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Casting Materials

Want to show off your painted figures? Got a cool conversion? Need some ideas?

Casting Materials

Postby Talus » Fri Feb 14, 2014 3:27 pm

Ok guys, i need a little help here!

Courtesy of our friendly neighbourhood Timewizard, im now in posession of 2 Hirst Arts Molds!

for the last couple of days, ive been casting them with Lightweight Hydrocal (recommended for what id be using the pieces for), but each time, instead of being rock hard, they're rather brittle and crumble easily

even with increased amounts of powder, nothings changed, i can still snap the pieces just by pressing down on them!

since the molds are for bases and buildings, its really not acceptable!


so... im looking for advice on what i can use instead

Crystacal R is what im looking at right now as a replacement for it, but prices are a little nasty (£18 for 5kg is the best ive seen so far). and i cant seem to find any local dealers for it! (local to Middlesbrough that is)

anyone got any advice or other products i should look at?
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Re: Casting Materials

Postby Cain Tiberius » Fri Feb 14, 2014 4:07 pm

I don't have any experience with the products you've named. But having had experience in the fibreglass industry in the past, I'd say if they casting brittle, you need less powder, not more.
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Re: Casting Materials

Postby jlong05 » Fri Feb 14, 2014 4:14 pm

I would agree, brittle would indicate too much powder I think.
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Re: Casting Materials

Postby Talus » Fri Feb 14, 2014 4:23 pm

the recommended mix on the side of the box is half a cup of water to 1+1/4 of powder, when i did that for the first few castings, they snapped and crumbled as i took them out of the mold

they seemed to get a bit stronger as i added more powder, but still cracked/crumbled, and even the guy who runs hirstarts says to use more powder if they're brittle!

/confused
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Re: Casting Materials

Postby mattjgilbert » Fri Feb 14, 2014 4:26 pm

Starting with less powder then seems a sensible approach. You can add more in small amounts and it's going to be less wasteful as you experiment.
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Re: Casting Materials

Postby timewizard » Fri Feb 14, 2014 4:39 pm

Generally speaking, the more water the more brittle the finished piece.

Even when concrete pavers are made, the manufacturer only uses enough water to moisten the mix. Now you're not extruding the pieces, you are casting them. If they're too brittle, then you're not using enough hydrocal.
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Re: Casting Materials

Postby Jay » Sat Feb 15, 2014 3:52 pm

I use Polycraft 6000 but sometimes the casts bugger when I measure incorrectly and the resin becomes brittle
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Re: Casting Materials

Postby Talus » Sun Feb 16, 2014 2:49 pm

well, after 3 days of drying out now, the lightweight hydrocal blocks seem to be good for use, in particular the bigger blocks, the smaller detailed pieces either don't demold well, or just break as soon as they're out, but i can do those parts in greenstuff, so not a massive issue there.

so long as the blocks end up alright, im happy! (just means that one of the hirst molds is useless to me till i find a new material to work with)


starting tuesday, im getting a little production line thing going, get them out in bulk, simply because i need each and every block i can for next months contest! and with them taking a few days to dry out properly (i swear its the fact im using hard water >_>) i need to get started this early!


contest legality notice:

these blocks are being produced ahead of time using legally bought molds from hirstarts.com (mold numbers #278 and #279) and a third mold for generic square blocks, no copyright is being broken with them, no paint will be applied to said cast parts prior to the contest start date, if Timewizard and Cain agree, they can be the judges on this for me, if either of them think that ive started painting early, i will withdraw the entry and disqualify myself from the contest
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Re: Casting Materials

Postby timewizard » Sun Feb 16, 2014 3:31 pm

Casting parts from a mold in advance of a contest I believe would be akin to buying a model before a contest begins.

For example, I am working on making a mold for 15mm buildings for flames of war. Since I plan on entering the buildings in the next contest, should I wait until March 1st to make the mold, than to cast the parts?

I think mold making and casting of parts, whether out of plaster or resin, is perfectly fine.

All we ask is that contestants hold off assembling and painting parts until the contest begins. And it is an honor system after all. It's just to keep someone from entering something they either bought in a finished state, had someone else do for them, or had sitting on the shelf for years and decided to throw it in the contest. The ultimate goal of the contests is to inspire members of this site to get to work on their own projects. That's the reason for the variety of contests this year.

I see no problem with you casting parts in advance of the contest. I reckon we'll see a picture of a pile of plaster casts on March the 1st.

Any other thoughts from the site members?
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Re: Casting Materials

Postby _stu_ » Sun Feb 16, 2014 5:06 pm

That all sounds fine to me.

As part of my modular Epic board, I'm looking at casting facia for the buildings. I already have almost a dozen 8" square city blocks built structurally (and looking like something from tron in my photos). I'm looking at building one block as an entry for terrain month, so was going to raise the question to the above answer. I'd be happy to post pictures of the original master as well as the unpainted cast panels ;)
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Re: Casting Materials

Postby timewizard » Sun Feb 16, 2014 5:16 pm

The way you describe it stu, it all sounds fine. I saw the pics you posted earlier of the city and think it's coming along great!

Looking forward to seeing your scenery pieces.
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