mould question

[hammerhead]

does any one know what material they use for moulding the lexan shells on?
can it be done on plain plaster of paris sanded smooth

[Jamie.T]

Yes, you can use plaster of paris, which would be great on a one-off, but useless for any small batch production runs. How many you looking to make?

[hammerhead]

about 10 of 1 model and possibly more of others

[Jamie.T]

Plaster of paris would be useless for that. It will crumble up and fall apart after 1 or 2 shells. Try a goggle search for moulding materials, theres loads of different stuff you can use. Also check out some videos on youtube, again loads of examples.

Sorry i cant be of any more help in regards to precise materials, maybe someone else here has experience of this and can help better.

[hammerhead]

just found this looks well cool lol http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-good,-cheap,-upgradeable-sheet-plastic-vacu/

[hammerhead]

heres the stuff i recon will be good for a mould http://www.maplin.co.uk/polymorph-35511?ordercode=N15AT

[DCM]

I know Kamtec use some sort of liquid resin.

[G-46]

looks very intresting mate, what you planning on doing??

[hammerhead]

thinking on doing my own shells as well as painting them i can supply them hopefully
its gona have a big lay out at first with the pruchase of regular shells to get the mould from but then its all gravy baby ;)

[G-46]

sound good, but would you have to change them a little due to copy rights?

[JonMack]

Straight from the horses mouth (mr speedy aka Phat Bodies)

"They're made from high quality aluminium filled epoxy resin. It's quite an expensive material to use for moulds, but will produce a much better finish than say plaster, mdf or modelling board."

[hammerhead]

sound good, but would you have to change them a little due to copy rights?


they will be edited as much as i can ye as dont want to get stung with copy rights

[hammerhead]

Straight from the horses mouth (mr speedy aka Phat Bodies)

"They're made from high quality aluminium filled epoxy resin. It's quite an expensive material to use for moulds, but will produce a much better finish than say plaster, mdf or modelling board."



any idea where i might be able to purchace some?

[androo]

HI there.

You want to check out alec tiranti wed site, they do all sorts of mould making stuff. The problem you might have with resin is that it gets very hot when its curing so you might have to take care that the lexan body doesn't warp. Good luck

[hammerhead]

cheers androo his sites intresting and fair priced also which is a bonus ;)

[bodgit]

This old post may have some idea,s. http://www.oople.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3130&highlight=home+made+shells

[Nick]

Give these guys a call

http://www.ambercomposites.com/

i use a ready cast material for mould making at work but they do do a resin mix too! I would say its almost as good as alloy tooling and alot easyer to work with

[androo]

i forgot to mention that you will need to apply a mould release agent to the leaxn body your going to cast, you might find the resin sticks to the lexan then your well and truelly in the ****.
Another thought is that if your casting something bigger than a 10th buggy body you can try having a resin skin 10/20mm thick and having a foam core to save on weight and resin. Just an idea.
I might be able to help you out, PM me if your interested.