Resin casting for intricate designs?

[Darth Scandalous]

Has anyone tried this, and if so, what medium did you use for the cast?

I have a "naked lady" scale on an ebay beater that has a pretty nice design, but the scales are a little brittle. Experience tells me unpinning may be disastrous. The blade itself is probably salvageable but not something I want to put a ton of time on. I'd like to try making a cast of the scales but I don't know if clay will capture enough detail.

Thoughts?

 

[Darren J 67]

Haven't tried casting resin myself but would wax work ? Wouldn't damage original scales and would set hard enough to pour resin on possibly.

 

[Atlantic59]

Has anyone tried this, and if so, what medium did you use for the cast?

I have a "naked lady" scale on an ebay beater that has a pretty nice design, but the scales are a little brittle. Experience tells me unpinning may be disastrous. The blade itself is probably salvageable but not something I want to put a ton of time on. I'd like to try making a cast of the scales but I don't know if clay will capture enough detail.

Thoughts?

You can try Hydrocal or Plaster of Paris. Hydrocal is used by model makers and captures details well.

 

[luvmysuper]

There is casting material made from silicone rubber that captures very fine detail and can be used to cast resin.
The problem with clay is it will deform when removing it.
Plaster of paris can be brittle and difficult to remove unless you use a quality releasing agent.
The silicone comes in formats from putty to pour on liquid.
Just Google "Silicone mold maker"

 

[Darth Scandalous]

There is casting material made from silicone rubber that captures very fine detail and can be used to cast resin.
The problem with clay is it will deform when removing it.
Plaster of paris can be brittle and difficult to remove unless you use a quality releasing agent.
The silicone comes in formats from putty to pour on liquid.
Just Google "Silicone mold maker"

I just talked to my sister in law about this. She's an artist and has done a lot of work with resin. Apparently there is a specific clay that works pretty well but it's really only good for a one off. She also suggested silicone and thought it would work well. Plus the mold can be reused. I'll have to do some experimenting and report my results whenever I get something going.

 

[Legion]

There is casting material made from silicone rubber that captures very fine detail and can be used to cast resin.
The problem with clay is it will deform when removing it.
Plaster of paris can be brittle and difficult to remove unless you use a quality releasing agent.
The silicone comes in formats from putty to pour on liquid.
Just Google "Silicone mold maker"

My father was a scale model maker by trade. The silicon mold product I recall him using was called Silastic. It was captured so much detail you had to wipe fingerprints off the object being cast.

SILASTIC™ RTV-3483 Mold-Making Base & Curing Agent

High strength silicone moldmaking rubber suited for the detailed reproduction of figures, art objects and similar items.

www.dow.com