I have a two part resin and have no idea how to make a mold or what to make it with. I have Sculpy, a two part epoxy clay, and parifan wax to make molds with. I am completely in the dark. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

This might help you out a little.
http://www.smooth-on.com/

Just about all will ever need to know.

Thank you for the reply. Think it may be cheaper to outsource resin casting.

I'm a production molder/caster.....send me a PM if you do decide to outsource your castings.
I'm sure I can help you out at a reasonable cost.

I've heard of people using Sculpey to make simple molds (the mold making material needs to remain flexible) but paraffin I'm not sure would work. Depending on the kind of resin you're using there may be some unwanted interaction between it and the wax.

There are several fairly inexpensive things you can use to make your mold but how well they'll do depends on what you're trying to copy.
Silicon sealer is one cheap option for making basic one part molds but I have seen it used for the more complex two part variety (never tried it myself).

So, what is it that you want to replicate?

Mark

First of all, thank you for all of the replies. I intend to replicate various kit parts, but will mostly be doing figures. I have outsourced my needs. Thanks again, Matt

retiredyank wrote:



You've outsourced the copying of model products for which you do not own the copyright? I hope you've told your caster that they're party to copyright infringement - also known as piracy.

Actually, since the person doing the casting is only charging for materials used, and I am not making a profit off of the pieces, there is no copyright infringement. It would be like showing a movie at a party. There is no copyright infringement due to there being no cost to watch it. I used to negotiate contracts dealing with infringement of rights. If I was to turn around a sell the pieces in question, it would fall under copyright infringement. As is, the pieces are for personal use. i.e. I lost a drive sprocket or the head to a figure. Neither of these can be purchased from a manufacturer, therefore must be cast. Not making extra figures or kits, I am only replacing damaged or lost items. Read up on infringement laws.

The fact that the person doing the casting is make no profit is irrelevant. The fact is that an exchange, be it monetary funds or compensation by other means, has taken place.




How marvellous for you. Which side? I didn't realise you held a law degree.




Really? Did you really exhaust all avenues trying to acquire the sprue?

"Personal use" is a very convenient excuse for recasting these days. I guess that makes it okay for me to recast an entire kit which I bought if, you know, it's for "personal use". Perhaps I'll give one to my mate, you know, for his "personal use". This is one of the biggest challenges facing master sculptors like Roger Saunders (Hornet & Wolf); people buy one head set and then recast them because, you know, it's for "personal use". Thanks to excuses like this Hornet & Wolf no longer release (new) full figures and we're lucky to get 1, maybe 2, new head sets a year.




Thanks. I will. Perhaps you could recommend some reading material since, you know, you "used to negotiate contracts dealing with infringement of rights".

Yeah, try oil and gas law. It's a 4 year degre and encompases infringement of property rights as well as infringement of drilling right as well as infringement of mineral rights. Also, you can simply search 'copyright infringement laws' into any search engine. There should be at least 30 sites that will rederict you to the legal court cases and legal encyclopedia. Took me another 6 months to learn that. But, I'm done dealing with little trouble makers like you. So go blow your whistle somewhere else and leave people who have found a way to replace lost pieces alone!!

Seems like we are off again with the battle of the molds. As I have mentioned before, to cast something for personal use to replace a missing part, should not offend anyone so long as one is honest and does this only for oneself and not make them for others or for profit. To me it would be better to explain how it is done rather than to actually crank out parts and pieces for someone else, say sandbags, or crates for example.It is much easier to just go out and buy something than to try and replicate, but it is not as much fun as the challenge.Every hobby shop, every craft store has entire sections for makeing molds of things that have already been created. Why not take your argument to Michaels and Hobby lobby and see if they will pay any attention to you . Just my chump changes worth..........Al...(Edit)..I'm no attorney, call 1 (800) ask Gary.

thank you for putting an end to his rant Al

Fair use is fair use, Rudi. Copyright law is not universal, it varies from country to country and in fact what he's doing is a lot more honest than say the bald plagiarism of Trumpeter or the outright theft of Academy or even aftermarket companies like Azimut.
It doesn't make him right, but I'll bet he can sleep soundly at night.

And so can I.