I've been casting again... this time I'm casting copies of a dragon. Basically I'm casting copies of all the pieces since I've never assembled the dragon, so it's nine different pieces that I've molded in one large silicon mold.
The thing is.... I can't seem to ever get a consistent cast of all nine pieces without one piece or another being all messed up. Usually it's large bubbles that come out as huge voids in the cast piece, but even when there's not a single large bubble, there's always a lot of smaller bubbles. I've been getting one decent cast out of every third or fourth try, and the others I've either had to throw out pieces or resort to major repair work using epoxy putty. At some point it would just be easier to sculpt the thing from scratch...
I've been using these two casting resin products:
Both are pretty thick fluids. The clear resin has about the consistency of maple syrup. The opaque resin has about the consistency of honey.
I've tried all of the suggestions I've seen online. I've poured the tiniest stream I can manage. I have venting tubes to allow the resin to flow into the cavity while air is forced out the bottom. I tap on the mold to try to free bubbles. I bang on the mold to try to free bubbles. I rotate the mold as much as I can without pouring the resin back out...
I've almost concluded that these resins are simply too viscous to avoid this problem, and that it's more or less a crap shoot. Especially with the opaque resin which hardens so fast that I barely have time to pour all nine pieces before the stuff is turning into paste. The clear resin has the opposite problem, it takes so long to cure (up to 24 hours) that even the slightest leak will cause the cast to fail.
Are there resins that have the consistency of water and are pourable for at least 20 minutes or so, but still set up in an hour or less?
I would pay more money for them because I'm losing too much resin to failed casts so more expensive resins may actually be more cost-effective in the long run if they are easier to work with...
Are there resins that are much thinner and
The Hirst Arts site has several types of casting resins they talk about in their casting page.
The ones they list that are closest to what you want are either:
Smooth-cast 300, which is almost water thin with a viscosity of 80 cps.
or Hardcast 300, which is about the consistency of milk at 150 cps.
However, neither of them have anywhere near the pot life you are looking for.
Edit: Looking at the Smooth-Cast site, it looks like what you want is either Smooth-Cast 305 or Smooth-Cast 310.
Heh, I just noticed my post has an editing problem at the end. Ignore that last sentence fragment...
I tried this resin last night. It cures white. It flows a bit easier and does work better, but it still is viscous enough to have bubbles and problems on the smallest pieces with the most intricate parts.
I will try out the ones on the link you provided. I could live with longer curing times if they didn't have all the bubbles... I do hate waiting overnight for it to cure though...
You can make a vibrating table to shake out the bubbles; strapping a drill to a flat piece of wood (your work surface) and letting the drill run is often enough to give the material a good shake.
Sean, I actually did something very similar to the drill suggestion you made. I also did some online surfing and found a recommendation to dust the inside of the mold with talcum powder. That's supposed to draw the casting fluid into the hard-to-reach areas. Unfortunately I don't have any talcum powder so that will have to wait. The vibrating tabletop didn't make much difference, but I think I may just need more oomph, I may try the drill.
I did decide to get the casting material that has super low viscosity, but that will take a week or more to get here, so for now I'll have to keep plugging along with what I have...
Brassbaboon - I cast with Alumilite all the time. I think your problem is your doing too much at trhe same time. Aluminite comes from liquid to hard too fast to do all nine pieces at once.
Personally, I'd do the big pieces (wings, body, tail) one at a time. Just mix up enough Alumilite for one piece (that's part of the beauty of Alumilite). Work that piece hard - bang the table (or use sean's drill table), shake the mold, whatever you need. Once you see the change from liquid to solid, then mold the next piece.I doubt that any of the molds are used twice on something like a dragon (claws maybe) but if they are, mold 1 at the begining and another at the end.
Working more than one alumilite mold at a time is a recipie for frustration. Fortunatly, it cures quick enough that it shouldn't be a problem. Try it and see if that works better.
Brassbaboon - I cast with Alumilite all the time. I think your problem is your doing too much at trhe same time. Aluminite comes from liquid to hard too fast to do all nine pieces at once.
Personally, I'd do the big pieces (wings, body, tail) one at a time. Just mix up enough Alumilite for one piece (that's part of the beauty of Alumilite). Work that piece hard - bang the table (or use sean's drill table), shake the mold, whatever you need. Once you see the change from liquid to solid, then mold the next piece.I doubt that any of the molds are used twice on something like a dragon (claws maybe) but if they are, mold 1 at the begining and another at the end.
Working more than one alumilite mold at a time is a recipie for frustration. Fortunatly, it cures quick enough that it shouldn't be a problem. Try it and see if that works better.
Arg... I suppose I should give that a try. Can't hurt, and it probably won't waste any more time than I've been wasting.
You can't tell easily but there are some missing fingers, toes and spikes on some of the dragons.
I like the clear crystal look. Good looking Gem Dragons are always hard to find and this one works. If your willing to sell one of the clear crystal ones, PM me with your price. The castings look good, and at table distance (3') no one will ever see a missing finger or toe.
I like the clear crystal look. Good looking Gem Dragons are always hard to find and this one works. If your willing to sell one of the clear crystal ones, PM me with your price. The castings look good, and at table distance (3') no one will ever see a missing finger or toe.
Well, since these are not my own design and sculpts, I don't think I can legally sell a reproduction of one. Besides they are quite fragile and probably wouldn't survive shipping. I am trying to figure out how to strengthen them so they would survive an actual gaming session.
The white and beige ones are very sturdy.
Well, since these are not my own design and sculpts, I don't think I can legally sell a reproduction of one.
I have a large dragon collection, but I don't recognize the sculpt. What mini is the original?
It's this guy. "Dragon Abyzarran"
It was a gift from my brother, and since I was building out my dragon collection, I figured I'd mold it and cast some copies...
Here's the first casting painted as a forest dragon...
Hmm... surprisingly, that talcum powder suggestion actually seems to have worked. I definitely got one of my best casts after using the talcum powder....
Definitely gonna remember this trick...
Here's a blue crystal version of Abyzarran.
Not the best casting I know. I have a better one, I wanted to see if I could get a decent gem-like look out of a clear resin cast. I'm satisfied enough with how this came out that I'm going to do another one in red on a cleaner cast version.
These clear resin versions are just too fragile though... I need to find a better clear casting material...
This will be my last Dragon Abyzarran post... Here's a link to three more versions of the dragon from my casts. I have two more left to paint and I didn't take a photo of the red crystal one, it looks like the blue one, but red...
I like the cyclops version...