Bengoodall
New member
Is it possible to cast plastic figures using plaster of paris, and if so, whats thebest way to go about it.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Casting question
- Thread starter Bengoodall
- Start date
Roger Bunting
New member
I would have thought so. You can make casts in latex and wax using plater of paris. It\'ll depend on the temperature needed. It\'d be the same kind of two-part mold method as doing a mold for resin casts.
Bengoodall
New member
I hadnt thought of using wax, which is handy, cause Ive got some lovely scented red fruit candles floating around, so Ill use those to do it with.
I would have thought it probably makes a reasonable mold to, given it works under heat.
Any idea on what to use as a lubricant, or as a seperation catalyst in there, would olive oil or vaseline work at all.
I would have thought it probably makes a reasonable mold to, given it works under heat.
Any idea on what to use as a lubricant, or as a seperation catalyst in there, would olive oil or vaseline work at all.
Bengoodall
New member
Ive just realised my last post involved hot wax and olive oil and vaseline as a lubricant, so I apologise to the younger members of cmon for the implied thoughts brought on by that last post.
You filthy little beasts
You filthy little beasts
Roger Bunting
New member
Ah, now, I\'m stumped on that. It\'s been a decade since we were shown how to make plater molds at university. Can\'t quite remember what mold release type thing was used. I do remember them showing us how to cast an object using a rubber duck as the master, and they cast it in wax but as a hollow object, if I\'m explaining myself well enough.
Bengoodall
New member
Yeah, I get what you mean, so leaving it as a mold, and not making a second model out of it.
I think Ill just try it plain first, if it doesnt work out, Ill just have to crack the wax off, it shouldnt stick to plastic too bad, and then if I have to remelt the stuff, so be it, I have a gas torch :flame:
Failing that, Ill give it a go with a light brushing of vaseline, and see how that goes.
My aim is to fill out some plastic parts Im short of, and if it works out, a few other bits and pieces that will fill gaps.
Like 6 rhinos
Cause buggered if Im paying for them now.
But seriously, I think a basic make up of plaster, remembering the french have some seriously weird, exothermic, goes off in 22 seconds (I was timing when I bought the wrong bag of stuff for doing my sisters flat with)
I read the label wrong, and ended up with crack repair stuff, not the general fill the wall plaster stuff, and now have a big bag of it I dont really have a use for, and Im being all scientific today.
:drunk:
I think Ill just try it plain first, if it doesnt work out, Ill just have to crack the wax off, it shouldnt stick to plastic too bad, and then if I have to remelt the stuff, so be it, I have a gas torch :flame:
Failing that, Ill give it a go with a light brushing of vaseline, and see how that goes.
My aim is to fill out some plastic parts Im short of, and if it works out, a few other bits and pieces that will fill gaps.
Like 6 rhinos
Cause buggered if Im paying for them now.
But seriously, I think a basic make up of plaster, remembering the french have some seriously weird, exothermic, goes off in 22 seconds (I was timing when I bought the wrong bag of stuff for doing my sisters flat with)
I read the label wrong, and ended up with crack repair stuff, not the general fill the wall plaster stuff, and now have a big bag of it I dont really have a use for, and Im being all scientific today.
:drunk:
Roger Bunting
New member
Err, I guess I didn\'t explain myself well enough. They used a the rubber duck as the master from which they made the mold. Then they poured the wax in to the mold for a short while and poured most of it out. The process was repeated so when they removed the wax duck, it was basically just a shell of wax, not a solid object. Of course that was just to show us what could be done, they could have let the wax set completely for a solid cast. Not that this applies to what you\'re wanting as it would be too fragile.
TokenArtGuy
New member
Please refer to post 4 as a disclaimer for young or *gasp* immature audiences.
Now for the post:
Back in college when doing \"latex appliances\" for special FX makeup they had us using Vaseline as a mould release agent.
And no, the quotation marks have no special connotations to them in case you were wondering.
Now for the post:
Back in college when doing \"latex appliances\" for special FX makeup they had us using Vaseline as a mould release agent.
And no, the quotation marks have no special connotations to them in case you were wondering.
TokenArtGuy
New member
Dental plaster works better than plaster of paris or Hydrocal if you can\'t get a hold of the dental plaster.
If you are loaded, as in lots of extra cash, then I\'d recommend Silicone RTV Rubber that Bruce Hirst uses.
Linky =>http://members.tripod.com/Hirst_arts/molds.html
It is insanely expensive, though the moulds are fantastic. I have a few of his moulds and they seem to last forever. There should be a bunch of tutorials on his site detailing the process as well.
If you are loaded, as in lots of extra cash, then I\'d recommend Silicone RTV Rubber that Bruce Hirst uses.
Linky =>http://members.tripod.com/Hirst_arts/molds.html
It is insanely expensive, though the moulds are fantastic. I have a few of his moulds and they seem to last forever. There should be a bunch of tutorials on his site detailing the process as well.
Legacy Account
Active member
You\'re not seriously going to try to use plaster of paris moulds to cast 28mm plastic parts?
lol
And what sort of plastic are you planning to use?
The only way you\'d get anything like halfway decent reproductions is if you were to use silicon/polyurethane or go the whole hog and spincast them in metal. The setup costs in the later wouldn\'t be worth it, and the hassle and need for a vac chamber with the former aint worth it either - though contrary to what the previous poster said, silicon isn\'t \'insanely expensive\'!
That and the fact that recasting is dodgy turf. Not that I\'m going to get high and mighty on your a-hole, but I wouldn\'t shout too loudly about it on a public forum.....
lol
And what sort of plastic are you planning to use?
The only way you\'d get anything like halfway decent reproductions is if you were to use silicon/polyurethane or go the whole hog and spincast them in metal. The setup costs in the later wouldn\'t be worth it, and the hassle and need for a vac chamber with the former aint worth it either - though contrary to what the previous poster said, silicon isn\'t \'insanely expensive\'!
That and the fact that recasting is dodgy turf. Not that I\'m going to get high and mighty on your a-hole, but I wouldn\'t shout too loudly about it on a public forum.....
Bengoodall
New member
Oh yeah, my one and only aim with all of this is to sell them on ebay, so as long as they hold together long enough to get a decent picture of, I dont care at all
Nah, these are basically the odd bit here and there Im looking for to fill in gaps, like, a bolter here, a set of legs there, that kind of thing, and compared with the amount of marines Ive got, I dont think its gonna be anything huge.
And yes, I am too lazy to scratch build anything.
I just found a great big lump of paraffin wax, so I might give that a go for molds, Ive got some great lock together plastic cap things, thatll work nicely as cases for the molds, and Im off and away.
Nah, these are basically the odd bit here and there Im looking for to fill in gaps, like, a bolter here, a set of legs there, that kind of thing, and compared with the amount of marines Ive got, I dont think its gonna be anything huge.
And yes, I am too lazy to scratch build anything.
I just found a great big lump of paraffin wax, so I might give that a go for molds, Ive got some great lock together plastic cap things, thatll work nicely as cases for the molds, and Im off and away.
capt mannering
New member
When I made plaster casts at college for ceramic slipware we just used washing up liquid as a lubricant. Ive tried casting using dental plaster before and it only really worked for me for casting one sided things like purity seals and badges. i have seen a tutorial somewhere where they did a cast using green stuff in an overturned base and then once it had hardened sandwiched soft green stuff inbetween and then trimmed off the excess once it had set. hope this is usefull to you.
Bengoodall
New member
Yeah, I might give that a go too, Ill see how it all turns out.
Failing that Ill just use this plaster for making terrain or something.
Stupid me, yeah yeah, 20 kilo bags are good.
And if you minus the 4 or something that went off in the bucket inside 30 seconds, Ive got that left.
Failing that Ill just use this plaster for making terrain or something.
Stupid me, yeah yeah, 20 kilo bags are good.
And if you minus the 4 or something that went off in the bucket inside 30 seconds, Ive got that left.
TokenArtGuy
New member
Not to sound like a jerk but,
I did not say that silicone was expensive, please read the post. I said that the silicone that Bruce Hirst uses is ‘insanely expensive.’ Follow the link, $200 per gallon, perhaps it has reduced in price since he last updated his page though. Anyhow, the page is a good resource for casting parts.
If you are only doing a few casts then go for cheaper silicon as Spacemunkie said. He is also correct on the point concerning the GW anti-piracy meltagun being a rather dodgy subject.
As capt mannering mentioned, one sided objects are going to be a lot easier to cast.
Last note aside, I do know someone who has reproduced a spare power fist using a plaster of paris mould and epoxy resin that turned out fairly decent. :drunk:
Bengoodall
New member
Hmm, epoxy keeps popping in my mind as something that could be the go, if I just wanted say, three of a shoulder pad, and had three already, cast the three in plaster, then dropped epoxy into that, and once its dried, to break the plaster away.
On the anti-piracy meltagun thing, I can make as many as I want, as long as I dont sell them, its much the same with any copyright law, and besides, if they want to kick up stink about a few bits, then Im more than happy to kick up stink over all the complaints I have at the moment.
Silicones a bit out of my reach here, I dont trust the postal service much, and Im a wee bit short on funds at this very moment in time, and like I say, its only for a few small bits, and only for me, so I dont wanna spend a whole heap of cash.
On the anti-piracy meltagun thing, I can make as many as I want, as long as I dont sell them, its much the same with any copyright law, and besides, if they want to kick up stink about a few bits, then Im more than happy to kick up stink over all the complaints I have at the moment.
Silicones a bit out of my reach here, I dont trust the postal service much, and Im a wee bit short on funds at this very moment in time, and like I say, its only for a few small bits, and only for me, so I dont wanna spend a whole heap of cash.
Legacy Account
Active member
I\'d hardly call it \'INSANELY expensive\'! I can get 5 kilos of that stuff Hirst uses for around 70-80 quid. It makes SHITLOADS of moulds! You can get a kilo from Tiranti for less than 20 notes and it\'ll still make plenty!
Suppose it depends on your definition of \'insanely expensive\'......
TokenArtGuy
New member
Look Mr. Spacemunkie relax a little. I apologize if I came across as sounding snippy earlier, I probably could have worded that differently.
Bruce lists the silicone on his site at $200 per gallon (and I said that it could have dropped in price since Bruce put that up). That\'ll do a lot of moulds, but I\'d have to be pretty serious about casting stuff to shell out that much!
Please post some sites where we can get some of that for $20, that sounds great.
Peace out.
Bruce lists the silicone on his site at $200 per gallon (and I said that it could have dropped in price since Bruce put that up). That\'ll do a lot of moulds, but I\'d have to be pretty serious about casting stuff to shell out that much!
Please post some sites where we can get some of that for $20, that sounds great.
Peace out.
Legacy Account
Active member
Alec Tiranti
Materials for casting in polyurethane aren\'t expensive. Until you start to realise after a large pile of miscasts that you need a vac chamber to get all the air bubbles out of your multi-part moulds!
Materials for casting in polyurethane aren\'t expensive. Until you start to realise after a large pile of miscasts that you need a vac chamber to get all the air bubbles out of your multi-part moulds!
demonherald
New member
trust me ay stink you can kick up about any form of \"complaint\" will not be as effective as the stink GW can kick up....
as for what Spacemunkie says..I agree it don\'t cost much until you start experimenting and realising to get it right you need to part with cash...
Legacy Account
Active member
I don\'t think Mr Goodall has quite grasped the finer details of copyright law.
Making multiple copies of GW parts is infringement of their copyright whether you sell them or not. The fact that you can get away with it or that GW encouraged GS pressmoulding of small parts is neither here nor there.
If a smaller company caught you talking about doing this on a forum, they\'d stamp on the idea, I\'m pretty sure of that. Hence my initial advice of doing it surreptitiously and not spouting on forums!!
Making multiple copies of GW parts is infringement of their copyright whether you sell them or not. The fact that you can get away with it or that GW encouraged GS pressmoulding of small parts is neither here nor there.
If a smaller company caught you talking about doing this on a forum, they\'d stamp on the idea, I\'m pretty sure of that. Hence my initial advice of doing it surreptitiously and not spouting on forums!!
