Imperial Creative Engineering > Custom Questions
Molding & Casting - Making Molds & Casting Parts and Accessories
Darth More:
First off, I'm definitely not the first dude to do this and do not claim to have invented any of the following steps myself.
Okay, having said that, I know there are many forum members out there who have already done this once or work with these techniques on a daily basis.
But after a couple active years here in the forum I reckon that the interest and demand for a tutorial like this is still strong.
So before jumping right into this I'd like to kindly ask you to use the affiliate links to ebay and Amazon on our frontpage to support our forum if you want to buy some of the materials, used in this tutorial, on these marketplaces. I do not profit from this. Thank you very much!
http://imperialshipyards.net/
I've been wanting to share my experience of making molds & casts for some years by now.
But let's start with the basics for an easy start. Actually I've worked with silicone molds and resin for casting so far. But recently I got into instant casting. And this is what I show you here in the following photo turorial.
Special thanks to forum member CenturionsCorner for his support & for sharing his knowledge about instant casting.
Make sure to check out & subscribe to his YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWs4F_l3Xv7LxtjAB3lB58A
Special thanks also go to JDeck for his inspiring custom weapons and accessories.
Check out his latest projects after the jump:
http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=10103.300
Actually, the first two pressed parts are hardening right now as I'm writing this!
Well, let's get started on this turorial (no matter how many patents I infringe here...):
Technique - Instant Casting - Pros & Cons:
This technique is well suitable for parts you only need once or a few times.
Pros:
+ materials are rather cheap
+ enables you to reproduce parts quickly (about 30 minutes working time, at least 2 hours to cure)
+ no pressure pot required
+ impression putty (Oyumaru) can be reused to make new molds
Cons:
- lining will be your biggest enemy! (as it is with every instand casting compound)
- you have to work quickly to make a good mold (short ways are the key to success)
- some casting compounds might not be as detailed as silicone to make molds
- depending on the quality of molds (detail & accuracy) some detail might get lost
Materials & Tools:
- Pair(s) of Disposable Gloves (nitrile, vinyl etc.) - Beware of possible/known allergies against Latex, gloves may cause reaction on skin.
https://amzn.to/2LfIXHX
- Casting Compound (e.g. Oyumaru, Blue Stuff etc.)
https://amzn.to/2ZCxzLl
- Epoxy Putty (e.g. Milliput (yellow-grey black, white etc.), Alteco EpoPutty, Aves Apoxie Sculpt, Green Stuff etc.)
https://amzn.to/2ZFQmW6
- Sculpting tools
https://amzn.to/2ZFQRiW
- Parts you want to reproduce
- Buildable Bricks for outer frame of the mold
https://amzn.to/2ZEzoYd
Information taken from packaging.
INSTRUCTIONS
Mix equal quantities of the two sticks by rolling and kneading for at least five minutes until the colour is uniform and free from streaks.
Milliput becomes rock hard in 3-4 hours at normal room temperature.
Stire in cool, dry conditions. Further instructions and product information can be found on our website www.milliput.com
https://amzn.to/2HA1bTl
WARNING
Keep out of the reach of children. May cause an allergic skin reaction.
Personal note: Also the putty runs black/leaves black dye on hands, which you can wash off with soap. But that is one more reason why you want to wear gloves.
So these are the accessories I need more of. Whether it is Clone Troopers you get used from ebay that miss one shoulder armor or hands or maybe you want to reproduce missing weapons & other accessories.
Working Steps:
Making Molds:
1. Prepare all materials you need and set them up at your "work bench".
2. Warm up the Oyumaru/Blue Stuff casting compound to about 176 °F/80 °C.
3. In the meantime: Prepare the approximate dimensions of the mold (I use bricks here. I've not seen any video in which this is done so far.)
4. Get the casting/molding compound out of the hot! water (use tongs, a spoon, gloves etc.) and quickly dry it with kitchen towle/tissues.
5. Apply the compound to your prepared form of step 3. Make sure it's thick enough for the part you want to imprint. Also make sure the compound is not higher than the edges of the form so that you can add a second row of bricks.
6. Place the original part in the center of the form and evenly press it into the soft molding compound.
7. Modify all edges around the original part by pushing the compound at the part to imprint all details by using a tool.
8. Add at least two more imprints with a pen etc. to make a negative for better accuracy later on.
Let the compound cure for 5-10 minute.
9. After curing of the first component of the mold you now add the second half by following steps 2 and 5.
10. After 5-10 more minutes your mold is ready to be taken apart and used for your first cast!
2. Warming up the instant casting compund/impression putty:
So I listened to you guys after my last contribution to a similar project and got a new pot JUST for the hobby for 6 bucks.
See also: Restoring Star Wars Action Figures after the jump:
http://www.imperialshipyards.net/SMF/index.php?topic=10179.15
Making the Mold: Steps 3-6
7. Make sure to get the compound actually AT the edges of the part using a tool:
Smoothen the surfaces of the molds also to put even pressure onto it.
Also try to place the part as much in the center as possible by pushing it carefully into the compound:
mold ready:
casting the part:
Putting constant pressure/weight onto the mold (optional):
finished parts:
Comment:
It was already getting late (2 am) so I actually damaged the blaster pistol a bit by cutting off too much. But being my very first instant casts, I'm quite happy with the results. I started with these two parts because I really need a second one of them! One TVC Captain Fordo I got loose recently is missing his second blaster pistol. And my used TFU Militia Elite Trooper is missing his right shoulder pad. This technique works well to replace such small accessories! I chose a black epoxy putty to avoid possible paint rubbing of custom parts. I will also cast Clone Trooper hands in black. That's a solid base to start with that will never have issues with paint-rubbing!
To be improved...I hope you find this tutorial helpful. For any questions and/or suggestions feel free to post them in the comments down below. Thanks for coming by!
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I wish you much fun & success with this easy & fairly cheap technique.
And here's the song I listened to while making the molds & casts (sounds even more excellent throgh headphones):
Again, thanks to Steve - CenturionsCorner - for sharing this video, which I didn't know before. So if you want to see how the entire process is done, check out this video by Zubbie:
Double-click for full screen view, you can then make it smaller for embedded view. Yea, you know the drill.
- Philipp
JDeck:
Very cool. I'm glad you posted this, I've never seen it done using Miliput, I use that stuff all the time, it cures fairly fast and is really strong. I never thought to use it for casting. I'm interested in that mold material. It makes sense to be able to melt it down and reuse it, unlike silicone. Of course with silicone, the set time takes hours. Doing it this way, there's no worry about air bubbles. The only drawback I see is the flash, being Miliput, it must be difficult to remove. I will definitely have to try this out. Thank you for sharing your techniques.
Tamer:
Wow, what a tutorial! First off thanks for sharing it as I have now done on the front pages.
Second, I love how you used images to explain your instructions.
And thank you for asking folks to use our links. If I can find the time this weekend I will try to get specific amazon and eBay Links to help point folks in the direction of the products you are sharing about. I am hoping we can get enough comissions to do a custom contest in the spring. Thats the goal anyhew.
Starchaser:
This is a really great tutorial Philipp. Thanks for posting it. You did a really thorough job sharing and including pictures. This was helpful and informative. Really great job on this!
Darth More:
JDeck: Thanks for coming by JD! Yeah, I know Milliput from such tutorials on YouTube. I've done some long research on epoxy sculpting clays. And Milliput is fairly inexpensive compared to others and the detail it captures is quite good. I'm looking forward to working more with it.
The Oyumaru or BlueStuff is VERY useful to make molds again and again. But I'll use silicone for my next molds for higher accuracy and detial. To be shared soon.
And yes, once the Milliout is cured completely, th flash has to be sanded/sawn with a dremel. But since I removed the two parts early (after about 2 hours) I could still cut it with a scalpel/exacto-knife.
Tamer: Thanks for the flowers, Tamer! I'm happy to hear that and looking forward to the contest next year! I hope you can find some specific items to advertise on here.
Starchaser: Thank you so much Starchaser! There's much more to come! I had been wanting to share this for 3 years by now...but never dared to due to patents and stuff. Don't want to get in serious trouble...
Thanks for coming by and checking it out!
Your feedback is always much qppreciated, gentlemen! That's the reason why it pays off for me to share my content on here.
- Philipp
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