Hiya everyone!
I'm sure you've gathered that I'm new to the forum so hopefully I'm posting in the right section and whatnot. A bit of an intro, I've been working in the gaming industry for a number of years now but after a "quarter life crisis" several months ago, I realized how unhappy I was trying to amount to a 3D artist and the level of dedication and passion I had concerning that was, well, dwindling. What I truly wanted to pursue, perhaps I even had an inkling of this back in school in 2006, is sculpting, creature design, maquettes, etc. for film and media. I'll be enrolling back to school in a couple of years specifically for this now, so that's super exciting, but until then, I wanted to get going with my own projects as much as possible.
Over the past couple of months I've been pumping myself with so much information, gathering tips, tricks, advice, everything I could to start the process on sculpting once again and also, mold making and casting. I'm not new to sculpting, however, I'm still a noobstar at mold making and casting, and I've run into some issues that I was hoping to get some additional help and expertise on. I've tried contacting other artists yet only one has ever returned my emails, and while one artist helped me substantially, I felt I couldn't keep swamping her with questions when she's very busy. I've never been big on forum activity, but this is something I truly want to do and have so much passion and determination towards, so I want to put myself out there and really try to gain as much info as I can. I never had this sort of tenacity when I was doing 3D art.
I suppose I should start with the questions. I've learned a lot thus far, especially on the different kinds of material for mold making and casting, how to use things, etc. I found out the hard way that I probably shouldn't have used Mold Star 15 for a beginner's silicone, especially considering it cost me $200, I wasn't sure what I was doing yet or the best way to go about things, etc. but I guess that's sometimes the beauty (frustration) of the learning curve. I didn't even know what "vents" were or how to properly build a mold box, but I feel I've made significant process at least. I'll soon be switching to something a bit lighter such as OOMOO.
My first molds were atrocious and I did them very wrong haha I produced several more slightly fail molds, but each time I learned something new. From the info I received from a fellow artist, I was attempting to mold and cast a much more complex figure/pose for such a beginner, but she told me with the right vents in place, etc, then it wasn't impossible to do. It was a difficult task figuring out how to go about getting him out of the locked position when demolding, as his hands are cupped, one underneath the other.
Now, I finally have a much better mold of one of my little dragon critters. (image below) I sculpted about 5 of these little dragons and 5 little wolves, as I wanted to create molds for them and cast them to sell customized replicas in my near-future Etsy shop. I honestly had no idea how daunting and difficult this entire journey was going to be, but I'm determined to get there.
I first tried using this cheap "Activa ArtPlaster" to cast, and that went pretty poorly. While the result is nice and has smooth surfaces, I can't ever demold the figure without breaking something, mainly the horns and ears on the head, the arm, etc. (image below) After researching more information, I tried going with the recommended SmoothCast 305 Resin. And Wow. Unbelievably messy and frustrating to work with, especially for a beginner. I also made the grave mistake of putting too much baby powder in one of my molds and then pouring resin in. That led to a bit of a volcano disaster which left my poor mold all crusty and gritty, rendering it a pain in the arse to try and chip the pieces of exploded resin from all over the silicone mold.
(the cheaper plaster always broke when demolding - the upper body dragon to the left was cast with resin)
I did have a few good results with the SmoothCast where the figure was completely cast, no broken limbs, but he was a bit bubbly, horns weren't entirely cast and had little holes everywhere, and the other had a nice big air pocket on its tail and on one of its hands. (images below)
I wanted to minimize air pockets as much as possible in the areas like the arms and chin, but was faced with another problem that when pouring resin in, it would start to spill out the spouts. I corrected this by pouring the resin slowly and once it reached the first vent, I blocked it up with plasticine, continued pouring, etc. I left the main spouts at the base of the feet open, but the other vents I had stuffed so they wouldn't leak. I'm unsure if this is what made the cast bubbly and hole-y, as if it were overheating inside?
Getting super fed up with resin, I researched some more yet again and then tried the cheap plaster with glue. Not too much better for the durability I require for these guys. I then wanted to try the route of Plaster of Paris, mixing in an additive of Portland cement. It does appear much stronger but I'm still having difficulty demolding without breaking off the horns and ears, etc. This may be due to trying to demold after x amount of time when I should be leaving it in for longer. I'm unsure what the approximate sort of cure time is for PoP + cement so that it's at its strongest point to minimize breaking delicate pieces? I left a test cast in overnight and it does appear much sturdier, definitely stronger than the crap plaster I was using before. (image below)
(test run with the PoP + cement mixture, left overnight...a lot better durability at least but still breaks parts when demolding)
I've also noticed the difficulty of pouring the plaster + cement mixture into my mold, because it's much thicker and due to the viscosity, it doesn't travel into all the cavities like the resin or the normal plaster would. I was thinking of using a funnel spout and pouring it into the spout holes and shaking the mold around as much as I can to slosh the plaster + cement to get into all the nooks, but I have such a small window of time before things start to harden. Is there any advice on how I could go about this issue? I don't want to add too much water otherwise that's going to dilute the formula?
Also, I read somewhere, I believe it was MySculpturesGallery, where someone had mentioned they mix PoP with resin. Is this recommended and safe to do? And if so, what exactly is the outcome result of a mixture like this? Would it be easier for the liquid to pour and reach all the cavities if I mixed my SmoothCast with PoP? I have no idea what the ratios would be like for this either, especially because right now, these figures to replicate are on the smaller side, not miniatures but they're about 4" tall. Anything that might add to the viscosity would really be helpful since the plaster on its own, with the cement additive, is so thick and upon demolding, parts easily break off.
Again, this has been an extremely daunting and difficult experience thus far, not to mention financially steep getting started with all the materials, etc. I'm hoping some of you veterans may be able to lend any help, critique, advice, info...to push me along because this whole process, while exciting and fun, has also been a bit discouraging that I can't cast a single one properly so far in the molds that I currently do have.
Thank you so much to anyone who can help!
~Raine/NeidusBluetip
