Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Sanguinary Priest: Insta-mold casting

I picked up the insta mold product in hopes of duplicating some bitz here and there. After a little experimentation, It turns out to work pretty fantastic. So here's a couple tips on what to do and what not to do that will hopefully save you some time.

The product is cheap, under $20. Instructions are simple and on the blister pack, heat, press let cool. no problem. What it doesn't tell you, is once the stuff is heated, it can be pretty oozy and with out something to hold it, it can be hard stay put as well as on the detail of the model.

A couple notes on the product.
1. It doesn't seem to stick to anything, but...
2. it self! touch two pieces of hot instamold together and they become one.

So here is my first attempt at a 2 sided mold for a devestator backpack. You can't really see the detail in the pic. The point is how on the outside of the mold it just went all  over the place. The other point, which I will illustrate later, is that I didn't think about re-aligning the pieces once done, or realize I would have to cut the pieces apart.

With my second attempt, I had a little more of a game plan. I made a lego frame for my molds and a couple plungers to press the product. I also have a couple paper clips to align the 2 part mold.
with this set up I made 2 molds. A 2 sided mold for the arm and a one sided mold for the torso piece. I also try'd making stamping type mold for the shoulder pad, but it did not work so great.

I put the hot product in both sides, put the arm in once side with product on top and put the torso in the other side. I pressed down firmly with my plungers.


I let it cool a little bit, removed the plungers and poked the paper clips in for re-alignment later. After allowing the stuff to completely cool I removed it from the lego the 2 sided mold had to be cut carfully with a hobby knife. next time I will put plastic card on the top and bottom of the mold. the texture of the lego made it slightly difficult to remove.

It's kind of hard to tell from the pic, but the detail came out perfect. 

using the mold is simple. press the green stuff in and let harden. The molds are clear so you can see from the side of the detail if you have any air bubbles or detail not coming out. Here's what came out...


Top one is my first devestator backpack. with the flash removed. The detail did not come out good on this one. The other pieces came out great with the exception of a small bubble on one of the right pocket and left tubes.

1 comment:

War Frog said...

Once you get the hang of it you will love instant mold. I have a walk thru on my blog that will help you get the level of detail you are looking for.