JohnG Posted September 29, 2003 Share Posted September 29, 2003 I've got a part that I scrathbuilt, but need two of them. I want to cast a new one so that I won't have to botch the attempt at replicating the first one. How would I go about doing this? And what's a rough estimate of the costs involved? Are there any starter kits? Would casting in metal be cheaper? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
William G Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 John. Hmmm this is a toughie. In the Tools n Tips there are I think 2 articles for this. But the question is. How big are the parts you are doing? Cost is dependent on how you want to go about this. RTV (Rubber molds) cost more than say Alginate or clay. Alginate is good as long as you are not making a part that will generate too much heat when it is curing. Also you will get only a few from alginate. Alginate also has a few slight problems as a mold agent. The first is that it is water based and as a result it dries out. The other problem is that some brands have a grainy texture. Check the thread on recasting. I have a step by step in it for casting parts as well. The RTV Putty I use (Alumilite) cost me $25 US about 2 years ago. I have seen it for $34 lately. I bought a kit from Alumilite years ago for almost $60 and received clay, RTV and casting compound. It was a good investment. Have made a load of stuff with it over the years as a result. (Mostly hardware it would seem). Recast a few large-scale figure heads, as well as a lot of afterburner rings. My history with casting is based on special effects but the techniques are the same. Just usualy a lot larger. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MoFo Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 Related question (as I attempt to hijack the thread ): can anything be done with resin that's "gone off"? I've got some fairly old resin (a couple of years) that seems to be attacking styrene once cured. I poured some in a Hasegawa intake splitter plate (easy way to fill the large void) and several months later noticed a line of softened plastic "goo" around the edge, where the resin touched the plastic. I also had some resin-cast bombs in a container with assorted plastic bits, and the plastic had melted around and stuck to the resin. Weird (and annoying) stuff. But is there any way to "save" it, or should I just dispose of it? Can't recall what brand it is - the bottles have yellow labels with green highlights on them, and it's an equal parts mix. The resin is off-white once cured. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grey Ghost 531 Posted October 1, 2003 Share Posted October 1, 2003 Micromark has a starter kit, maybe even two sizes. It comes with RTV, resin, mold release, mixing cups and popsicle sticks I think. Probably about 50 bucks. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
William G Posted October 2, 2003 Share Posted October 2, 2003 MOFO Sounds like Alumilite to me was one bottle a brownish coolor and the other a clear? As to what to do when they go bad Oh no nothing you can do except hope they dont get worse. What you describe sounds like the resin did not get a full cure Or it might have had one or two pockets of the resin not fully mixed. But then again. Grey Ghost, I get mine direct through a hobby shop here in the Tampa area But that is the same one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Guest_Ricardo Posted October 3, 2003 Share Posted October 3, 2003 find a chemical supplies store and ask for silicon rubber for molds. Theyll tell you how to use it. Ricardo Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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