resin molds and equip.

Spanky · #1 03-12-2003, 03:49 AM

i have noticed a lot of questions about resin bodys, and how they are made. unfortnately there are not many answers. and the ones that there are all seem to direct to one site. http://www.alumilite.com/howto.cfm?ID=6
this is a great tutorial on making these bodys. but i did some research and found some much cheaper alternatives to this site and their products. im not saying that their products arent good, but they are a bit pricey.

for starters. Tap Plastics- this is the kinda stuff they do. i went to their website and what do ya know. they have a store in my town so i went down and checked it out... 18.95 1 lb for the silicone, which on the alumilite site for a pound of molding silicone/rubber 26.50. after a lengthy discussion with the rep i found out that for the purposes that we will be using these molds for we would want to go with silicone. Tap also has rubber for a bit cheaper than the silicone.

as for the clay. you dont have to order this clay from alumilite or tap if thats who your going with. go to your local art store, or hobby store and look for some clay. I found some at Michaels for 1.99. that was for a pound of any color i wanted(around 30 differnt colors) reading on the back of the package it says "...compatible with silicone mold compounds..." bingo this will work.

i was torn wether i should check on the mold release also. so i did. you can get a spray for 7.99 or a jar of wax mold release from tap for 4.15. again i asked if it was really needed with silicone. supprisingly it is, it helps keep your mold in good shape so you can get more bodys out of it. so instead of getting 50-75 bodys outa your mold you could get double, maybe tripple.

now to resins... there are many different types, plasic, polyester, fiberglas... although i dont think you would use the last... all come in clear, and each has its advantage. polyester looks the clearest, but you need to heat the mold when pouring it so that the body of the car will basically stay smooth. plastic, costs a bit more than polyester, but molds very easily. im not sure how much comes in one can of alumilite resin, but according to my email its about 30.00 for one unit. if this number is wrong please let me know. im not trying to show bias here. i picked up a quart of clear polyester resin for 10.99 and the catalyst for it was 3.99 (michaels crafts). I asked the guy at tap, and he grabbed a can and said this stuff works great, it was the same stuff that i bought at michaels for the same price. CastinCraft resin. i believe its also used on tables to give them that glass top look. tap also has clear plastic resin for 12.99 for the same amt. Clear plastic resin

lastly a neet thing that i discovered. you can use a 2 liter bottle for your mold... if you check out that tutorial on thealumlite site you can see that they glue the container/mold that the car body and silicone is placed inside. you can easily just cut the middle out of a 2 liter and use it. its strong, clear (so you can see the goo on the inside) and it probably wont cost much...

i will post more as i continue with the creation of my 53 pu body. i am photographing everything, and will post progress on my website, and here if there is interest. i know i have forgot some of the things i learned in the past few days but when i think of them i will post back.

blownPT · #2 03-12-2003, 08:32 AM

awesome, thanks for the info.

kwikbb · #3 03-12-2003, 09:03 AM

Spanky-
Nice... thanks for the info! This'll prove to be a useful resource.

denden · #4 03-12-2003, 09:12 AM

Spanky , nice find . I don't use aluminite products but the stuff I
use is compatible . I have a 4 hour cure time on my molds and
a 15 minute demold on my resin cast . The product you pointed
to has too long of a cure and demold time for me .
It all depends on how long you want to wait I guess .

Spanky · #5 03-12-2003, 10:21 AM

yea it is kinda long for the demold time, power catalyst, which cuts demold time in half.

Spanky · #6 03-12-2003, 10:39 AM

hey denden, what kinda molding compound did you use and where did you get it. how much did it cost.. lets use this thread to list our ingredients and costs so everyone can know what they can use and what their options are for prices...

denden · #7 03-12-2003, 11:02 AM

For my molds , I use Micro Mark's One to One silicone ,. the A, B
kit cost me 22.95 , I can make at least 4 complete molds from it .
For my resin cast , I used Smooth On Liquid Plastic 70D .
It cost me 24.95 . I can get at least 25 bodies out of it .,
maybe more , I'll let you know when I'm done with it . These
were bought at my local hobby Shop. Micro Mark has a website.
I think it's www.micromark.com

sessiz10 · #8 03-12-2003, 11:51 AM

This is a great lil resource you've started here spanky. I look forward to more from you. Thank you and I wish you luck.

drewzig4 · #9 03-12-2003, 03:51 PM

Thanks guys this is an awesome post..... i have one question, when you guys make an orginal body, do you start with a clay model you make from scratch? Or model it with the help of a hotwheels shell or something? If you do start with an original clay model, do you hollow out the interior in the model or after you cast?

Spanky · #10 03-12-2003, 10:20 PM

well i use a combination of other cars.. hotwheels matchbox, clone bodys... chop them up... i also am using a lot of bondo. some parts of bodys are completely bondo (because i destroyed that part...) then i just use a dremel to hollow it out.. i will be posting pics and a how to of how im doing my 56 pickup.. but im still stuck at work. i was planning on doing it tonite, but who knows. if im not to tired when i get home i will post some pics along with the first few steps that ive done.

Clint · #11 03-13-2003, 01:25 AM

to make a hollow mold, u can pour just enough resin into the mold(experimentation is needed)..cap the mold and have the mold rotate on a spit setup. this will evenly distribute the resin in the mold and you'll end up with a very thin, evenly walled, hollow mold.

i'm not sure how viscous the resin u guys are using..but that would be the most effective way of making a hollow mold.

Spanky · #12 03-13-2003, 02:02 AM

i think that this is how another member of the forum is making them, although i have yet to find out what he means by a 1 piece mold and how exactly he pours and makes a shell from it.

im starting to mold my truck now. first things first. you need to prep the truck. the method described on the alumlite page is the method i will be using. so to make this work i have to hollow out whats left of the die cast parts on this truck. lucky for me i have a dremel tool (unfortnately its cordless, so only 15 minutes of working time for every 3 hours of charge time. i have the MultiPro cordless model 780) So in a matter of minutes i have this thing pretty much hollow.

you will also want to get the top of the truck in good order also. once this is done you might want to smooth things out a bit. Ideally you would want to avoid undercuts, so to eliminate them from the bottom of the body would be ideal. to help smooth things out inside my truck i used a bit of bondo. be aware though that you dont want to use to much and make the body very thick, this will weigh more and probably not look right.

once you have everything ready give it a shot of primer. after it dries you will be able to see imperfections that can easily be fixed, a lot clearer. sand... putty... etc. till you have it looking good, give one last shot of primer. Let dry completely (read the can to be sure of complete cure time for your primer) then you can begin with the clay.

this is the clay that i found at the store. i have a pic of the front and the back.

this stuff is fairly stiff to begin with, but can be softened with some heat. i threw some in a ziploc and put it in a bowl of boiling hot water for 5 min, and could work it pretty easy. however you can melt this clay at 150 degrees, and pour it into a mold if you wish....

more coming when the primer on my truck drys.. for more pics of the truck check out my post project - 56' pickup

Spanky · #13 03-14-2003, 02:15 AM

ok, i have now poured the played with my clay, made the form for my mold, and have poured the first half of mold. i took a lot of pictures. since there are so many, i will just post them as direct links to the images. im trying to be nice to all those that are still on dial up.

ok first of all after the last post i cleaned up the bottom of the truck and primered it. heres a pic.

.. i decided that not to many people are on dial up and these pics are all under 24k... i think...

next step was to use clay. fill in the truck and make a base the same size as your form for your mold (you can make it smaller, but if its the same size the two parts will fit together easier.)
pics...

ok, now as you can see i used a shortened golf tee to make a couple holes or indentations in the clay.. this will form pegs on the top half of the mold and when you pour the bottom half there will be holes for the pegs... so when im done, the will fit together exactly the same every time.. (the guys at tap told me to do this)you can also see that once i got the clay the way i wanted it i trimmed it with an xacto knife a bit.. you can also see how i made my form for the mold. instead of using plastic, i used foam core poster board. i havent heard of anyone using it, so i figured i would give it a try.. it auctually holds in place well, i cut the bottm with my xacto so the sides just fit right into it, and then used masking tape around it to keep it together.
next step was to pour the silicone. which didnt really have any smell, but the catalyst for it was minty smelling... kinda like a car air freshner. since i didnt have a vacuum for the silicone, i did the gravity method.. cutting a hole in the bottom of your stiring container, and letting it run out the bottom of the container to the mold a few feet down.. but i think my hole was too small, it took forever.

i will post more tomorow when i start to do the bottom of the mold. i will eventually put all of this in one file, so someone can download if they wish, and it will be posted on my website in time...

denden · #14 03-14-2003, 10:27 AM

Spanky , here's my VW Mold .

denden · #15 03-14-2003, 10:30 AM

another