Hi,
I'm casting some rank insignia in resin. Strictly speaking they're Bath stars, as used by the British army to indicate rank. A captain has three, for instance. Here's what I've got so far:
At the back is the latex mould (I'd have used silicone for anything bigger), and below is a freshly-cast pull from that mould, one that's been finished and painted, and a real original brass star from which the mould was created. That's a 10mm grid, so the stars themselves are about 18mm or 2/3" square across the points.
Although this is going reasonably well, I have two main problems. First, I'm casting these in epoxy adhesive because I happened to have some lying around. I'm not aware that epoxy adhesive is in any way different to the stuff you'd get as true casting resin, but they do stick rather. Is the proper stuff less likely to adhere to the mould? Latex is tough, but I'm constantly worried about tearing the mould apart getting them out. Are there release agents I could use? Any suggestions?
Also, bubbles. I know bubbles are the scourge of resin casting, even at a quite high level, but I'm not aware that there's any real solution other than a vacuum chamber - and I don't have one.
Any pointers gratefully received!
Best,
HF
I'm casting some rank insignia in resin. Strictly speaking they're Bath stars, as used by the British army to indicate rank. A captain has three, for instance. Here's what I've got so far:
At the back is the latex mould (I'd have used silicone for anything bigger), and below is a freshly-cast pull from that mould, one that's been finished and painted, and a real original brass star from which the mould was created. That's a 10mm grid, so the stars themselves are about 18mm or 2/3" square across the points.
Although this is going reasonably well, I have two main problems. First, I'm casting these in epoxy adhesive because I happened to have some lying around. I'm not aware that epoxy adhesive is in any way different to the stuff you'd get as true casting resin, but they do stick rather. Is the proper stuff less likely to adhere to the mould? Latex is tough, but I'm constantly worried about tearing the mould apart getting them out. Are there release agents I could use? Any suggestions?
Also, bubbles. I know bubbles are the scourge of resin casting, even at a quite high level, but I'm not aware that there's any real solution other than a vacuum chamber - and I don't have one.
Any pointers gratefully received!
Best,
HF
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