Resin casting... am I crazy!?

[strobez]

Well? Would I be crazy to try casting some resin pieces?

I bought silicone today... but don't have resin yet.  Try and stop me before it's too late!

[Old Wombat]

Probably "yes", but as I haven't had the balls to take that step myself, yet, I may be biased.

[JayBee]

Go for it  , it is not that difficult. Heck I have managed it so it can not be too difficult.

Jim

[Lord_Voyager]

I've been resin casting for years... It's a learning process... but you'll enjoy it after a while.

Be prepared for fuses and some messes and such and don't 'cheap' out on materials... In this case, you do get what you pay for when it comes to supplies.

If you run into anything unusual, just post it to us.

-LV

[NARSES2]

No your'e not crazy  Go for it I say

[strobez]

Ok! I'll do it!

(kicks over chair.... runs out of room...)

[sandiego89]

And suggest starting with smallish, simple shapes until trying complex ones. Good luck! 

[Dizzyfugu]

Casting parts with resin and silicone moulds is per se no rocket science, esp. when you cast relatively "shallow" parts (in a mould into which you can simply pour the resin from the top), not much can go wrong. Things become more complicated when you try to create a mould of a complex shape, though, e. g. when you need a multi-part mould. This can be really tricky. The most complex thing I did so far (but successfully) were a pair of lower arms for a resin anime figure, for a conversion. The figure was originally an Xmas release, and wore mittens - I needed new hands and was happy to find them in a vinyl kit in the stash. But creating the moulds was a horror trip - image the troubles of getting a 1:8 hand model out of a ~2x1x1" silicone block without ruining either the original, the mould or the later cast (not to speak of problems with air bubbled when pouring the resin into the moulds...). Worked, though, even though the moulds were ruined in the process of freeing the final parts from them.

I also tried to re-cast a head, but that failed, because I was not able to create a proper mould. 

As a tip: LEGO bricks can be a very good aid when you try to create a silicone mould, and some parting agent (e. g. silicone spray) might be helpful, too.

Furthermore I agree: do not save on material - there are many different resin mixes available, with different properties, so check these and do not buy/use the cheapest stuff.
Additionally: when you work with resin, make sure you do it in a place which is vented WELL (!!!). Not healthy at all.

[Gondor]

Are you crazy...... well your here.......

As for casting items in resin, I have yet to do so myself. Made a couple of moulds once but not done everything yet.

Best of luck 

Gondor

[Steel Penguin]

to be honest, if your prepared to try and possibly not get stellar results, where's the harm in trying?
ive done a little myself, as I wanted to twin tail an F111 so made copy's of the tail halves, and cast them, from car body resin, the initial finish was rough, but sanded down fine, and then I realised that they were smaller than the originals,  so I cast another pair, and glued 4 copy's instead of 2 copy's and 2 originals. 
Not as fast or simple as id originally wanted but it didn't take much longer.   
an alternative is cast in plaster of paris ( or similar ) and then cover with poly sprue dissolved in liquid poly,  it is reasonably fast and hard wearing, and plaster is less damaging to the moulds.

some photos of my efforts here   http://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php/topic,28971.0.html

[zenrat]

If I ever try it it will be to cast 1/25 wheels and tyres.
Not tempted yet but I am getting low on my favourite Otaki slot mags which have been out of production for ever.

[NARSES2]

an alternative is cast in plaster of paris ( or similar ) and then cover with poly sprue dissolved in liquid poly,  it is reasonably fast and hard wearing, and plaster is less damaging to the moulds.

I haven't heard or read that tip for eons  First saw it in an old wargames book or magazine I think ? No idea when. Takes me back to the days of Plasticine and banana oil

[kitnut617]

Once I started doing castings, it opened the door for another whole line of modeling possibilities. Means I can now do multiple copies with only scratch building one item. Saves a lot of time but be warned, resin and rubber can be expensive.

[strobez]

I got myself some resin yesterday, so we're gonna try this out.  The only problem is I found out after I got it home that it's crystal clear instead of the kind that turns white.  I guess that's to be expected since I got it at a store that I can only describe as the girls' version of the LHS.

Instead of tanks and planes, this shop had racks of tiny little doll house-style furniture.  Instead of resin seats and tires, the accessories were like little wine glasses and cutlery, and instead of 27 shades of military greens and greys, they had every kind of sprinkle your shaved ice desert could possibly need.

Apparently the crystal clear resin is used to permanently encase the perfect miniature sushi dinner setting you've created.   

Oh well. This should be fun.  I think I'm going to test it out on a tiny 1/72 Fiat 500 car body - that should be suitably detailed but yet reasonably easy to tackle.  If it works... then I'll recast an entire f-104 kit into Wonder Woman's invisible jet... or I'll start superdetailimg sweet deserts... not sure just yet.

[PR19_Kit]

At least you have a good start on casting canopies anyway.