Attempt at a mini pred bust (WIP)

[Lifty]

I have a qeustion about resin you use (Smooth Cast 321): is it flexible when its set? Is it easy to tool?
This is a serious project you're doing here, very professional. Looks like piece of art already!

 

[MasterAnubis]

I have a qeustion about resin you use (Smooth Cast 321): is it flexible when its set? Is it easy to tool?

It's not flexible per say, but it is forgiving. Compared to the other resins I've used its about average. I've made my blades out of 5 different plastic resins and my masters are made of ABS plastic. The ones not shown in the picture are PolyTek’s EasyFlo 60 and EasyFlo 90.

They all work well but the ONYX is more flexible and the Task 8 is more brittle. I don't mean by a lot, just that it compares. The Task 8 is harder to carve then others. Both Task 8 and ONYX are higher heat application. If I can get solid results, I'm going to try using Task 8 for more blades. It doesn't slip cast very well since it flashes quick but it bends good enough and won't melt in the car. Over the summer I left some blades outside and then put some in the car to see how bad it gets. The Task 8 had the best results. I'm going to make one of these busts for my brother to have on his truck's dash out of Task 8 and I'm hoping to add LED eyes for it.

Overall, it's good to work with. I've turned it on a lathe and had OK results, sanded and carved it too if that helps. They all get details great but I think it really wants to be pressure cast for best bubble-less results. The only issues I’ve had are related to the small parts and small bubbles. I haven't pressure casted yet since I've been too wrapped up to try the pressure pot I just bought.

320 is the same as 321 but sets faster. hez uses it for his bios. I've worked it a bit too, Bondo and filling putty. I’ve got good close ups of that here: http://www.thehunterslair.com/index.php?showtopic=16919. 320 is poplular, so it comes down to how long you want it to take to set.

Hope this helps.

This is a serious project you're doing here, very professional. Looks like piece of art already!

wow.

Thanks!

 

[Lifty]

Thanks a lot for explenation MasterAnubis!
To be honest, as a total noobie, I am confused a little.. Could the conclusion be that Task 8 could be better for prototype casts (when carving, adding the clay is needed etc) and Onyx could be better for final product? I'm aware that this is huge subject but, could you please direct me in some wright direction.. The thing is : I have a 1:6 scale sculpt with some small parts made out of SuperSculpey putty which is very fragile. Now I would like to turn it into something much more durable and permanent (not giving me a heart attack every time it slips out of my hands ) The manufacturers descriptions of all the resins you mentioned sound pretty simmilar to me , that's why I need some opinion. Is there anything simmilar to the resin Hot Toys uses for their figures? Thanks in advance. And if you ever create a video of molding process I'm first to see it .

 

[MasterAnubis]

Thanks a lot for explenation MasterAnubis!
To be honest, as a total noobie, I am confused a little.. Could the conclusion be that Task 8 could be better for prototype casts (when carving, adding the clay is needed etc) and Onyx could be better for final product? I'm aware that this is huge subject but, could you please direct me in some wright direction..

No problem. But I am no expert either. I think I over answered you earlier question. There is no reason to be concerned with every available resin at your stage. Just pick a popular(and cheaper) one that mixes 1:1 by weight and/or volume, like Smooth-Cast 320 or 321, and try it. When your comfortable using the methods, you'll figure out what you like/dislike about it. I was experimenting with the Task 8 and the Onyx to try to get heat resistant blades, the heat here will make most plastic resins a little soft and flaccid. It really doesn't matter to the end product which one you pick if you get the casting results that you need.

The thing is : I have a 1:6 scale sculpt with some small parts made out of SuperSculpey putty which is very fragile. Now I would like to turn it into something much more durable and permanent (not giving me a heart attack every time it slips out of my hands ) The manufacturers descriptions of all the resins you mentioned sound pretty simmilar to me , that's why I need some opinion. Is there anything simmilar to the resin Hot Toys uses for their figures? Thanks in advance. And if you ever create a video of molding process I'm first to see it .

The problem that I've come across working with the little pieces is that it is very hard to mix right in small amounts. What I've been doing is pouring blades and using leftovers for the small stuff. I haven't used Super Sculpey and so I don't know how well a silicone adhesive mold would work you may try it to find out(on something non critical). A Plat-Sil mold would probably work well. But again I haven't used Super Sculpey so I don't know how well it would. There's no reason to think that it wouldn't be perfect for it.

The Hot Toys look like they're made from a couple different materials. The body and armor are likely made out of injection molded ABS plastic. The softer parts are likely a vinyl product. Neither of those will be something a home builder might use becuase of tooling. So... The next best thing is polyester urethane resin we use. They will act similar to ABS but not be exactly the same.

These setups I have here will be block molds. I'm not done with the hand prep but you should get the idea. They are upside down from how they would be poured.

The teeth/ mandible mold will have a resivore on top for resin and then it will get vacuumed to let all of the air out so that the mold is filled for sure. Then I will put it in the pressure tank and let it fully cure at pressure. This should give me bubble-less casting.

Be carefull watching YouTube videos on casting. Their are many people doing things wrong or just the hard way. Check out the manufaturers videos from Smooth-on and PolyTek. There are others but I know some of these products first hand. FYI, I use PolyTek's Plat-Sil 71-20 RTV Silicone for my resin molds. Check out my Suit build thread for some of the other suit related stuff I've made.
http://www.youtube.com/user/SmoothOnInc
http://www.youtube.com/user/PolytekDevelopment

 

[Lifty]

Thats what I was looking for, its all clear now. I guess it is time for me to experiment a little. Big thanks for this guide.

 

[MasterAnubis]

Well I'm pretty stoked about my results. I finally got to use my pressure chamber too.

Here it is, set up to be a pressure chamber. It is a 2 1/4 gal paint tank. I used a air spray nozzle on the output to help relieve the air pressure when venting.

I took the pickup tube out(pain in the ass) of the output side and added a restrictor/diffuser I made on the inlet side.
This is to prevent violent air flow over the uncured silicone and resin. A guy on Youtube used a cut plastic bowl over his molds. This is meant to slow the air down and blow it out in six different direction.

This is the smoothest and most flawless mold I've made. When pressure casting the mold, there is no reason to vacuum degas the silicone since the air bubbles dissipate. Still, I poured it in like I was avoiding bubbles(in a long thin strand). I wish I had just a little more silicone to fill this out. I ran out and used it all in this mold instead of doing all three molds that I prepped.

This is technically a split block mold. Here is the split I cut. I have had good success spiting my mold here. This is my third mold of a head and this puts the seam in the very back and bottom. Small misalignments are harder to spot since that's where the dreads go. EDIT: I should have also added I used small Quick Clamps to hold a little pressure on the seam when molding. A lot of block mold videos show wraping the mold in tape but the way I shaped the mold made that difficult with out deforming the mold. I also used talc baby powder in the mold to reduce surface bubbles.

The solid Smooth-Cast 321 head. Left in the pressure to fully cure for an hour. I didn't want it this dark. I just got a little carried away adding the dye. I wanted a light gray.

FYI, Polytek's catalog has a bunch of molding info..
http://www.polytek.com/catalog/catalog.pdf

 

[MasterAnubis]

My molds came out well for the mandibles and the hand.

The missing tooth was a weird replication of the gap from the original being glued on. The second casting was fine after I picked the gap out of the mold.

The pour spout was the long piece and each finger has a vent.
This way should work good if I decide to remake the mold with the Mold Max 60 I just got this week. That way I can cast the hand in pewter.

 

[Lifty]

Looks great! I'm happy to see this level of accuracy on small parts casts , now I'm sure cast 320 series is a good choice. Btw by adding a dye you affect colour only or some properties also?

 

[MasterAnubis]

Looks great! I'm happy to see this level of accuracy on small parts casts , now I'm sure cast 320 series is a good choice.

It's pretty wild to see the fingerprints in the clay transfer to the mold and then into the plastic.

Btw by adding a dye you affect colour only or some properties also?

The warnings from Smooth-On say that the recomended amount of color is from .01% to 3% of total volume.
http://www.smooth-on.com/index.php?cPath=1118_1213

When I've done a few drops at a time I've never seen any difference in properties of the plastic. I've added it to the bottle once to get the same shade of gray and that seemed to shorten the shelf life quite a bit. So now I just add it when I'm mixing a batch. For this, I don't worry about the color as long at it's not too white. I don't need this stuff that dark, but it does tell me which parts are 'done' and which parts are my prototypes.

With the contrast on the mandibles it is a little hard to see the details but I was fitting the parts. I'm tempted to paint the head before I finish but my time is limited right now, so it waits.
The clay is getting more beat up while I neglect it. I need to decide exactly how my armor will look.

 

[Blade3327]

Very cool vibe to this. Love the robotic detailing, the details in the headsculpt are great!!

 

[MasterAnubis]

Thanks, I'm trying not to forget about the rest. One piece at a time though(or maybe two).

I'm wraping up my details on these gauntlets. I'm going to make them in the same block mold but obviosly there can be only one(used on the bust). I've had good luck with doing it that way.

This white is the original blanks I used as a core. You can also see in the end that I drilled them out and filled with clay so that I can make a good joint to the hand.

 

[Tiny Evil]

the robotic details are so cool! great idea!

 

[BENSIN]

This is coming together really nice.

 

[MasterAnubis]

Thanks.


I'm really happy with how the gauntlets mold came out.

Here I have a mock up of the done parts. I still don't like what I have with the neck ring but it's getting there. The pictures seems to bring things out that I don't see when I'm holding it.

 

[MasterAnubis]

Thought I'd revisit my mini bust after over a year.

I didn't like were the armor was headed and re did it twice in an attempt to get it better.

This is how I came to this. I'm not super happy with it though I have some direction now.

I tried to use my initial (SL) on his chest but it kept looking like a $ when it got that small. I might as well put a clock there. That'd be cool.

.

 

[made007]

Great project, i love seeing your ideas and projects

 

[Reg Pred]

this is looking great man!

 

[MasterAnubis]

Thanks guys!

This is turning out to be one of those projects that seems like it may never get done.

I'm trying to get through the home stretch here, this is were my projects tend to stall.

 

[MasterAnubis]

Sometimes I can't believe how long I've been sitting on this...

Well, I've some significant progress. Mainly because I'm tired of it not being don't. I've done a cheap mold on the body to get a casting... a silicone calking mold with a two piece FGR-95 mother mold. Not the best but it got me a usable casting for a prototype that I can figure out how much I like it.


I'll be working on the dreads and haven't really decided what I'll make them from but I have a couple of ideas.

I'll be shading some and adding blood so the paint is almost done.  (I'll redo that crazy eye too.)

 

[hannay07]

Wow, I cant believe I missed this!  Great work man!  It looks really cool, and very unique.