new to molding

[moonrocker01]

hey guys, ive been looking through your forum for a few days now and have realized you all use vacuum to make your molds, ive read the other forum referring non vacuum molds and didn't quite understand, i was wondering if any of you had techniques for non vacuum molds
i have pinkysil silicone that i plan to use with an Easycast rigid resin (both purchased from barnes) ill post pics of what ive done when i get home, but im lost as to how to go about the procedure of casting once my mold is finished
any help would be great, or if theres a forum ive missed, a point in the deriction would be just as good thanks

[Munkey Joe]

OK well What exactly are you doing??? Casting using Gravity VS Vacuum??? thats easy if so!!!

There are MANY gravity feed casting tuts and videos on the web but as someone who gravity fed for years before taking the plunge into pressure and then vacuum I will say that VENTING will be your best ally and worst enemy. Vents will make or break your grav feed mold. Here are some examples of Vents:



And a nice tut with fantastic looking molds and little shoes.... Yes I like the doll shoes....


Now why did I tell you about vents AFTER your molds are poured??? Well if you dont do it before while pouring you can use an exacto knife and cut them after.



You will want your pour low and vents high. this way you fill from the bottom to the top and push air out as you pour VS trapping it in you molds. Here is one of the BEST handouts I have seen for grav cast pouring and moldmaking from a overpriced company but the handout is amazingly well done....


Its a PDF and you can print it out to keep or you get one when you order. If you have anymore questions feel free to ask as everyone here is very friendly and more than willing to help out.

Munkey!!

[mangozac]

Great reply MJ!

Moonrocker, some more information would be good. What are you planning to cast? You don't need to use vacuum or pressure to make the moulds unless you're planning to cast under vacuum and/or pressure.

[moonrocker01]

I'm planning on casting miniatures, not sure what informations prohibited here so I should ask about that first

[Munkey Joe]

[moonrocker01]

I'll post photos anyway, their under the topic of miniatures and if needed can always take them down

How do I post pics off iPhone?

[mangozac]

If you're casting miniatures that are not your own creation then indeed it is not something we condone or will discuss specifics of (so please don't post pictures). If however you're interested in the general process of reproducing 28mm figures then we can definitely help

First up I have to say that without (at minimum) a pressure casting arrangement (and a combination of vacuum and pressure is preferred) the quality of your results is going to be very limited. You will have air bubbles. I always say that unless you can afford the silicone and resin costs of a bit of trial and error then casting is not for you.

MJ has pointed out some great information. If you need more help you're best to ask us specific questions you have.

To post pics here you're going to need to use an image hosting site like www.photobucket.com or imgur.com. You should be able to upload the photos directly from your phone onto those sites.

[moonrocker01]

Ok tHanks
Specific questions would be how do I cast multiple pieces at once off the same mold
And I'm trying to avoid using vacuum as its too expensive for me ATM, will get into it eventually once I know what I'm doing, so all molds ATM are gravity/pressure

[mangozac]

So do you have a compressor and pressure pot then? Gravity and pressure are two different things!

I don't quite understand your question. Casting multiple pieces off one mould is automatic: once you've made the mould you can use it to cast as many resin duplicates as you like...

[moonrocker01]

Oh... Didn't know that, this stuffs confusing aha
Only using gravity then

I want to cast more than one piece at once (instea of having just 1 piece attached to the mold I want about 6 to make it easier) but I'm unsure how to do this or where the vents need to go

[Hiflt4]

[mangozac]

[moonrocker01]

Yea I got the pieces, jUst unsure on the whole venting system

[Hiflt4]

Honestly unless its really small. Make a mold for 1.
You will foul something up if your new. It better to make a small mold when your learning then a big mess of a failure costing a bunch of your mold material.

Really need to know what process your useing and what the part looks like, can take it in paint and draw you flow channles if you can supply a picture.

[Munkey Joe]

True to all that has been said.

Casting multiples in a gravity feed mold is..... troublesome unless you know what your doing. I would make a one cavity mold and just concentrate on making as many GOOD casts as I could. Its easier to make sure ONE is filled well that with 6..... multiples are best done with a setup using vacuum and pressure.

As far as Recasting.......

Now personally I dont give two shakes of a stick what you do with your models as long as you keep it to yourself. You cannot sell give trade or ANYTHING recast parts legally and if you do so you are a criminal in the eyes of the American law. If you are recasting miniatures for profit you are morally wrong too. NOW that being said I have some models in my armies that I have recast parts on. sometimes entire models are recast. But these are MINE and I am not selling nor giving them away.

If your wanting to do this know that there are some serious repercussions and you have been warned. Im no Lawyer but look at GWs track history on IP enforcement and Swing onto Bartertown and look into the mail fraud and IP law sections there.... Linrandir is a personal friend of mine and he tells me things that are just not fun for those who get caught.....

/end rant

NOW posting a picture will help us understand whats going on and help you out. The BEST thing I can say about gravity cast ANYTHING is fill from the bottom, and vent vent vent anything going up.... I have googled some pictures to help....
Simple vents with parts

Actual mold with vents- notice how the pour is low and vents to high


Very complicated mold with vents.... Again notice how the pour starts low and vents high