clear resin?

what do folks like for clear resin? the crystal clear stuff from smoothon bears all sorts of safety warnings and only comes in gallons. i don't need NEARLY that much.

i seem to think my local ac moore has some small containers of clear stuff, but i can't remember for sure.

Originally Posted by Steelblitz

The Crystal Clear series resin from SmoothOn does come in a smaller trial sample kit. The cans are 1 lbs. each. I have them sitting right next to me here. Just wear the protective gear you should be wearing when casting: gloves, respirator (not a dispoaasble mask), and work in a sutiable environment that gets the air exchanged, like a garage with the doors open. Just be a a little more cautious with this clear stuff about getting spills on clothing that will soak it up and contact it with your skin.

hrm... i can't find trial sizes on their site.

That sounds like nasty stuff. What problems have you had with it?

No problems at all with it Bill. But I do preheating of molds like they recommend. Heck, I even do that now with alot of my products. The clear resin works good as advertised. As far as the hazards with it, I work with molding and casting every day, so this is up there with some nasty silicones that have the noxious gasses released. Follow the warnings and you'll be fine. I've got it here for a Jango related project in the works.

I think you have to call SmoothOn to get a smaller quantity. That might be there way of discouraging amatuers from ordering the stuff by only listing large quanitites I would guess.

i ended up picking up some clear casting resin at michael's. $27 for a quart, and $6 for the catalyst.

i haven't tried it out yet, but i can't imagine it would be radically different than the smoothon stuff.

I would venture to guess that it most likey has some significant differences when it comes to the clarity, if it isnt, I would be very much surprised. I am speaking from experience when it comes to getting off-the-shelf casting items at a craft store. One key to a crystal clear casting is a perfect finish on your part being molded. Theres a difference in casting a solid color object and a transparent one. Every imperfection is magnified with the clear resin. Watch the air bubbles, as there is no hiding them. But, I don't know what level of clarity you are trying to accomplish here, so what I stated may be more than you need to bother with if you arent going for a glass type surface. Good Luck!

i'm just going for the clear part on boba's rangefinder... so not *super* picky. it's just that my MR has an ESB topper that i want to convert to rotj

also why i didn't want a gallon... i just need to make one little piece!!