Here's my new work... this is a very fun project, right now i finished the main structure (out of MDF, wood and sintra) and in the next day i'll finish filling and sanding.
Any suggestion how to make the silicone mold? I was thinking of using the hammer side as the main hole to pour resin and adding another little hole on the back of the grip for air release. Also i'm concerned about the barrel, sholud i fill it to keep the mold simple and avoiding bubbles in the resin cast?
I don't know about the molds question but the pistol looks great. My kids want one..er...a set. Looking forward to the progress
If you use the following setup it should pour fine. The red is the main pour and the orange are vents to prevent bubbles. You may not need a vent between the trigger guard and the grip. The trigger guard may be round enough.
As for the barrel, I would fill it, mark the centerpoint and then use the correct diamter forstner bit to drill out the casts. Makes a very clean barrel every time. and helps if you ever have any misalignments in the mold.
this is very helpful, thank you! Looking forward to show you more pics!
Well well... it's been awhile since the starting of this project, but eventually it's done and ready for casting!
This was the biggest and more complex mold i've ever done, it was a lot of fun working on it, and i learnt a lot... i have to thank JM2 for the helpful suggestions and EVO3, since i used pics of his Clonetrooper Pistol moldmaking as a reference.
I made a second mold for the hammer and i plan to cut a hole of the same size in the resin to lock the hammer in place.
The mold chassis is kinda crappy looking, but it does the job extremely well, no disalignments so far.
enjoy the pics!
Last edited by Snowflake; Jun 25, 2010 at 6:13 PM.
That's awesome! I'm planning on doing this one eventually too.
Beautiful job! Just beautiful... I'm wiping a small tear from my eye. (Seriously, great job!)
That mold seems way overbuilt but looks great. My mold making might not be too advance but why didn't you use just some foam-core and clay?
Is that mold silicone? It looks like concrete!
FB
After posting questions about molding I was not ready for the mold to have turned out so well, you really did a good job with it. When you take your time and care in the mold making process you really do end up with a quality end product. Nice work.
Tommy
Beautiful! All it needs is a great paint job. Loads of weathering! Like it was just picked up on the battlefields of Geonosis.
thank you guys for all the kind words! I'm very happy with how it turned out! Yes it is slicone, 30 or 40 shore, so yes it is almost like concrete!
i have to measure the weight of the pistol, but i can tell it is just great, not too light nor too heavy. I had very few air bubbles and they are all in easy fixable spots.
i wanted to use mdf for the mold because i wanted a sturdy chassis to put the silicone in when casting. I don't like a silicone mold when it is not steady and if you use elastic band to keep it closed you end up deforming it... this way i'll just it back in his chassis and i'm sure it will always have the same alignment.
well i did a new cast today, so as soon as the resin has degassed i will try with the paint job.
Do you guys ever used the Onyx resin from Smooth-On? Is it good for making guns? From their website it looks like it has a nice matte black color, i think i should give it a try, but i also want to try some black flexible rubber, but have no idea who might sell it.
ok, so i measured the weight, one pistol is 285 grams or 10 oz, made of polyurethane resin
The Onyx cures VERY fast... 2-3 minutes. I had a hard time with bubbles in my casts with it. I had to mix/pour so fast that the results weren't very good. The color was great, but all the work to fix the bubbles wasn't.
thanks Stormtrooperguy for the useful feedback on this onyx resin!
Hey that looks really nice. Are you gonna post some pics of it colored
yes of course, next step is to paint them black and add a little weathering.
i'm just a bit concerned by the degassing process, i know that this kind of resin is really hard to paint, that's why i want to find a resin that is already black, so i don't need to paint it.
ok guys her is the first painted set!
the flash kinda kills the weathering, it's acctually smoother, as in the last pic
Last edited by Snowflake; Sep 8, 2010 at 8:24 PM.
Iīm no big fan of the simple designs from the animated series, but you did a really good job on the given shape.
Congrats.
Seeing the mold-making process is very cool--I'm so glad you shared those pics. End result is very fine. Like the look of those pistols.
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