Casting Parts Is Hard

El Gato · Post by **El Gato** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 4:55 pm

I'm casting a part out of my VF-1 Valk to use on my BSG Viper model. Out of three potential molds, only one worked. My first attempt to use the mold failed miserably when the plastic shrank and crumbled instead of curing.

The guys who scratchbuild and/or form garage kit companies always had my respect, but now it's at an entirely different level.

Post by **TER-OR** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 9:39 pm

What were you using as a mold material and substrate?

El Gato · Post by **El Gato** » Sun Aug 02, 2009 8:51 pm

I used latex rubber. I've been using Aves putty for my new parts and they're not bad. Not great, but somewhat usable.

Stu Pidasso · Post by **Stu Pidasso** » Sun Aug 02, 2009 9:09 pm

Got a pic of the part? Or is the molds that you did the problem? And I think the latex rubber is your problem, also. I use RTV Silicone rubber, different altogether. How big is the part?

PM me if you need more help.

Oh- and thanks for the "respect".

Lichtbringer · Post by **Lichtbringer** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 4:55 am

Try these cheap starter pack from Smooth-On - it will provide you with everything you need for your first steps in the casting work.

And .... thanks for the respect.

But it´s not needed - all this is just a matter of practice, as with every other technics at modeling, too. Noone is an artist with the airbrush from the start, noone starts his career as a weathering god, ...

Just give it a try, and take the chance to learn something new.

You have taken your first step into a larger world.

greasyspoon · Post by **greasyspoon** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 5:07 pm

Using latex it hard.
Read this tutorial it helped me quite a bit.

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

El Gato · Post by **El Gato** » Sat Aug 29, 2009 7:30 pm

Sorry guys, I've been MIA for a while.

Lichtbringer, I've used Smooth-On before with mixed success. Unfortunately half of my latex tubes dried and the plastic deteriorated. My local hobby store doesn't carry smooth on so I decided to use liquid latex and Aves as the casting material. Out of four pieces that I've tried I've had success with one. >:(

El Gato · Post by **El Gato** » Sun Sep 20, 2009 11:55 pm

Stu Pidasso wrote:Got a pic of the part? Or is the molds that you did the problem? And I think the latex rubber is your problem, also. I use RTV Silicone rubber, different altogether. How big is the part?

PM me if you need more help.

Oh- and thanks for the "respect".

Jimi - I never answered your question. Here is a pic of the part. It's an intake piece from a Hasegawa version of Macross VF-1:

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j25/m ... CN4260.jpg

The superglue crystallized, making the parts look worse in the picture than they are in real life. In this shot they look better:

http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j25/m ... CN4258.jpg

Again, my pieces aren't as good as the original, but they make the Viper model look better than it would otherwise have been.

rokket2001 · Post by **rokket2001** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 3:12 am

With some practice it's really quite do-able. Maybe this will help:

http://amp.rokket.biz/lib_resources

Chacal · Post by **Chacal** » Fri Oct 16, 2009 9:30 am

Resin/RTV ain't cheap, but starting with some small, no-pressure (I mean no pressure to get it right, not anything about pressure-casting) one-part moldable greeblie is a great way of getting acquainted with the process. It pays to hone your skills before you attempt to cast a foot-long, highly-detailed, thin-walled part.