jvasilatos
Sr Member
I ordered a cowl from a vendor and after waiting 13 weeks it arrived with a weak spot in one of the neck muscle creases that shows signs it will tear if pulled too hard, and a weird cracking pattern in the urethane on the collar bone below it. From pouring urethane myself in the past, I’d see symptoms like this if my silicone mold had an area contaminated by something causing curing inhibition and would clean the mold area with acetone before re-pouring for a new casting. I was messaged this when I shared pics of the issue:
"I got your picture and it seems it was just a matter of the urethane being ran a little thin in that particular area .,..usually we catch those and re enforce them before they are shipped but it appears as though yours wasn’t checked thorough enough before being packaged
I will send you out a replacement with our next pick up"
Made sense at first. The vendor was speedy about sending me a replacement, but it has exactly the same problem in the same area. After reporting the flaw, this is the new assessment:
"the area you are referring to is just an air bubble in the mold … so it creates a raised bubble area in the crease of the neck…I only have one mold for the cowl so all of the cowls produced from the mold have this…I feel it’s not really visible when wearing it so I don’t consider the mold to be a waste …. I have cast about 30 + cowls from it and I really haven’t had an issue ( so far ) with them ripping
if you are not satisfied with the cowl please feel free to return both cowls and I will give you a full refund no problem
"
I never said this was a cosmetic issue, I'm worried the thin weak wall will probably tear after a few uses.
If that crease is stretched more it's going to breach because the urethane in that area feels ofter to the touch than the rest of the cowl and it's probably got about 1 mm of thickness in it where the rest of the cowl is 4mm thick.
And now I'm getting the vibe "take it or leave it" after waiting 13 weeks for it in time for Halloween and the prospect not finding another in time that will fit my 24" crown like this one does.
Does anyone here that pours urethane have any insight into what may be causing the weird cracking when the urethane is only slightly stretched or why an area that thin won’t cure properly in just one area if it’s not curing inhibition? It's not a texture in the sculpt and isn't happening anywhere else the cowl is slightly stretched and I know none of this has to do with "air bubbles".
First Cowl
Second Cowl
"I got your picture and it seems it was just a matter of the urethane being ran a little thin in that particular area .,..usually we catch those and re enforce them before they are shipped but it appears as though yours wasn’t checked thorough enough before being packaged
I will send you out a replacement with our next pick up"
Made sense at first. The vendor was speedy about sending me a replacement, but it has exactly the same problem in the same area. After reporting the flaw, this is the new assessment:
"the area you are referring to is just an air bubble in the mold … so it creates a raised bubble area in the crease of the neck…I only have one mold for the cowl so all of the cowls produced from the mold have this…I feel it’s not really visible when wearing it so I don’t consider the mold to be a waste …. I have cast about 30 + cowls from it and I really haven’t had an issue ( so far ) with them ripping
if you are not satisfied with the cowl please feel free to return both cowls and I will give you a full refund no problem
"I never said this was a cosmetic issue, I'm worried the thin weak wall will probably tear after a few uses.
If that crease is stretched more it's going to breach because the urethane in that area feels ofter to the touch than the rest of the cowl and it's probably got about 1 mm of thickness in it where the rest of the cowl is 4mm thick.
And now I'm getting the vibe "take it or leave it" after waiting 13 weeks for it in time for Halloween and the prospect not finding another in time that will fit my 24" crown like this one does.
Does anyone here that pours urethane have any insight into what may be causing the weird cracking when the urethane is only slightly stretched or why an area that thin won’t cure properly in just one area if it’s not curing inhibition? It's not a texture in the sculpt and isn't happening anywhere else the cowl is slightly stretched and I know none of this has to do with "air bubbles".
First Cowl
Second Cowl
