CommanderKorbra's Customs - Making sure the topic isn't gone...

[212th Battalion]

what parts did you use to make the Parjai Trooper bc i realy want to make one of my own! 

[CommanderKorbra]

Thanks Ennis, lol. 212th, phew that was a long time ago. I just used a #41 clone, Glassman6's headcast, a Bacara Paudren that was modified, and a Bacara Kama. Plus some random pouches and stuff.

[CommanderKorbra]

w00t! After months of waiting for I-dunno-what, I've finally order my casting supplies! From smooth-on.com I got the Smooth-Cast 45D and 60D, and the Smooth-Sil 920. Then from Micromark.com some of the Silicone Rubber stuff. Now once it gets in I'll start casting some parts to test it out, then I'll make some casts of misc stuff I needed copies of and once I feel confident enough, I'll move into getting copies of the female mando parts. And after that comes the female mando sqaud Maybe even get some money back by selling a few things on ebay later. Well that's all for now.

*excited*

[CommanderKorbra]

Oh yea Im still excited even now 8 days ago from the last post lol. Got an email and the expected date of delivery on the molding stuff from micromark is Tuesday - tomorrow! Smooth on should be right behind that I guess. Also finally found a HFG battlepack and didnt have to pay scalper prices for it on ebay. And lastly I finished E3 Revenge of the Sith for PS2 and had a blast. Lots of cool concept art I might use to make a few jedi or clones.

Okay yea I know boring post for anyone not exactly in my position but Ive been wanting that casting stuff for a while and finally got it ordered and coming to my door. Feels great.

Oh yea and I got my Adult-Child-Infant CPR class out of the way saturday. I was dreading that but it wasnt bad at all.



And for a customizing update, Im working on one of the jedi boil n pops i posted like on page 4 of this thread. Also about done with a BF2 Sharpshooter.

[Brisk Arper]

sounds good...good luck on the casting...ive not triedit yet...but my sculting is improving and i have a camera now so my customs should be up any day now...as soon as i figure out how to put them on here lol

[CommanderKorbra]

Thanks. There will prolly be alot of molding and casting pics on here once I get all the supplies in.

[CommanderKorbra]

Not to keep bumping and double posting but my stuff from Micromark got here today! Wow that was fast! I can start molding stuff now and then whenever I get the smooth-on stuff and I feel confident enough I can start casting peices

[BrentS]

I may be wrong but in my case, I ordered the resin from Micromark and the Silicon Molding materials from Smooth-sil.  So I'm curious if you ordered the opposite?  I think both sites sell both types of materials.  Anyway, at least someone put a post in between your updates 

[CommanderKorbra]

Yep at least one person did. Now you can be the second 

I got the RTV Sillicone rubber stuff for the 2 part mols from Micromark and then got the Smooth sil for 1 peice molds along with smooth cast 45D and 60D from smooth on. Micromark seems to be the faster on processing and letting you know whats goign on and accually deliving everything. But that's fine because I can work on molding things while I wait for the stuff from smooth on.

I can't wait to get started! I'm reading some of glassman's posts on the subject and reading what micromark sent in my package. Also sanded down what I was going to mold and got it all smooth. Maybe by tomorrow night I'll have an update with a pic of the mold for the female mando torso. There's a little baggie of things I plan to mold and cast sitting in my work area so this time period is going to be very exciting for me.

[CommanderKorbra]

Laidout everything and tried my hand at making my first mold this morning. Its pretty straightforward but I didn't make enough of the stuff. And I kind of made too many air bubbles. But this doesnt really matter because I didn't even make enough to fill the mold box a quater of the way. Basically just have a bottom to the mold and now 4 hours have passed so its ready to make some more stuff and create the first half of the mold. After 4 hours I cover it with vaseline and make enough to fill the second half of the mold. And then tonight if there still enough time left I might try to put some resin in there and let it sure overnight. Wish me luck guys

EDIT: Got that next part done and now have all the parts half way in the mold and half out. To tell the truth I'm nt sure if it's going to work. I worked a little too fast and parts sunk into the mold a bit more than I think they should've. Oh well, I'll see how it looks later when I get the entire thing ready to use.

EDIT 2: Coming out pretty good I think. The smooth on stuff got here so I used some on the smooth sil 920 and make a fe molds. I think most of the stuff went onto the cardboard instead of staying on the helmets and heads though. And there were lots of bubbles so we'll see how well that turns out. Got the vaseline on my 2 part mold and poured the ohter half. About and hour into drying i accidently got my elbow into it but luckily not deep. If anything it just screwed the top half of the mold and ill remake it. Oh and the smooth sil 920 is frickin thick, kinda hard to work with. I dont like it being completely transparent on both parts A and B either because you can't really tell if they are mixed well or not. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?!? I'M JUST HAPPY I CAN FINALLY START MOLDING AND CASTING STUFF! MAJOR WOOT LOL

EDIT 3:Should have pics of the molds up tomorrow and maybe some pics of my first try at casting

EDIT 4: All the molds dried, The sillicone one looks to be okay but I don't know how well the joints will work on the ocmpleted custom. The smooth sil 920 molds were mostly too thin and/or had airbubbles that made a hole in the mold so that was sadly a waste. I can't afford to waste $100 worth of stuff so I'd better get my butt in gear lol. Just wasted some 45D too! Sheesh that stuff's potlife is fast. It flows good though so I guess the only bad thing was that I made too much.
Notes to self
1. Make less of the liquid plastic since it cures fast
2. Try out the idea to get the one peice molds thicker
3. If any of the 2 part mold peices dont come out right, try to remold them I guess.
4. Use less sillicone in the 2 part molds so its not wasted.

[Smartypants1635]

One part molds, I would guess, would act just like latex molds. Brush it on with a crap brush.
Let that layer dry, then do another layer let dry and repeat till you have 3 layers good and ready, then pop the piece on out.

[Glassman6]

Stick with it Kobra, my first 2 part mold was the worst!!!!!
I had bubbles, I didnt use enough releaser, it stuck to the figure, i ended up
having to scrape off all the dried mold material.

My second, a year later cause i was that discouraged, was crap too. But i learned from my mistakes.
So keep at it... you gotta start somewhere.

The clear mold may be an illusion.  The bubbles may be inside the silicone. SO dont toss it yet.

[CommanderKorbra]

Thanks smarty. Thank you Glassman for the encouragement. I just had a good night's sleep and I'm ready to tackle everything again. Glassman your Iron cow prod toturial really helps. Great job on that. As I did yesterday instead of posting 5 or 6 times I'll just edit this post if anyone wants to see what exactly i do as the day progresses. 

EDIT: Made some 60D and accually I made too much of it again. Not as much as last time though. Man last time I wasted a ton eck. Okay anyways I used the 60D to re-do the legs and torso of the female mando since the 45D torsos and legs had big air bubbles in them. Also put some 60D in a clone neckpost and a captain Antilles head and then right when I started to pour into the clone head mold the 60D started curing. I guess from now on I'm going to mkae one spoonfull of each part (A and B) and then mix em and see how far that goes. One thing I noticed if you are wearing viynl gloves while working with the 45D or 60D and it starts to cure, it'll feel warm... weird lol.

EDIT2: Planning on remolding a few things. I've got pics of everything I've done so far that I'll post later too.

EDIT3: The torso screwed up again from an air bubble. I'm thinking even though I let both parts sit for a second that when I mash them togteher I mess em up. Legs came out fine as well as the clone neckpost.

[Glassman6]

Dont try to do too many parts at the same time.
Learn the material first, then when you are used to the cure times, then attack
more pieces at once.

Just casue the mold has arms, legs and torso, doesnt mean you have to cast all at the same time.

Try letting it cure a bit longer before you flip the mold half.

I do 1 or 2 spoonfulls at a time. Again, once you get used to how much you need, it will become second nature to you.

And the heat... Chemisty 101, chemical reaction producing heat... And we are playing with this stuff!!
When you mix alot, it really gets hot.

[CommanderKorbra]

Thanks again Glass. I'm really excited you are posting tips and stuff for me cause you are THE MAN at casting stuff. I did what you said and only tried the gauntlets and a mandalorian helmet this time. And I only used about half a spoonful so I wasted little to none. Oh and when I flipped it this time, I'm not positive but I think I waited long enough. I just don't want to wait so long that it gels up and wont fuse together. We'll see in about 30 mins.

EDIT:
-Rangefinder happened to fill in from all the excess lol. Mandalorian helmet and the gauntlets were good but no matter what I do the fingers on the hands dont seem to want to cast. All my tries so far have been fine except for the fingers.
-Also I'm working on a new way to make the one peice molds. Accually its mostly glassman's idea but instead of just leaving the helm upside down on the spruce attached to cardboard, I made a lego square around the helm so when I pour the mold in it doesnt all spread out on the cardboard. So thats good. Only problem will be if the mold ends up being too thick instead of too thin like last time.
-Will make a mold of 2 different sets of legs and one jetpack tomorrow. Might remold some of the helmets and heads if the test version works.
-Overall I'm getting some good stuff so far. I did waste about a half a bathroom cup so far of the resin but I shouldnt be wastingas much anymore sicne I do small bits at a time now.

EDIT2: Made that other mold I was talking about. Well not the whole thing, only the first half. Around 10 PM tonight I'll prolly have all the molds I made today completed and will pour in some plastic to sit overnight.