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Modeling in General
General discussions about modeling topics.
FEATURE
Making Molds from Silicone
slodder
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North Carolina, United States
Member Since: February 22, 2002
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Posted: Friday, September 08, 2006 - 01:13 AM UTC
dsc shared this with us a while ago and it''s now in a feature. This is how he solved the problem of creating a lot of roof tiles using a silicone mold and plaster.

Check out the feature. here

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!
HARV
#012
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Wyoming, United States
Member Since: November 07, 2003
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Posted: Friday, September 08, 2006 - 01:54 AM UTC
Thank you for the information and the link Scott.

HARV
old-dragon
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Posted: Saturday, September 09, 2006 - 03:08 AM UTC
Small molds...very small can be done with tube silicone from the hardware/home improvement stores, but the smell is rather nasty...do it in the garage! Give the mold longer to cure than the regular stuff used for actual molding because of the thickness...figure almost a week for sake of total curing...pending thickness of the mold too. Keep your mold in a box to combat shifting or blowing out during the mold making process, then keep said made mold in it's own box to keep the same thing from happening while casting. Pour slowly to avoid air bubbles...molding or casting.
That article is nice, but note he made the tiles full round...by cutting them in half{and yes that would be a job} one would double they're output and could lay them all on a flat sheet to glue to on a given structure. OR, you could do just enough for a decent length/row of finished 1/2 round tiles and just make copies of those "rows" to glue next to each other on a flat sheet for a roof.
I used a sheet of clay once to make a roof for a building...rolled it out with a rolling pin{the one the wife likes to use on me} and sculpted it to my liking{was doing a straw roof-don't now remember why} and made a mold of that. Remember, your mold will copy anything on the master...finger prints, gouges, flat or glossy finish...make you master to be molded how youd like it to be copied...toss sawdust{a bad example} or a weeks worth of regular household dust on a master and spray it with flat paint{the mold won't care what color it is..even hot pink} to get a rough texture.
My two cents for what it's worth...I used to do resin casting in G scale trains years ago....10 years now to be exact.
flakgunner
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Illinois, United States
Member Since: January 19, 2006
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Posted: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 - 05:45 PM UTC
hey,
thanks for the info!!good stuff,little by little,we've been working with resins and casting our own parts and detail items
Joe
dsc
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Gdańsk, Poland
Member Since: February 27, 2005
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Posted: Thursday, September 21, 2006 - 05:18 AM UTC
Ola

Scott: Thanks for the feature, it's my first one and hopefully not my last:)

Bob: you are right I could have made it simpler by just using half of each tile, not whole round tile. I had to cut them afterwards anyway, so I would probably save me some time.

I hope this article is going to be useful to you fellow modelers.

Cheers,
dsc.
old-dragon
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Posted: Thursday, September 21, 2006 - 06:57 AM UTC
DSC, no disrespect givin on my part for your work. I've learned the hard way on alot of things...used to make the G scale electric train car bodys in 3 parts...side door/side panels/ and front and rear entrance doors. Then I figured out that since the side doors weren't going to be workable anyway, it would be far easier to make a mold of all the parts as an entire side assembly and mold it that way....live and learn! The key is to get out and try though. Nice job and nice article.
dsc
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Gdańsk, Poland
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Posted: Thursday, September 21, 2006 - 03:58 PM UTC
Ola Bob

Non taken, don't worry:) you were just giving some advice that's all. Scott also asked me why didn't I cut all those tiles in half and then base my mold on that. My answer was: Duh... I don't know:) Haven't really thought about it:)
Just like you said, we live and learn:)

Cheers,
dsc.
propboy44256
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Posted: Thursday, September 21, 2006 - 05:29 PM UTC
Great Post, Good information on mold making, thanks alot
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