Looking for a quality resin

[theplayground]

I have started sculpting bases and hopefully soon minis. I have made molds of the bases and have tried making copies with poured resin. I have been happy with the molds. They appear to have good detail and hold up well. The resin has not been giving me the results I am looking for. I have followed the directions on the bottles. Measured everything as well as I possibly could. (I did not pour out some of each and say that looks close enough.) After pouring and drying the pieces appear to have tiny pits. I have tried tapping both the molds and the table they are on to remove bubbles. I try to stir and pour slowly so I do not introduce air. Sanding does not help as it only reveals more tiny holes in the copy. When I prime them they look horrible. The name of the company for both the resin and mold maker I have been using is called, smooth on. If this was a poor brand choice on my behalf, please do not leave sny remarks. I try to shop local and this was the only product that appeared to be decent. In the future I would like to sculpt and cast miniatures on a small production basis. I want to treat this as a hobby. I hope to sell them in order to pay for materials so that I can continue to sculpt and produce minis. I do not think that I will ever make copious amounts of money in this venture. I just want the hobby to try and pay for itself. I do want to offer good quality. This is why I am asking for opinions about casting resin. I cannot afford a vacuum chamber. If you have any suggestions I would like to hear them.
In case temperature and humidity are a factor in your suggestions I live in central Florida.
Thanks for your time.
TJ

 

[QuietiManes]

I wouldn't think the brand of resin is where your problem lies. You could always make a vacuum chamber to use with your home vacuum or a cheap pump for very little cost. Tapping the table a few times wouldn't dislodge many air bubbles, if you have a something that vibrates like a massager or palm sander you can use that to shake the molds for a few minutes OR if you've got some shop equipment that vibrates, like a bandsaw, drill press, table saw or scroll saw, etc, you can place the molds on it while it's running for a few.

 

[Einion]

For high-end results (which very small, detailed stuff honestly does require) it's normal to rely on vacuum, or use a pressure vessel. Sometimes even both.

Good news is you can afford to vacuum since you can build a simple setup yourself, and a regular vacuum cleaner can develop sufficient Torr to greatly improve on bubbles, if not eliminate the problem entirely if you're lucky.

Einion

 

[theplayground]

Ok cool. I will look into trying to build a vacuum chamber.
Thank you.
TJ

 

[Trevor]

The type of resin you use will have an effect as well as how you mix it.
From what you have said, you are introducing small bubbles when mixing, this could be due to too vigourous mixing and the effect could be being made worse by the type of resin you use.
So, try to mix slowly and carefully to avoid introducing too many bubbles. This is made easier by using a 'runny' ie low viscosity resin, that has a reasonable working time (2-3 minutes is fine for small batches).
When I lived in Sydney there was this awesome shop that sold all sorts of different resins with different working times and setting times. I made a whole bunch of resin bases and small parts for minis. Occassionally, I would get larger bubbles that ruined detail. These are caused during the pouring and you get rid of them as outlined above. Having a less viscous resin also helps with stopping these. Depending upon your mold you can also get around these by cutting vents into the mold and gentle tapping, but a vacuum (well decreased pressure, you are unlikely to get a true vacuum) is the only way to be sure. Sometimes pouring in stages and tapping as you go help with this, and you can use an old paining brush handle to poke the resin into the problem areas, but this only really works for open molds.