Pressing shapes/making moulds(help needed)

[atacam]

What do people use to take moulds of things, in the UK.

I want to press some bits so I can duplicate them on some minis, i\'m converting.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Swordwind]

Depends how big.

When I lost one of the shoulder guards on my MI CAP troopers I got the one I had left and pressed it into some greenstuff and let it dry. I then put some more greenstuff over it and let that dry too. I then pulled the two halves apart, took out the plastic and replaced it with a small blob of greenstuff and pressed the two halves together. When it was dry I just trimmed off the excess GS and that was that.

 

[peteh]

I\'ve tended to use Milliput for any press moulds I\'ve had to use. As it dries nice and hard the detail has been pretty good.

 

[farseerlum]

i made a pretty good tempory impression mold with cleen clay. just shove it on then freeze it.

take the clay off when hard and fill with GS. back in the freezer, GS will take a long time to cure, then just leave it out for a while to defrost.

 

[airhead]

hit the GS and the part with a bit of mold release, WD-40 or PAM cooking spray. Just a film. It will make demolding much easier.

Alumilite makes a silicone putty that can be used to press to a part to make a mold.

 

[DaN]

For larger items you could always try Liquid latex - which is suitable for casts of plaster for example.

It simply brushes on (Or dip the item INTO the liquid) and allow to dry.

As the cured latex is flexible you can then simply peel it off ready for use

And as it starts as liquid, it can capture a lot of detail

 

[Legacy Account]

If you\'re using GS, you don\'t need a release agent, it peels off easily when dry.

Milliput is excellent. Dust with talc or chalk and press mould. I use melted sprue to do the press moulding. Works like a dream.

 

[misterjustin]

Originally posted by Spacemunkie
I use melted sprue to do the press moulding. Works like a dream.

Wait... you melt the plastic sprue and pour or drip it on to the piece you want to make a press mold? Any need for a release film of any sort?

Having had horrible luck with GS molding I suddenly see a whole new world open up before me...

 

[DaN]

That\'s what I thought when I read it - but I can\'t see it working that well...

 

[Legacy Account]

It works brilliantly. Heat one end of the sprue, then when the plastic softens, push it into your mould. Milliput moulds work best as the stuff is stupidly heat resistant.

Quite a simple concept really. Check out Cyril\'s site for a tute.

 

[misterjustin]

Originally posted by Spacemunkie
It works brilliantly. Heat one end of the sprue, then when the plastic softens, push it into your mould. Milliput moulds work best as the stuff is stupidly heat resistant.

Quite a simple concept really. Check out Cyril\'s site for a tute.

OH! You make a MOULD out of MILLIPUT and then you press the plastic in to the mould. Not it makes a lot more sense to me.

Anyone have a link to Cyril\'s tutorial? The only one I found was not in English and the pictures were not, as it turns out, worth a thousand words.

 

[DaN]

Yeah - you make the CAST from the sprue, not the MOULD... I\'ll have to try that some time... Do you use a heat gun or a lighter or what...?

 

[Legacy Account]

Cooker hob.

 

[demonherald]

I\'ve been playing about with press moulds in Fimo or sculpey at the moment and it works damn well saving me tons of time.
Just make sure you knead it until it is super soft and it makes a really god impression.

also for casting materials I\'ve been melting down spare mini bits and bobs down in a ladel over the cooker and have had some great results. guess it depends what the part is going to be used for.

 

[atacam]

Thanks for all the replies guys.
Got loads of ideas now

 

[War Griffon]

I have had good results using a two part stuff from Hobby Craft I can\'t remember the name of it off the top of my head but I imagine you can get it from most craft shops.

It comes in two plastic tubs one blue one white and you just mix equal amounts together and press it on what you want to mold, it has a very fast drying time once mixed and can be used many times afterwards, cheaper than using GS for the initial mold

 

[Sjakkie]

There has been an item at Brushthralls about this a few days ago: http://www.brushthralls.com/CustomArmor/

Just remember that GW (just a random example :innocent: ) is allowed to be an ass about this kind of copying of parts.

 

[Rev]

i found this article helpful

http://www.drunkdwarves.com/pages/artttgttccasting.html

 

[Swordwind]

Howabout using solder? Thats how minis were made during the war, when all the lead was sent off to make bullets.

 

[Legacy Account]

Noooooo! Don\'t go slathering Vaseline all over your models, you don\'t need it! I copied EXACTLY the same thing as that DrunkDwarves article using nothing as a release agent. You don\'t need it! Use talc if you\'re worried...