Best way to make a master?

[DeadRinger]

I am currently trying to sculpt, and subsequently cast a sword handguard (see picture), I was going to sculpt it from wax and do a lost wax pewter cast of it. I also toyed with the idea of doing a lost foam cast from brass or aluminum. The problem is, I dont want to sculpt it and then destroy my sculpt if the pour doesn't come out ok. So what should I sculpt it out of, and what should I mold it out of ? I thought about making something with fimo clay, baking it and using it for sand casting, or maybe I should make a resin master? Too much information and I'm not sure which way to go. Any help would be appreciated.

http://www.therpf.com/attachments/f...ed-reference-needleclose.png-66729d1315235802

 

[Mostly Fantasy]

You could make the master out of epoxy putty, mold it, cast it in wax for the lost wax metal, and still have your epoxy master.

 

[clonesix]

How ever you sculpt it, it won't take much silicone RTV to mold a hand guard. With a decent mold, you can cast in wax or metalized resin, and make as many hand guards as you like.

 

[SmilingOtter]

I was watching a video series on youtube where they had made a rubber mold of the original piece, then could fill it with melted wax to reproduce the original ad infinitum.

Lost Wax Casting Step 1 of 9 Sprueing waxes - YouTube

 

[KaanE]

I would use sculpey for the master.

 

[Etewaf]

I'm not big on sculpey, I personally use Aves Fixit Sculpt. It is a two part clay that cures really tough. It's about the consistency of plastalina/oil based clay. You can smooth it out with water as you are working, and it sands up really nice too. It has a four hour working time, so it'd be best to sculpt in sections that way it doesn't harden up before you are done.

 

[DeadRinger]

Well, I think I will sculpt it from either clay or milliput, I may even make a metal armature and build that up, I think I will build a latex mold, I would prefer silicone but i dont have any way to vacuum it. I'm also still trying to figure out how to orient the piece for the mold, it has a lot of empty space which has me kind of stumped. Not sure If I should cut the voids out afterwards, but I'd rather not. Thanks for all the suggestions so far, sorry for my green-ness. I have worked with fiberglass and metal but never done any plastic molding before.