Does anyone here know how to cast resin? I'm trying build some of my designs totally from scratch. Besides styrene and resin, is there anything else I can use? Thanks for any help.
Wouldn't you have to make a sculpt out of something else, such as polymer clay, and then make a mold from that to pour the resin into? I have no experience whatsoever with casting, but I believe that's how it's done. -Mike
Resin, for the most part, starts out liquid form (although you can find resin already cured). So for a 2 part resin, you mix the 2 parts together and after some time (a few minutes to a few hours depending on type of resin) it'll harden. So 2 part resin is only good for making duplicates of something already made. You would have to make a mold of said thing first. You can also just make a block of resin and then carve out whatever you want from it. Besides styrene, you can use wood, plexiglass, cardboard, etc. Just about anything can be used make something. Although for combo of durability and ease of use, I go with styrene.
You would have to make a mold of said thing first. You can also just make a block of resin and then carve out whatever you want from it. Besides styrene, you can use wood, plexiglass, cardboard, etc. Just about anything can be used make something. Although for combo of durability and ease of use, I go with styrene.[/QUOTE] I know the theory of how to cast resin but I have never actually tried it yet. Do you know of any easy brands to start off with. How durable is the end product.
Go to http://www.micromark.com and look at their casting supplies. They have a starter kit that I have purchased in the past, and it worked pretty good. The resin durability depends on the thickness of the finished product. The thicker the products the more durable it is.
I buy my basic resin stuff at micromark too. In fact, I actually bought there starter kit to learn how to mold cast a few months ago.
Alumilite is what I used on the 20th Prime long stacks I was selling. It's by far the best resin you can get. I had like no air bubbles at all. Someone on the boards was selling driveshafts for Windcharger and they were full of airbubbles. I'd have been ashamed to sell such shitty product.. They weren't using alumilie, btw..
Yes, I've used Aluminite, the colored ones. There pretty good. The pot life (time it takes for it to start curing) is very short so you'd have to work fast. It starts curing in a minute or even less. It's also a bit thicker than regular resin so the hole where you'll be pouring the resin in has to be a bit bigger or you'll spend a bit of time pouring the resin.
Ok cool guys. I've heard decent things about their resin and also the fast work time. Can I ask you guys how durable they are compared to say styrene? Also is this brand expensive? By the way, are any of you familiar with Gundam Fix figures?
Resin doesn't compare to styrene. There are super durable resin but I haven't used it yet (though I have it but just haven't use it yet). These are the industrial type resin. Yes, the aluminite is a bit more expensive than your regular brand but not much more expensive. You can get 2 16 ounc bottles (its a 2 part resin so it comes with 2 bottles) for about $30-40 depending on where you buy/order it from. Not famiiliar with gundam fix though I've probably seen it. The figures probably didn't catch my eye. I like gundam but only certain ones, particlularly the gundam seed and gundam wing.
Hmm...is there any other product you can recommend that can be durable and flexible like ABS plastics or anything? Some rubberish material that won't be easy to break?
