Slush Casting
found this step by step site for a process called "slush casting": http://www.alumilite.com/HowTos/SlushCasting.cfm NOTE: this site has a TON of great tutorials, using the products they sell of course. But they are still straight-forward and nicely done.
picture from the site:
i anticipate making molds of all my little plastic animals out of all sorts of shiny plastics. just for fun, of course.
helpful things learned:
-silicone will only bond to silicone, so if you use a silicon mold you might not have to use a release.
-Slush casting involves putting a thin coat of resin on the surface of the mold, so there is an outer shell of resin that picks up the details but the shape is hollow (in the example, the rest is filled with foam to re-enforce the fragile shell. This saves money and weight.
-though the mold has to cure overnight, casting the peice only takes about 10 minutes, including resin and foam. Yay!
Epoxy Resin
this site may be for model makers rather than artists, but the advise is sound: http://www.torreypinesgulls.org/epoxy.htm
important points:
-mesure both parts on a scale so that you mix it just right.
-paper cups, popsicle sticks, and crappy brushes are all you need, besides the molds.
-you can strengthen the epoxy by adding in fibers (like fiberglass)
-if you type in a conversational tone, your readers will imagine you as a cute old man puttering about in a hobby shop.
-epoxy can also be used as a glue, and it's not always clear weather or not your talking about using it as a glue or a mold material, so after you type an entire list thingy and you realize that the person was talking about using it as a glue you feel like a total moron.
epoxy seems to be used as a surface treatment rather than a model-making material, so i'll move on. For now.
Final note: DO NOT EAT CASTING RESIN.
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