Hello there, I have created plastic molds before, but all were very simple pieces that were entirely unrelated to any existing toy, but now I want to modify my RTS Optimus Prime (the deluxe sized G2 Laser Prime remake) to have translucent windows. I think the orange Hasbro chose is hideous and the blue Takara chose is better, but confusing. Clear seems to be the most accurate... in my opinion. I will need to completely copy those those pieces. Has anyone done this before? If so do you have any tips? I can find clear to plastic to pour into my own custom mold easy enough, but it's the idea that it has to be an exact copy that makes me nervous to attempt this for the first time. Thanks.
I don't have anything I can add unfortunately as I've never done anything of the sort but I've found that the best advice is to often just go for it and learn from your mistakes.
Not sure about casting with a clear plastic, but if the windows are flat, or close to it, you can get clear plastic sheets in different thicknesses and make them.
Casting & molding would be fairly easy to copy the part. However, the issue comes with the clear plastic resin. Just due to mixing, pouring and the curing process, you're going to have bubbles in your part - to some extent or another - unless you have a vacuum/pressure pot of some kind. Example: You can limit the bubbles by slowly mixing and pouring the resin as carefully as possible to not introduce a lot of air but for perfect parts, you'd need to vac/squeeze out all of the bubbles: Bubble-Free Resin Casts with Modified Paint Tank Alumilite - Products - Casting Resins - Alumilite Clear Smooth-Cast® 325 Colormatch® Product Information | Smooth-On
oh myyy interesting idea though, my friend wanted some parts for some broken figures, this might help
