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molding new 1:18 scale guns

Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 2:47 pm
by cuatroboca
Hi everyone does anyone know how to mold 1:18 scale guns and were to buy everything
and lastly the mold how do you make it thanks :D

Re: molding new 1:18 scale guns

Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 12:58 pm
by cuatroboca
Please people i need help

Re: molding new 1:18 scale guns

Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 2:22 pm
by B17Fortress
This is not my area of expertise, but it involves a lot of planning, prototypes, time, and money.


Hope this helps!

Re: molding new 1:18 scale guns

Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 2:51 pm
by Jesse James
The short answer...

You buy RTV Silicone, make a mold box, mix/pour the silicone around the item inside the mold box, let it set up. Then buy liquid resin, mix/pour it into the mold, pull item from mold... Voila, casted part.

Casting is unfortunately not something everyone can do well, it's not particularly cost-effective, and it can be messy/a pain in the rear, plus resin is toxic to boot. You can buy materials from a number of suppliers... I get some from a local distributor that deals in prototyping and I get some from online companies. I haven't done any in a long time. You can go from just making simple stuff to really complex stuff (IE: Pickelhaube & Grunt1)... I've done stuff just about as complex as they have, but it takes a while to get a good hand at doing casting on that level. It took a lot of simple head/part casting before I got into anything complex.

And it costs... Resin is not cheap.

And if you want to do it really professionally, you'll have to learn the advanced stuff. Lots of trial and error involved IMO.

Not to mention, if you're making your own stuff like Pickel and Grunt, you've got a lot of time/energy invested in the actual work-up of the original piece to cast... They're doing ground-up add-ons or full kits... that's really big undertaking. While I wish I could afford stuff like that 222, or some of the Sherman add-ons, I totally understand why they cost what they do. That's a lot of work for one guy to do, and it's always hyper detailed and super impressive when the final kit is released.

Re: molding new 1:18 scale guns

Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 3:28 pm
by cuatroboca
thanks guys and sorry i mispell alot of words

Re: molding new 1:18 scale guns

Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 4:10 pm
by pickelhaube
My skills if I have any are constantly evolving . How I am making my moulds now are so much more advanced than when I started.

And sometimes they still do not come out. I learned by trail and error. I should emphasize error.

Most resin and RTV comes with directions some work some don't. The best way is to get some ( they sell sample kits ) and play with it.

I can write volumes on how to work with resin but unless you have the resin in your hands and actually following me step by step you would have idea what I am talking about.

You can not learn to work with it in a day , but give it a full week or so and you will get the hang of it.

I have been working with RTV and resin for about 4 years now and I am still learning more complex pours .

4 years !!!