# Resin Casting?



## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

Is there anybody familiar here with resin casting? 

Those of you who are familiar with me on here know that I build a lot of engines. Some of my favorite engines are the Ford 4v Mod motors, the Boss 429, and the FE series of engines. The problem is that getting these engines is expensive. The only way to get the mod motors is to buy the whole kit which depending on the engine I'm trying to get could be as much as $20 plus shipping... for one engine. 

What I'd like to be able to do is make castings of some of these and make as many as I want. 

On the flip side, I'd like the ability to duplicate some of the custom engines I've done that you can't buy from the store i.e. the 03-04 Cobra engine. 

Any knowledge on where to get equipment for this, and costs and difficulty would be greatly appreciated! Thanks :dude:


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## scottnkat (May 11, 2006)

Mike, 

Recently, I myself learned how to do resin casting. I ended up doing a little tutorial that shows how I did what I did, including the mistakes I made and the things I learned from it. It also showed the resin system I used and where I bought it and how much it was, as well as all the other little things that I needed in order to do it. If you're interested, you can see the page here:

http://iananderson.websitetoolbox.com/post/How-I-learned-to-cast-parts-in-resin...-5986836


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## Winch57 (Nov 12, 2012)

Harris Ive recently started resin casting, i was unable to open Scotts link but the company I deal with is Alumilite They have all the products you will need and also have several how too videos on their site I'm still learning but its fun and interesting Ive just joined and it wont let me post a link but the site is
alumilite.com


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## 71 Charger 500 (Jan 27, 2011)

Micro Mark has resin casting materials and supplies. That is where I get my RTV Silicone for making molds as well as my two part resin. http://www.micromark.com/casting-and-molding-supplies.html


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## Mr. Wabac (Nov 9, 2002)

Smooth-On makes product available in small quantities, both RTV and Resin.

Their OOMOO RTV is mixed 1:1 by volume, so you don't need a scale to weigh it. OOMOO is available in two different formulations, one is faster than the other.

Resin is available in different cure times - the fastest starts to set in less than 3 minutes - you can remove the casting in 10-15 minutes.

Lego bricks are great for making mold boxes; they can be used over and over again. I use a chunk of plexiglas as the base, it is flat, sturdy and no much sticks to it. Double-sided tape to keep the parts from moving around when pouring RTV.

I have found some very strong carpet binding tape (single-sided) which is strong enough to hold many parts vertical in a mold.

Get some vinyl gloves and measuring cups as well.


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

There is a definite learning curve to casting, but it can be pretty fun and you can get some good results. Some things to condsider, though...

The good quality resin cast stuff you buy is usually cast in a vacuum chamber to get rid of air bubbles. You will have to work out how to deal with that on your own with more vent sprues, etc. in your molds.

You will also have to make multi part type molds for things like an engine, which is a bit more complicated than an open mold.

The resin and mold making stuff is pretty expensive and especially at first your success rate will be like 10%... It's not the most cost effective way to duplicate things in many cases. If you need something unique you can scratch build one master item and then cast multiples. When it comes to kit parts... that can be a different story. You may have $20 in time and materials in just one good casting plus 20 failed castings.


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## santee (Nov 15, 2012)

Mr. Wabac said:


> Smooth-On makes product available in small quantities, both RTV and Resin.
> 
> Their OOMOO RTV is mixed 1:1 by volume, so you don't need a scale to weigh it. OOMOO is available in two different formulations, one is faster than the other.


I'd avoid OOMOO, once cured it does not have a long shelf life. I've had to redo molds after they fell apart, wasted money. Mold Max is much better.


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## harristotle (Aug 7, 2008)

Thank you all for the insight with resin. Oh if money weren't an object lol... 

I still may try and tackle this, but it's going to have to wait till after the holiday's.


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## macart52 (Jun 5, 2010)

I've been resin casting for years and the best I found for making molds is Mold Builder. It is latex with ammonia mixed in with it. There a couple of down side to it tho. As I stated it does have ammonia so it will remove any chrome plating. The last down side is, it take around 12 coats to build a mold with the drying time in between coats. This example would be for a full body mold. On the good side, it is one tough mold and it will last for years if cared for. Ie keeping the mold in a cool dry place. And it postively don't need a mold release as the others do. http://shop.hobbylobby.com/products/mold-builder-liquid-latex-30452/ Do some shopping around. You can find it way less expensive then this. Hope this helps.

Doug


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## Z28HO (Nov 24, 2012)

I prefer the Smooth-On Mold Max 30 and Smooth Cast 321, have used Smooth On products for many years, when I was in commercail model work and in my own personal, molds last and finished parts are accurate to the original. The mold will even pick up the texture difference if you breath on a piece of glass so what ever is on the master will be on the cast part.


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