Can anybody offer any tips on how they'd cast this?

[scrangelina]

Hi there, I'm a UK resident and have tried asking this question over here, but nobody has responded. :facepalm

Your forum looks much nicer and I wondered if you could offer me any tips on how to cast this horse - it's about 5 inches x 5 inches and I need a bunch of them to make a carousel for a diorama I'm making.

I will be creating a silicone mold and casting my horses in polyurethane and I'm not sure whether I should do a one part or two part mood and where I should make my incision and pour/air holes. I'm really new to this and can't afford to waste a lot of product learning the hard way, so any tips appreciated.

Many thanks, Scrange x

 

[Leigh]

Hi

You could be looking at a 3 part mould maybe 4 with the tail between the rear legs. I'd recommend waiting for more replies though as I'm still learning myself

 

[scrangelina]

Awww thanks Leigh, that's very interesting. The guy at the casting company who sold me the product over the phone suggested I do it in one piece then ease it all out but he hadn't seen the horse and I don't think it would work. I've never seen anybody making more than a two part mold on youtube. Would be interesting to know how it's done.

I'll wait to see if anybody else replies, but thank you so much for taking the time. I was losing faith

 

[Kubla Kraus]

Yeesh... you don't start out easy do you? Whats the hose made of? I looks kind of like some kind of ceramic. i would worry about trying to get it out of the original mold without breaking it. the resin would be less likely to break coming out.

With all those undercuts I would think you might need a three piece mold with one piece under its belly between all four legs. fill that area up with clay then make a one piece mold of the horse and clay, then remove the clay and pour the third piece. make sure to add some pretty definite registration keys in the clay before pouring the one piece. and use plenty of mold release. it would take some doing but its not impossible for a motivated beginner. then cut a boat load of vents.

if you're not in love with that horse, I would say bandsaw it down the middle and make two half-horse one-part molds and glue them together. I am assuming you will have to paint them as well.

 

[Beaker]

Advanced Mold Making Technique: Block Mold of a Four Legged Animal

 

[Sedulous Studios]

Horses are one of the more difficult things to mold (I sculpt them for a living and I've seen the molds my casting company makes!). I hate to be that person, but... do you have copyright on this piece? You really shouldn't be recasting it if you didn't make it. If you sculpt your own, you can do it in a way to make it much more easily castable--tail out behind it a bit, legs not quite parallel, etc.

 

[scrangelina]

Kubla, no I'm not in love with it at all, but you're right, it's made of a kind of nasty china, so bandsawing isn't an option. Nice cutting tips though.

Maggie, I'm not selling the horse, it's for a college project that will be trashed in June, and I'll be making it clear in my blog how I created it. I have thought of sculpting my own horse as the type I'm looking for (from my childhood) were actually gallopers, which would be fairly easy to sculpt as they were by definition a simplified shape. It's just that I'm making so many scenes and people myself I was looking for a shortcut with the carousel. However, if it's so hard to cast then maybe it won't be such a shortcut after all. Nice body armour by the way.

Beaker, great link, thanks for sharing that.

Thanks guys, I appreciate you taking the time.

 

[scrangelina]

Ooo one more question, prompted by what Maggie and Kubla said. If this doesn't work out or if I decide to make my own anyway out of polymer clay, would I be better off making it and cutting it in half before I bake it, creating two molds and sticking them together with a glue gun at the end? I have to put a long twirly stick through them so that task could be made simpler if this was the case. Also the mane is on the wrong side of the horse, it'll be going clockwise. And I like an open mouth and plenty of teeth on a fairground horse - that demented look. I am British after all :lol

 

[Kubla Kraus]

or... if you're mot married to it just find another horse you can cut.

 

[clonesix]

Hello Scangelina, and welcome to the forum.

I disagree with the Smooth-On method, as I don't like cutting the model out of silicone. This method will work, but it adds an extra level of work. The method is to bury the figure in rubber, and cut parting lines after cured. This gives you a block of silicone with razor slices in it.

College project? Going to be thrown away? With this in mind, the above method may be best. It is quick, and gives acceptable results.

The issue with a four legged creature, is the space between the legs. So, here is my suggestion:

fill the area between the legs with clay. this will divide the legs in half (side to side) and fill the under cuts.
Now, mold the horse a a regular figure, down the middle, separating right and left sides., leaving the clay area between the legs. IMPORTANT: drill small holes in the bottom of the hooves ( all 4) and insert a piece of piano wire for bleed holes (more on this in a minute)

With the model divided side to side (clayed up to the parting line), build a box around it to hold the RTV. DRILL (4) holes in the side of the molding box for the piano wire to pass through, (use clay to seal around wire). add some locating keys to the parting line, and pour silicone RTV.

When cured, remove clay from oposite side of model, clean the cured RTV, coat with Vaseline, and replace molding box, with piano wire from oposite hooves passing through holes in the wall, and clay to seal. You may now pour the second half of the horse.

You are now looking at a block of RTV with 4 piano wires sticking out the bottom, where there is a chunk of clay betwen the legs of the horse. Remove the remaining clay, add Vaseline to the cured RTV.

ONE IMPORTANT ISSUE: you must be able to pour resin into the mold. Therefore, you must add a pour spout to the maold, and this is your LAST chance.

The only place I see to add the pour spout is on the belly of the horse, where the "Pole" would be. Add a dowel (or any cylindrical object 5-10mm in DIameter. Make sure it extends outside the mold box. Once you have added the pour spout, you can fill the last void of the mold with RTV.

Once fully cured, remove the 4 wires protuding from the bottom. remove the sides of the mold. Remove the pour spout and bottom.


This will give you a 3 piece block mold of your horse, that will be poured upside down, and allow air to escape through the 4 feet. you will have to trim the excess from the pour spout and bled holes.

Good Luck on your project.

 

[clonesix]

More typing please. OK, I re-read everything and am not sure of what you are working towards.

Do you wish to recreate the same horse multiple times?

OR

Do you hope to create an entire carousel filled with multiple unique horses? In that case, are you building a working carousel?

I only ask, as with a better understanding of the question, better is the answer provided.