Topic: First mold!

[DocOutlands]

OK!!  I took the plunge!!  I made a mold...  It is sitting on the shelf, curing.  Inside - a senate holocam droid and a survival lamp thing.  Can't wait to see if it worked!!

[narceron]

Yeah, I have thought about trying it out, but I think I'd just get ol clonehead to do it for me.

Hmm, still, would be a neat skill to pick up down the road.

Can't wait to see the results,

[Clonehead]

Good luck on the mold, Doc. I am also anxious to see how it goes.

[segnett]

Me too, can't wait to see the outcome!!

[Tamer]

Well lets just see how this turns out.

[DocOutlands]

Wow - that worked out WAY better than I had any right to expect.  Pics will follow after lunch.

5-10 minute cure on the plastis I used.

[DocOutlands]

Awrighty - here we go.  I picked out a couple of pieces of gear I wanted to make copies of - LOTS of copies - for my first attempt at molding.  Naturally, I didn't go easy on myself.  The two pieces had lots of angles, curves, undercuts, protuberances, and so on.  I can't to anything easily, y'know.

Fig1:


Here are my two masters, tacked to the bottom of a cig-box, just the way Clint does it.


Fig2:


In with the HS3!


Fig3:


This morning, after peeling away the box and foil-paper lining.

[DocOutlands]

Fig4:


Out comes the fusion lamp.


Fig5:


Yeah, look at that cavity.  I'm screwed.


Fig6:


Out comes the holocam droid.  Wow, that is one TINY exit hole to pass thru!

[DocOutlands]

Well, I *guess* the mold did ok - no pieces of loose pink stuff came out with the masters.  I guess that means it is time to mix up some resin and pour.

Fig7:


Here's the resin I used.  Alumilite products all the way.


Fig8:


Overtopped molds.  I'll prolly scrape off the excess next time I pour.

Turns out, this product has a demold time of 5-10 minutes.  Guess we'll see in REAL short order how badly I screwed things up.

[DocOutlands]

Out pops the very first pieces!!

Fig9:


Fusion Lamp and its "little brother"


Fig10:


Holocam and its "little brother"


They didn't come out perfect.  The lamp had a couple of small air bubbles in a couple of the innermost corners, but they were almost unnoticeable.  The Holocam had the most egregious problems, with the topmast and long-eye not getting filled.  I'm going to try squeezing the mold together next time, then letting go of it after I have some resin poured in.  Maybe that will create suction enough to draw resin into the longer areas. 

All in all, I'd say it was a credible first effort, yielding two usable items, given a little cleanup.  Maybe next time I'll try something easier, like a BAD R2 dome...

[StenHunter]

Great job! Resin and molding can take some practice and I think you've gotten off to a good start.

[Clonehead]

Nice job on the mold, Doc! I usually pull the inner foil lining out before I pour the mold material but you did fine. For the upper eye mast, try pouring just that little bit and stop long enough to squeeze the air out of that area then, try pouring the rest. For that front facing eye, you may need to cut a vertical slit from the length of that protrusion, up to the top of the mold. That would give the air a rout of escape and would leave a paper thin piece of resin to the castes piece where you made the cut that would be real easy to clean off.

[DocOutlands]

I *knew* I'd drag you out of Branson for this!!   

Yeah, I realized the liner should have come out just about the time I started pouring the HS3!      Was a bit late at that point.  On the antenna - GREAT!  The squeeze thing was going to be my next effort.  Cutting a channel for that long eye is gonna get interesting!  I sure couldn't pick an easy couple of pieces to start with, could I??

[Tamer]

looks like a pretty good turn out to me.

[Clonehead]

It's a learning process, buddy. You get better as you go.