October 03, 2024, 08:13:18 PM

Author Topic: [WM-10mm] Casting  (Read 10954 times)

Offline Dave

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Re: [WM-10mm] Casting
« Reply #15 on: December 14, 2016, 01:34:09 PM »
This is my process:

I mount the figures with hot glue on a strip of plasticard and then to cardboard and then build a topless cardboard box around them using a long strip of cardboard scored three times and glued end-to-end. The strip of plasticard is about 1/16" wide and 1/4" tall, and acts as a sprue. I leave about 1/4" between the figure and the box, and extend the box 1/2" taller than the figure.

I then mix up some Mold Star 20T and quickly de-gas it in a vacuum desiccator with a vacuum pump. That pulls the bubbles from mixing out, it'll rise quickly and a big bubble will pop when its done. After that (~45 seconds) I pour it into the box slow and high, starting in a corner (not directly over the figure).

The box then goes in a paint pressure pot and gets put under 30-45PSI for an hour to let it cure. Once that's done, it comes out and I cut the figure out from the bottom, making a clam shell out of the rubber.

To cast, I pour in Smooth Cast 305 and put it in the paint pressure pot under 30-45PSI while it cures.

The end result is pretty crisp with no bubbles, assuming you have vents where they need to be.

Offline industrialtrousers

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Re: [WM-10mm] Casting
« Reply #16 on: December 14, 2016, 11:20:26 PM »
Thanks very much for the detailed response Dave. I was making a two part mould which might have made things more difficult than they really needed to be. The clam approach will be worth a try.

I'll have a look around for some vacuum equipment and see what they have over here & if I have enough space for it. We're not blessed with the wide open spaces of the new world here which can make things a bit tricky.

Anyway beast man started. Legs if nothing else. His axe will get cut off as a seperate piece.


Offline marell le fou

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Re: [WM-10mm] Casting
« Reply #17 on: December 18, 2016, 08:59:43 PM »
Mmm head is too short. No neck. It seems strange.

Offline industrialtrousers

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Re: [WM-10mm] Casting
« Reply #18 on: December 20, 2016, 11:32:46 AM »
A neck eh? It's a novel approach. I think you might be right there.

Hopefully I'll get into this in Jan as I'm over in Provence for the festives. I'd take the putty with me but security might conclude it's something other than what I tell them and it's too cold for a cavity search.

Offline toadie

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Re: [WM-10mm] Casting
« Reply #19 on: December 20, 2016, 07:28:27 PM »
I think looking strange is good for chaos army!  Ye olde WFB3 Realm of Chaos Slaves to Darkness had a chaos mutation of long neck, so why not have no neck as another mutation? 

Offline jchaos79

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Re: [WM-10mm] Casting
« Reply #20 on: January 24, 2017, 05:03:52 AM »
how about this interestig project? still progressing?

Offline industrialtrousers

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Re: [WM-10mm] Casting
« Reply #21 on: January 24, 2017, 06:38:20 AM »
Not a great unfortunately jchaos. I've cast all the walls I'll ever need and done a window and a door in sculpey. The beastmen bloke is just finished but I'll need to redo the head as I'm not happy with it. It won't cast though as the pose its not cast friendly. Magister pannites also came in at the right  so I won't need to cast beastmen. I'd still like to work out how to a strip but haven't got the knack yet.

 I've got about enough rtv left for one mould so I wasn't too try Dave's clam method on some dwarfs.

I've been distracted making a Treeman for the monthly painting challenge which is just about finished.

Ill take some photos of bits tonight.

Offline Blindhorizon

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Re: [WM-10mm] Casting
« Reply #22 on: January 29, 2017, 10:29:43 PM »
Howdy, I've got a ton of experience casting in resin. 2 part molds, split molds(clamshell) as well as single molds. I was wondering if you use talc or Johnson and Johnson baby powder in your mold after your mold release dries, it will wick the resin into the cracks it helps get closer to perfect casts with lower detail items you won't even need pressure to cast. As far as the beastman not being castable could you please post a picture of it from different angles I bet I can cast and would not mind giving you advice. Would hate to waste a sculpt, also if your not happy with the head clip it off put a small ball their and cast it for use as an armature for your strip beastment. I would love to get my hands on some beastmen armatures.

Blind-

Offline industrialtrousers

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Re: [WM-10mm] Casting
« Reply #23 on: January 30, 2017, 09:24:02 AM »
Blind - For the wall mold I haven't been using any release agent nor talc and it doesn't seems to cause any problem. I don't use any pressure when casting with this at all but can see how fine pointed details would need a bit of a hand with both release and vacuum.

It takes me ages to do anything as soldiers have to take their place in my world and it's not very high up the ladder. I'd love to have more time for it. I'll get back on the sculpting shortly and try to get a few beast men together. Let's see what I can get done by the end of the month. I'd be happy to get 5 together and will be looking to the old 3rd edition Warhammer stuff get to a bit more variation than the generic goatman. The shelf life of the RTV is only until end March apparently so there's an incentive.

Offline Lord Borak

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Re: [WM-10mm] Casting
« Reply #24 on: January 30, 2017, 08:03:41 PM »
Good work mate. I've been doing a fair amount of casting using, what looks like, exactly the same stuff as you're using. Although I mainly use 2 part moulds for my bitz n bobs.

I have looked at getting the professionals to cast my stuff up before though and it doesn't actually work out that bad. About £20 for the mould and a couple of quid for a set. Although this is for 54mm models so you might find it's cheaper for your to do.


Offline industrialtrousers

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Re: [WM-10mm] Casting
« Reply #25 on: February 07, 2017, 06:00:46 AM »
I've had a go at making a mold for some off the shelf strips and it was not successful. It was disappointing.

I'll try adding talc on another run when I get some in. I need to inject resin into the mold or get a vaccum organised - but not sure if it's worth the hassle and expense. Also the resin cures pretty quickly which help me much. Metal might be better for minis. The resin is pretty brittle which doesn't help.

Larger items, like the walls, seem to work for me so I'll get another batch of silicone when I've sculpted all the building bits.

Offline Grumbledook

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Re: [WM-10mm] Casting
« Reply #26 on: February 16, 2017, 11:56:27 PM »
Can't believe I haven't looked at this for such a long time!

Personally I think that the very small scale stuff casts best in metal, frankly it's runnier than any two part resin or plastic mix (in my experience that is, I had some epic resin Tau which were frankly a joke). The trouble is you need some serious starting investment with the big high pressure machine to make the casting disk mould and then there's the centrifugal spinner and melting pot - and metal. That said, most of these machines are pretty hard wearing and you'd get at least 200 casts from a mould (I know that some moulds have been running for 30 years!). If I had the dough, I'd do it in a heartbeat but that's probably because I'm a bit old fashioned and prefer metal to resin or plastic.

I think your beastie has a lot of promise, sure there are a couple of things not quite to your satisfaction but part of the freedom of sculpting is the ability to subtract and then add until it looks right. Also, if you haven't got one already, a digital micrometer is amazingly helpful (and very cheap) - like in drawing, accurate measuring is probably the most powerful tool (and if you get it a bit off, like me, it still looks ok).

Something that I found useful when starting to sculpt one piece miniatures, was looking through my collection of older figures from the 80s and 90s (as well as some of the simpler Rackham figures) since these were almost exclusively one piece metal casts. The range of poses from Dwarf Trollslayers to Eldar Harlequins cover pretty much every pose you would need. Lots of 15mm ranges also tend to be one piece casts (with the exception normally being alternative heads) and a quick look at pictures of ancients, wwII and beyond should provide plenty of references. There are common elements which recur in miniature sculpting because they work, you'll start to recognise it and it'll become instinctive so just enjoy the making!

 I look forward to seeing your latest work.







Offline industrialtrousers

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Re: [WM-10mm] Casting
« Reply #27 on: February 17, 2017, 06:27:42 AM »
I'm with you on the metal. There's something more satisfying about the weight that I can't quite fathom. The resin molds I've attempted lead me to believe it's always going to be a bit tricky without the proper kit as others here have pointed out.

I'm making a bunch of dryads/treekin at the moment. Slowly scaling them down from the first one which started life as a Treeman who was a bit small. I'll post up some pictures over the weekend. Also keep an eye out for a micrometer.

There's some bloke out west who had a course on casting. I might have to see if I can find the info. You get one of your Arabian blokes cast up didn't you?

Offline Stormwind

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Re: [WM-10mm] Casting
« Reply #28 on: February 17, 2017, 12:27:15 PM »
I am very, very interested to see how your dryads look.
My Personal & Modelling Blog >>http://theancienttrack.blogspot.co.uk/

Offline industrialtrousers

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Re: [WM-10mm] Casting
« Reply #29 on: February 17, 2017, 03:06:12 PM »
Works in progress. The gray head fell off so it's been redone. These are bigger than some of made since and not great photos.