HELP WANTED:(Casting)Harry Potter Horned Slug

[KevinBGoode]

So I've got a big problem and I dont know how to solve it, and I hope somebody here could help me out a bit.

I want to make a mold, and cast these Harry Potter Horned slugs wich I made.

Below is the picture of the horned Slug wich I made that I wanted to make a mold of and cast. (only in this picture its missing the bubbels on the eyes.

Any way, I want to cast these to make alot of them. Problem is, they are horned and the horns are hooked. So how do I get the casts out of the mold? or how should I mold them?

(This is the first time for me making a mold and casting something so any tips are welcome!)

EDIT: Added a photo of the complete Slug

 

[belsilene]

I'm not really expert in making molds, but to see if I can help you a little.

In your case I would discard the pieces with the balls that make eyes, and make them apart.
And for the horns, as is a small piece I think you can dare to make the mold at one time, but you have to find a soft silicone (shore 15 or less), you will make fewer copies, it worth it if you are able to do the whole piece in one step.

If it still does not go with a soft silicone, you can make two little cuts in the mold (once it is cured) from the outer wall of the mold to the horn. It will alow the extraction of the piece, and you can seal with tape the cuts to refill the mold and get more pieces. If not... I think you will be forced to make th horns as a separate pieces and then glue.

As I see the bottom of the slug is flat you can make the mold in one piece without problems, if you need help figuring out how to, do not hesitate to ask me , although here they are many experts who do know better than me.

Of course, when start to make copies, independently of the material you use, give some taps to the mold when it begins to fill to prevent bubbles in the most delicate parts.

I hope I've helped. I don't know if I have explained well.

 

[Contec]

One part silicone mold should do it....but i believe you should cast those eyes separate.
How To - 1 piece mold

 

[KevinBGoode]

Thanks for the tips so far, but I still am wondering, do the eyes really need to be separate? and will it still look good if I glue the eyes on later?

 

[exoray]

If the bottom is flat you can likely get away with a one piece softer rubber mold, for most of it, but it's not going to be you best option... The eyes will almost certainly have to be separate and the horns should be as well... If you want to do it in one cast you will either need to do a multi-part mold that allows the eyes to be easily extracted or use a real soft rubber, cross you fingers and hope for the best... But, take it from someone that has been there and done that, you will destroy the mold in short trying to extract the hooked horns... You would also need to vent the horns and eyes (in any all in one mold) or else they will almost always be garbage castings due to trapped air...

IMO the best way to approach this is to cast the main body with slight alignment recesses for the horns and marker dimples for the eyes... Cast the the horns on their own and glue them into the alignment recess... As for the eyes even casting them on their own is going to be a challenge and result in weak castings with that little post... May I suggest you get some piano wire (or styrene rod) the same gauge as the 'post' and then either use over the counter beads, small rubber balls or cast the round eye part separate... Drill holes in the body (and eye) at the marked dimples and install a short length of piano wire (or styrene rod) into the body and attach the eye to the other end... This will result in much stronger model...

This is one of those cases where trying to cut a corner is likely to create more work then doing it the correct way from the start...