OK all you mold makers. I need some help.

tbone9600

Active Hunter
After seeing SGB's thread to create the Family Guy Blue Harvest characters, and that the Herbert figure was so hard to get and cost so much if you managed to find one, I decided to try and sculpt one. Well... I now need to figure out how to go about making a mold of it without destroying it in the process. I used plain old ordinary modeling clay, which I think may be a problem but I really don't want to start over. I plan to mold the arms, head and body separately. It stands a little under 6 inches tall. Here are pics of it all together. Any ideas? I plan to do some finishing details once I get a more solid copy made.

Herbie Wan Kenobi Left Front.JPG


Herbie Wan Kenobi Right Profile.JPG


Herbie Wan Kenobi Back.JPG


Herbie Wan Kenobi Front.JPG
 
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that is a sweat job
I am making some molds right now and I am using plaster.
I am afraid the plaster would rip apart your clay though.
i have seen this stuff at a store here called Hobby Lobby,
its next to the plaster.
It comes in a round cylinder and you mix making this consistency so that you can make impressions.
necklaces, faces, hands, statues
look for it.
its about $10
 
That is one nice sculpt bro. :)

Okay, first up, will you be casting these in resin after you get a mold? if so, you can try what i did. I had some M4 magazines molded awhiles back and because they were Airsoft versions, I had to use modelling clay to 'finish/create' the uppertop of the magazine and the followers. Once that was done, I poured silicone over and let it set. Pulled some nice castings after.

Granted the area that was in clay was alot smaller then what you have, but I don't really think it would be a problem. I would suggest though, you pin the arms and any surface area that's a bit on the 'loose' side.

i hope this helps somehow...

Stay safe,

Tim.
 
Your main issue is the undercuts on the arms... you may want to cast those sperately. Beyond that I would just to a brush on glove mold using Reboud 25 silicone from Smoothon. Make your outer 2 part support shell out of plasti paste.
 
Thanks for the suggestions.

that is a sweat job
I am making some molds right now and I am using plaster.
I am afraid the plaster would rip apart your clay though.
i have seen this stuff at a store here called Hobby Lobby,
its next to the plaster.
It comes in a round cylinder and you mix making this consistency so that you can make impressions.
necklaces, faces, hands, statues
look for it.
its about $10

I think I know the stuff your speaking of. You mix it with water?

That is one nice sculpt bro. :)

Okay, first up, will you be casting these in resin after you get a mold? if so, you can try what i did. I had some M4 magazines molded awhiles back and because they were Airsoft versions, I had to use modelling clay to 'finish/create' the uppertop of the magazine and the followers. Once that was done, I poured silicone over and let it set. Pulled some nice castings after.

Granted the area that was in clay was alot smaller then what you have, but I don't really think it would be a problem. I would suggest though, you pin the arms and any surface area that's a bit on the 'loose' side.

i hope this helps somehow...

Stay safe,

Tim.

I have some pourable silicone and was going to use it but I can't figure out a way to do it with out messing something up.

Your main issue is the undercuts on the arms... you may want to cast those sperately. Beyond that I would just to a brush on glove mold using Reboud 25 silicone from Smoothon. Make your outer 2 part support shell out of plasti paste.

This sounds interesting. I will be doing the head, arms, and body all separately, and I plan to ues resin for the final castings. Does it stretch enough to get your part out or do you split it? How much do you think I would need?

Thanks,

Troy
 
A quart kit should be fine... it stretches 600% of natural size... just make sure its not thicker then 1/8 inch all the way around. A good cheap resin to use is Smooth Cast 300.
 
A quart kit should be fine... it stretches 600% of natural size... just make sure its not thicker then 1/8 inch all the way around. A good cheap resin to use is Smooth Cast 300.

I wanted to clear this up. When I watched their video, they sai dmake sure its AT LEAST 1/8 inch thick all around your part.

I have yet to make a mold, so I really dont know, but Id like to clarify cause I know evan knows his stuff.

It SHOULDNT be thicker than 1/8 inch around the part?
 
Pin the arms and head on boards and make sure the base holding them up is at least a 1/4" around so you can have a good amount of space to pour in your resin. Brush on a layer or two of silicon to get a good impression coat. Then I would build a box around each piece that you want to mold, and fill with more rubber. When you demold, cut your blocks in a zig-zag so they fit together in a precise manner. A straight cut will tend to slip and misalign. You can reuse those boxes to hold your mold's shape while you cast. Good Luck!
 
I wanted to clear this up. When I watched their video, they sai dmake sure its AT LEAST 1/8 inch thick all around your part.

I have yet to make a mold, so I really dont know, but Id like to clarify cause I know evan knows his stuff.

It SHOULDNT be thicker than 1/8 inch around the part?

You dont want less then this, but in the case of the type of mold we are talking about here, the thicker it is, the less flexable it is. And its very strong so no need to be super thick! :)
 
i've used a lot of the smoothcast 300 over the last couple of weeks. awesome stuff. cures crazy fast, and goes from clear to white as it goes, so you have a good visual indicator of the state it is in.

I will second that, and it can be used for slush and roto casting. It skins very well. But if you slush cast it, know that each pour will cure faster then the last due to the high heat.
 
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