Waste Mold Tutorial - Page 2

Meta Jon · 10-01-2006, 08:02 PM

Keith, might be a stupid question but will this way work if you want to cast in resin?

Kdawg59 · 10-02-2006, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ceramicus

Hey there Kieth!

Nice tutorial you've got going. Is this going to be for an aliginate waste mold or silicone?

Say that's a nice fist you've got going there as well. I'm working on a Hercules piece and could use one of those right now. If you have too many copies left lying around, feel free to send me one!

Looking forward to seeing your next installment!

Take care,

Mud

Will... in this particular case I am using silicone for the waste molds. Mostly because I don't trust alginate for things that I have already taken far enough to not want to have to resculpt a lot! Silicone is just so much more reliable...

I will send a couple of fists your way

course I hope that Herc is around 1/5 like this one is

Kdawg59 · 10-02-2006, 09:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JadeGiant

cool tutorial dawg

How about a little narrative on why you are going from sculprty to wax? Is wax easier to work with? Is the hand completely done? Is wax the last step?

Obviously, I have never sculpted anything before ...

Dave...

Wax is the last step. It is in this case to take the sculpt to finish, fix any issues I had in sculpey and give it the final detail and polish. Wax is not easier to work with as it is a time consuming ordeal. Drip by drip...

by molding the hardened sculpey piece and pouring melted wax into the molds I can then take this piece further by carving or adding minor things... i.e fixing the feet and arms

The best part of the wax is the glass smooth surface and the insanely crisp detail!!!

and Jon... absolutely you can pour whatever you want to in these molds. I've poured resin into these the same way before...

Ceramicus · 10-02-2006, 11:15 AM

Quote:

Kdawg59 Quote:

Will... in this particular case I am using silicone for the waste molds. Mostly because I don't trust alginate for things that I have already taken far enough to not want to have to resculpt a lot! Silicone is just so much more reliable...

I will send a couple of fists your way course I hope that Herc is around 1/5 like this one is

Oh lucky days for moi! Herc just happens to be the same scale!

Really, I'm not kidding. Of course if I used those fists, they would be the only finished pieces on him...

They do look really nice, though, good job!

So, silicone, good deal. I kinda figured that, but thought I'd ask anyway. Have you tried silputty for waste molds like this? It's actually really convenient stuff, sets really, really quick and you only need to use just enough for what your molding so not a lot of extra rubber. It takes a little practice to get the hang of it but it gives great results (i.e. No bubbles).

Take care,

Mud

Meta Jon · 10-02-2006, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kdawg59

and Jon... absolutely you can pour whatever you want to in these molds. I've poured resin into these the same way before...

What does it do to the original? do you have to ruin it to get it out?
I'm thinking of expirementing with it

Kdawg59 · 10-02-2006, 11:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ceramicus

Oh lucky days for moi! Herc just happens to be the same scale!

Really, I'm not kidding. Of course if I used those fists, they would be the only finished pieces on him...

They do look really nice, though, good job!

So, silicone, good deal. I kinda figured that, but thought I'd ask anyway. Have you tried silputty for waste molds like this? It's actually really convenient stuff, sets really, really quick and you only need to use just enough for what your molding so not a lot of extra rubber. It takes a little practice to get the hang of it but it gives great results (i.e. No bubbles).

Take care,

Mud

I really do want to try that... Is there a place to buy silputty online?

The only thing I do hate is using the silicone up... It ain't cheap is it. but you can't beat the results.

Jon... depending on the type of mold you do... it can sometimes ruin your original.

Now these are cut molds as opposed to 2 part molds. These are basically just poured all the way up and around your piece and you have to cut it out of the mold. Sometimes you can ding an original pretty good in process.

A two part mold makes it so there is less damage for sure but you probably still have to cut the piece up to make it so there are no undercuts.

The way that I cut this piece up to mold the original will be fine but I would need to put it back together anyway which I don't need to seeing as how the wax will now become the original that I work off...

Ceramicus · 10-02-2006, 02:18 PM

Ask O' Great One and ye shall receive...http://www.silpak.com/products/?page...bf22fd630749c&

You actually have to call them for pricing, but they're great folks and very quick on the deliveries.

Also, there's a thread that Erik Sosa did on the Clubhouse demonstrating his use of silputty for waste molds that was very helpful to me getting up to speed on it: http://www.theclubhouse1.net/forums/...light=silputty

Note: It isn't good for everything. I wouldn't generally use it for making a body waste mold of a piece, but it is great for hands and heads.

Now get back to work and get us Part 2 of your tutorial!

Mud

Kdawg59 · 10-03-2006, 01:19 AM

ta-daaaaaaa part 2 coming at choo!

Okay when last we left off we had built the box mold walls and had anchored our piece to the base.

to get rolling on our next portions of this tutorial, we first have to mix our silicone. Whatever kind you use is up to you. I had some Mold Max 30 from smoothe on at the handy, so I am using that for this tutorial.

I will jump ahead because as there are different silicones and different ratios to mix them, you can follow those individual directions depending.

so....

I have my mold built. What I like to do is grab an old paintbrush of some type first and dip it in the silicone and basically "paint" the silicone on the piece. I do this to try and get those tighter nooks and crannys. I don't leave it to chance that the pour will get silicone in every tiny aread I need it to, so I brush it on like so

After I am confident that I have silicone in and around all the small areas, I will then pour some silicone in the box. Maybe about 1/3 of the way up to the top...

Kdawg59 · 10-03-2006, 01:20 AM

Then... I take a bunch of pieces from previous molds that I have done and no longer have use for. I cut these molds in to small chunks and use them to fill the vloume of space around the piece being molded. This isn't something that is necessary to do (especially if you are a first time molder, because you won't have any old molds to cut up) but it is a great way to save on costly silicone.

I get as many chunks in there as I can without having them too close to the piece.

Remember!!! Silicone bonds to itself so the space around these chunks will be filled and become part of the mold.

I now pour silicone the rest of the way to the top of the box and it's time to leave it alone until it cures.

24 hours is a nice safe amount of time... although again, depending on your brand of silicone and how much activator you put in... the molds could feasibly be ready MUCH quicker. I don't like to take chances so 24 hours is plenty good. Throw on the football game and forget about the molds for the day.

NOW! Time has passed and the time to de-mold is that hand. I peel off the tape and I peel off the foam core box. This reveals a nicely cured and firm silicone cut mold.

They call it a cut mold because you have to cut the piece out. This isn't a two piece mold. If you want the best tutorial ever for that.. I invite you to visit Dan Perez brilliant tutorial on his site.

http://danperezstudios.com/workshopp...ng_casting.htm

So I cut my mold along the side I marked earlier on the box. I only cut the mold as much as I need to in order to pop the piece out. With a mold you want as tight a fit as possible for the mold so you won't get any flash (stuff that oozes into you seem that you cut)....

Kdawg59 · 10-03-2006, 01:20 AM

The original piece is out and is still in excellent shape. Yahoo for me!!!

Now.. we have a mold and it is empty and ready to receive a pour of Ralph's lovely TMS wax...

Please note I cut so little on this mold and all of my molds that I often chance it and do not use rubber bands to tighten my mold back together. I just use duct tape to cover the seem. This way I'm not pinching the mold and possibly distorting the copy being poured. Everyone has their own way to do this and the most sane way is rubber bands, but like I said... I just use tape.

Let's pour one...

I have a melted crock pot full of TMS wax and a pyrex measuring cup. I ladle the cup full of wax and pour it in to the mold...

If you are still in disbelief I am only using duct tape on the seem... please note there's pics right here and they are not leaking... No mold pinch either.