Cold casting...how to do it

[hez1]

Well, as promised here's a huntorial on cold casting. This was done with smooth on products, except for the aluminum powder, as the closest thing smooth on has is nickel/silver, which is 6 times the price of aluminum.

First of all, mix up your resin and metal powder. I used smooth on 325 series resin for this, which is a 1:1 mix by volume. You also mix in the same volume of metal powder as resin, so it's a 1:1:1 mix. 3 ingredients, same volume for each. I pigment Part B of the resin black, and then mix in the metal powder until it's nicely mixed. Only then do you add Part A of the resin mix, and again mix thoroughly. It should look something like this (this was actually before I added Part A):

Once you've done that, pour it into the mold, and then brush it around. You can slush it around initially, but the resin sets up quite quickly, and will not slush well, leaving spotty coverage. Also, you will ruin your brush, so use the cheap ones from the hardware store for 50 cents!

After it sets, do it all again. You want a nice decent layer, so it doesn't wear through when your polishing it.

After that, I simply went through my regular casting process with my regular resin backing the metal filled resin for strength.

This is right out of the mold. It basically looks just like grey resin.

After I buffed it a little, it got a little better, although it's hard to tell. I've buffed it with coarse steel wool so far, and there's still a ways to go yet.

 

[Uratz]

NIce! Can you still use fiberglass chopped mat for reinforcing with the resin+metal powder? Will the resin absorb well into the chopped mat?

I can't wait to get this stuff. This huntorial is by far THE most useful so far. Thanks for posting Hez

 

[Cavaler Urban]

NIce! Can you still use fiberglass chopped mat for reinforcing with the resin+metal powder? Will the resin absorb well into the chopped mat?

I can't wait to get this stuff. This huntorial is by far THE most useful so far. Thanks for posting Hez

surely can, after a few layers with metal you can add the chopped fiberglass!
good tutorial hez!

 

[smasher]

awsome this has helped alot iam allmost at this stage iv just got to add more silicone to my sculpt have you ever use the iron powder you can get iam wondering what that looks like

 

[hez1]

NIce! Can you still use fiberglass chopped mat for reinforcing with the resin+metal powder? Will the resin absorb well into the chopped mat?

I can't wait to get this stuff. This huntorial is by far THE most useful so far. Thanks for posting Hez

Impaiatu is right, the f/g mat works fine with it, I did it on my bronze one. However, I've gradually come to hate working with f/g, so I try to avoid it at all costs when there are other materials that are just as good!

What I did on my bronze one was to lay down two layers of the resin and metal powder, followed by one layer of the regular resin. I then reinforced that with a gelcoat of fiberglass polyester resin, and then added the fiberglass + more f/g resin. I then covered that again with a coat of my regular resin for a nice smooth finish inside the bio.

Smasher, I've never used (or even seen) iron powder, but I would remember two things. One, iron is not naturally a very shiny metal, it takes a lot to polish it and it will rust easily. That's great if you're going to leave it outside for the natural weathering look, not so great otherwise. Two, iron is a very heavy metal, and so you will not get a lot of powder per pound. I think i got about 3-4 times more aluminum powder than I did bronze, even though I ordered 1lb of each.