[Robotgroup] Casting plastics

[Kevin Blanchard]

"Were you at the SXSW Dorkbot/Make exhibet last March? I had a display
set up next to the stage with models and light fixtures. The "Blade Runner"
looking cityscape I made used dozens of resin cast model parts"

Wow, those were yours? They were incredible. Great job BTW. I remember
them because I used to, and hopefully in the future will be doing some
film work around town (my own projects, not quite multi-million dollar
films or anything,lol). But I was very impressed with the quality of your
work, and had thought it might come in handy if I needed any miniatures
for any film projects that might require such work.

On Mon, May 21, 2007 1:12 am, John P. Funk wrote:
> Hi Nick,
> I have been a model builder for many years. I have also had success
> casting
> resin model parts. the first and most important step though is making a
> mold.
>
> The engineering of the mold determines the success of the cast parts, how
> many undercuts and sections the mold requires and the resevour system that
> allows the excess flow of the resin will decide how "clean" the molded
> part
> will be after removed from the mold. I have produced fairly clean model
> parts without the use of a vacuum chamber and have done so with a pretty
> low
> investment budget. You will want to use a silicon mold base, DowCorning
> makes a good product, (RTV silicon was the last product I used to make
> this
> model kit): http://www.cozmicfunk.com/arac_model.html
>
> It had taken me years and many experiments to get to a point of being able
> to produce consistent model parts that I could use with out too much clean
> up. Were you at the SXSW Dorkbot/Make exhibet last March? I had a display
> set up next to the stage with models and light fixtures. The "Blade
> Runner"
> looking cityscape I made used dozens of resin cast model parts:
> http://www.cozmicfunk.com/MLTInterstellar.html  that technology took me
> one
> year of practicing to achieve.
>
> Be prepared to invest some time, some money and R&D into this, otherwise
> you
> could send your part off to Garage kit manufacturer and have them make the
> parts for you. Try google searching Garage kits and silicon molding, I am
> sure there are resources out there that may help you get started. Just
> like
> so many things, I can help with advice, but you will have to get own your
> hands dirty (and smelly: resin stinks, it can be very toxic). These
> materials are so toxic and need curing time, I can longer deal with the
> heat
> and lack of appropriate workshop area in my back porch.
>
> For future reference, I am looking at converting my garage/store room into
> a
> art/film production shop if I get my refinancing.
> I plan to resume making molds and custom models once I have a well
> ventilated and Air Conditioned workspace. More robots and spaceship
> models,
> that's what I 'm talking about :)
>
> John P. Funk
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Nick Pietraniec" <mlists at resistive.net>
> To: "The Robot Group Mailing List" <robotgroup at puremagic.com>
> Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2007 10:58 PM
> Subject: [Robotgroup] Casting plastics
>
>
> Does anyone have any experience casting resin?  I'd like to do
> something similar to the taillight casting in these howto's
>
> http://www.alumilite.com/index.php?page=info&type=HOWS
>
> Just wondering if there's someone out there wants to offer some words
> of encouragement or warning about what not to do.  My impression is
> that in order to end up with a reasonably bubble-free cast I'll need
> to use a vacuum chamber to remove bubbles.  It looks like the cost of
> entry into the world of casting is relatively low, so when I fail I
> should only be out a few bucks.
>
> -Nick
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