resin but due to the size I thought it would be best to make this out of fiberglass. Unfortunately, I had never used fiberglass before. I really didn't want to use it in the past because of the fumes but I read about an epoxy resin that Smooth-On sells. I went ahead and bought a trial size of the EpoxAcoat Red for the gelcoat and EpoxAmite to lay the glass.
For my first try at fiberglass it went pretty will and the cast only required a little work to get it perfect.
I was originally going to brush in resin but due to the size I thought it would be best to make this out of fiberglass. Unfortunately, I had never used fiberglass before. I really didn't want to use it in the past because of the fumes but I read about an epoxy resin that Smooth-On sells. I went ahead and bought a trial size of the EpoxAcoat Red for the gelcoat and EpoxAmite to lay the glass.
For my first try at fiberglass it went pretty will and the cast only required a little work to get it perfect.
Han Solo in Carbonite Molding
I finally finished this thing. It seems like it has taken forever - actually it has. After my first shot at molding this turned into a disaster I had to start at the beginning again.
The first time I molded the piece I used Brush-on 35 from Smooth-On. This was a really bad choice for a few reasons and to make matters worse I used the wrong mold release. The result was a mold that stuck to the piece and wouldn't come off!
After I applied several layers I made the mother mold with Smooth-0n's Plasti-Paste. When all that dried is the momonet I started pulling my hair out and screaming. There is nothiung more frustrating and disappointing than a mold that won't open or come loose. Well, I made a really rookie mistake and paid for it so I cleaned up the mold the best I could and poured some resin into whatever I could salvage. I was able to pull a good cast of the face, hands, and body so I rebuilt the box and started over.
And once again back to molding. This time I used Mold Max 30 which I started by brushing on a thin coat. Once that was tacky I started layering on coats that I thickened with Thi-vex.
After the silicone was built up to about 1/4" thick I surrounded it with a box of wood.
I then filled the void with expanding foam to serve as the mother mold.
The first time I molded the piece I used Brush-on 35 from Smooth-On. This was a really bad choice for a few reasons and to make matters worse I used the wrong mold release. The result was a mold that stuck to the piece and wouldn't come off!
After I applied several layers I made the mother mold with Smooth-0n's Plasti-Paste. When all that dried is the momonet I started pulling my hair out and screaming. There is nothiung more frustrating and disappointing than a mold that won't open or come loose. Well, I made a really rookie mistake and paid for it so I cleaned up the mold the best I could and poured some resin into whatever I could salvage. I was able to pull a good cast of the face, hands, and body so I rebuilt the box and started over.
And once again back to molding. This time I used Mold Max 30 which I started by brushing on a thin coat. Once that was tacky I started layering on coats that I thickened with Thi-vex.
After the silicone was built up to about 1/4" thick I surrounded it with a box of wood.
I then filled the void with expanding foam to serve as the mother mold.
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