kind of rubber silicone molds

[aleftwich]

Suggestions on what kind of rubber silicone mold to use for marking some extra antennas  and Tamiya f-16 1/48 pilot figures

[Rob de Bie]

I would recommend:

 

- 10-20 Shore-A

- addition type a.k.a. platinum cure

- lowest viscosity you can find

 

Rob

[USAFsparkchaser]

Wow I will be attempting to the same thing this weekend, I bought some mold making material off Amazon hope it works for me

[spejic]

There are different kinds, but the platinum one makes molds that are both more flexible and tougher. Usually the ones you find in art stores (like the Smooth-On brand, which works well for me) are kind of thick. It will still work - just paint the part with the mold material with a disposable paintbrush or q-tip before you pour in the mold material into the container.

 

For a beginner, here is the basic set up for a single-piece mold:

 

You want a container big enough to surround and submerge the part but no bigger so you don't waste casting material. If it has a bowl shape it's much easier to get the mold out. I usually use yogurt containers. You then glue your part to a spacer (which becomes both the pour hole in the mold and the part you saw at to free your cast part). Then you glue the spacer to a card. Do not make the card the same size as the bottom of the container - it should be a bit smaller. That creates a bowl in the mold so you don't spill the casting material when you are making your part.

 

A figure is going to be difficult to do in a single piece mold, with legs and arms going in multiple directions, unless it is all separate parts still on the sprue.  I guess you can put the spacer on its back. A two part mold may be required, but that is a lot more involved. There are lots of good tutorials on how to do that - I recommend the ones on Adam Savage's "Tested" YouTube channel. I strongly recommend doing single-piece molds first.

Edited August 11, 2023 by spejic