Sporkey
Sr Member
Well I'll be, I didn't know you could use silicone molds for metal casting. You learn something new everyday.
Awesome job on the chips as well, I may have to see if I can scrounge up some spare change for one of these.
Cortana Chips
- Thread starter JUSTINIAN
- Start date
Well I'll be, I didn't know you could use silicone molds for metal casting. You learn something new everyday.
Awesome job on the chips as well, I may have to see if I can scrounge up some spare change for one of these.
Eh, not really. As long as you are mixing it into the resin it should be fine. The problem with translucent is when you are doing the "cheap" route of cold casting, which is dusting the mold. Leaves a very very thin coating on top instead of being mixed in, and that means you can't buff it as well without exposing the resin, and then the resin is clear anyway, meaning it all kinda sucks if that happens.
As long as you are careful, you can use regular resin or clear resin. Doesn't really matter overall. As long as the casting is good, you are great.
Chris
The chips look great 
Amen to that. I prefer EVERYTHING - bungie era
I prefer the Bungie era Cortana chip, because I don't like what 343 has done to the franchise
Amen to that. I prefer EVERYTHING - bungie era
red4
Sr Member
red4
Sr Member
You can draw the plans easily enough in MS Paint. Print them onto sticky-backed paper. Stick that paper onto styrene sheets that are as thin as you want the layers to be. Then follow the printed lines and cut them into the styrene. The blade might not cut all the way through, but will leave a score mark, which should allow you to pop the pieces out.
Here's a design I'm drawing up. You can use it.
It's about 20% inaccurate, which is deliberate.
I've actually found the dusting method produces far better and shinier results than just mixing powder into resin. I dye the resin underneath gray in order to hide any possibly over-polished areas, but generally that isn't an issue. Adding powder directly into the resin also changes its cured composition and can result in more air pockets as well as more brittle castings.
There are some that have slightly higher heat resistance.
It actually wasn't that hard. I marked where they go, and then carefully glued them in place.
I just figured that out. I prefer to dust my molds, just because it helps the resin pick up all of the really fine details, and helps to eliminate air bubbles. The cold cast comes out ok. I did a few different tests, and I liked using my impact resistant resin much better than the translucent resin. I add some tint to make it gray, and with the aluminum powder mixed into the resin, it looks pretty good. But I'll have to try dusting the molds with a silver powder in addition to the cold cast.
Got the new silicone in yesterday, and made a mold for the Halo 3 version. It came out great! I also learned how to use cold cast resin. It looks better than just dusting the mold with silver powder.
I did a few tests with the pewter, and it has pretty much the same results as the old silicone. So I will just keep both molds. They both yield great results with resin, and good results with the pewter.
I also used a acid to oxidize the surface of the metal ones. It turns them black and dirty.
Then I use steel wool to buff them. It really highlights the details.
I also got a handful of blank dog tags that I can engrave.
And I couldn't resist taking this shot.
Hopefully later tonight I will have these up in the classifieds.
Just a reminder to all... this is not a sales or interest thread. All buying and selling takes place in the Junkyard forum, so let's please leave the sales or interest talk out of this thread. If you are looking to buy, please refer to the Junkyard. Thanks.
Yes. The resin ones have the silver dusting on the mold.
In other news. It has been a very busy week.
It almost feels like I should be working for Catherine Halsey.
I will make a note for that. Thank you.
Not much of an update, but a pretty cool story. Kill kill kill is a good friend of mine, and he was going to SDCC, the same day that I finished these. He had me overnight a few of the chips to him. One for him, one for one of my other buddies, and one for them to present to the people in charge of the Halo panel. It turns out that Frank O'Conner was there, so obviously they gave it to him. Needless to say, he was very impressed. He loved it and wore it for the rest of the day. Kiki Wolfkill was also with him, and was pretty jealous that his was metal. There was another fan there that gave her a 3D printed one. For the rest of the day Frank teased her that his was better. Here's a shot of Frank admiring one of my Assault rifles. You can see him wearing the Cortana chip.
Kiki asked if it would be too much if she ask for a metal one for her. Of coarse I would make one for her as well. I sent this out to 343 Industries last week.
Having a thread moved into the Elite section on the 405th is a great honor. But having the people in charge of Halo saying they were very impressed with my work, and even asking for more of it, was the greatest compliment I could have ever received.
I hope you enjoyed my little story. I have been on a mental high for the past few weeks.
