# My first castings



## mmheyho (Jan 3, 2008)

These are the first castings I did using the two part mold (one was actually a three part mold) gravity pour with a single sprue port.:woohoo: The dash repop was sprued (or gated)through the rear license plate. The other was sprued form the front with two jumper sprues to the bottom portion of the front quarter panel. I also added sprues to the inside of all the wheel wells. What do you guys think?:wave:

Mike


----------



## HadaSlot (Oct 22, 2007)

*What are you using for molds?*

It loooks like Jello. What are you using for molds? Nice casting.


----------



## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

*Nice first one...*

That looks great. Now you will even be more excited when you paint one of these up and run it. :woohoo: Way to go you did a nice job here.

Bob...that looks smooth and clean...zilla


----------



## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

Looks great from what i can see. But why do this body? Dash makes a great rendition, JL/AW has a good TJet variation and then you can always find an original in some state on ebay. Don't take this wrong, I was just wondering.

With the casting skills you've displayed on this take, I can only hope for more bods to come that you may offer for sale that I may be interested in other than those being cast already. 
:thumbsup::thumbsup: rr


----------



## mmheyho (Jan 3, 2008)

*Mold material*

It is a two part rtv I just pour it in. Bake in oven because I am impatient. then cut. I pulled my first cast 90 minutes after I mixed the mold material.


----------



## mmheyho (Jan 3, 2008)

roadrner said:


> Looks great from what i can see. But why do this body? Dash makes a great rendition, JL/AW has a good TJet variation and then you can always find an original in some state on ebay. Don't take this wrong, I was just wondering.
> 
> With the casting skills you've displayed on this take, I can only hope for more bods to come that you may offer for sale that I may be interested in other than those being cast already.
> :thumbsup::thumbsup: rr


No offense taken at all. I like the cobras. I owned them already. I wanted some practice before the mega gs arrive and I go crazy popping out diecast. I hope the wheel base on the JL 71 monte carlo lines up because if it does it is first on my hit list. I am a newbie to the hobby. If you have any suggestions please, I would love to hear them. If you want something molded I would love to do it for you. 
Mike


----------



## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

*Any Deer that come by that window?*

mmheyho,

That is a nice view you have while working. Lucky! 

Momma made Chicken and I haaaaaay-L-ped. Nice way to mold in 90 min and then bam. It takes me 6 hours for one side and 6 hours for the other side of my 2 piece molds. Luckily it only takes 20 min. to pour and demold a body...Wheeeeeeeeeeew 

Those clear molds are neat. Thanks for sharing your pictures with us!

Bob...close to nature...zilla


----------



## GoodwrenchIntim (Feb 22, 2005)

micro mark makes a nice clear molding rubber, haven't tried it yet but when I run out of the colored rubber I use I'm gonna try it


----------



## mmheyho (Jan 3, 2008)

bobhch said:


> mmheyho,
> 
> That is a nice view you have while working. Lucky!
> 
> ...


----------



## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

That's killer for a first effort. :thumbsup:

I got a long list of suggestions for casts whenever you are ready - hahaha


----------



## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Seeing these results have got me thinking!!! You may have a lindy van and wrecker in your future!!! LOL.. Just to let you know, I'm waiting for my supplies for your fire engine's lights to show up now, and a decent priced red fire truck is on order from a seller on the bay and will be listed soon. Wanna trade??? LOL :thumbsup:


----------



## fastlap (Nov 11, 2007)

*ok*

mmheyho,

Ok, let's start from the beginning. Those are fantastic. You seem to be bringing a different way of casting to us from your jewelry experiences. Can to share a step by step molding process? Also, I have some questions

1. What is the product you are using for RTV? 
2. What is the natural cure-time without baking it?
3. Will it cure the same if not baked?
4. What's the tear strength of that RTV?
5. When you cut the mold to the body, can you show where on the body you are cutting it to?
5. When you clamp the glass to the mold aluminum, how much leaks past, or do you use some sort of sealer?
6. Which do you prefer. Clamping the glass to the mold aluminum or taping?
7. Is the sole pour vent the only vent? 
8. Does the air escape good enough with the single vent?
9. What, or better asked...How do you hold the two mold halves together when pouring the body so the resin doen't seep past the part-lines?

Ok, I'm out of breath. Thanks for the photos so far, but inquiring minds would like to know. Or at the very least, learn a new mold process.

Thanks, Gar


----------



## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Zoiks! You just set the resin bar up several notches. Clearly your previous casting experiences have come into play here...and with good results.

Looks beautiful, crisp detail, clean edges...very nice!


----------



## slotnewbie69 (Dec 3, 2008)

i am with those guys.very nice work indeed.seems like ya got people very interested in your techniques at the same time,too.i think i see a tutorial in your near future!we all love the step by step posts!


----------



## bearsox (Apr 22, 2006)

*Hey Mike ,
these are looking very nice indeed. obviously you do fine work based on these pics . Can't wait to see the real deal up close and personal. I really like the clear RTV and what it brings to the table. I never thought about it but see some nice benefits. Keep it up pal i love it .

Dennis :wave:*


----------



## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

Man, thats REAL nice work you do there. Ill bet thats the dragon skin from smooth on that youre using for mold material? Ill bet that makes it real easy to combat the air pockets. Cant wait to see what you come up with next.


----------



## sethndaddy (Dec 4, 2004)

as stated by most others......GREAT WORK.......what kind of silicone/resin are you using?


----------



## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

Great job on the casting! I haven’t seen the dash in person, but the 289 looks just like the ones I have that I haven’t butchered yet! I like the clear rubber. Does the clear rubber make it any easier when you cast? Is it clear enough that you could see any air pockets that need to be worked out?


----------



## slingshot392 (Nov 27, 2008)

roadrner said:


> Looks great from what i can see. But why do this body? Dash makes a great rendition, JL/AW has a good TJet variation and then you can always find an original in some state on ebay. Don't take this wrong, I was just wondering.


The dash looks like the 427 (although I haven’t seen the body in person) other than sitting to high. The JL/AW is full of errors and most of the body needs to be reworked to have an accurate 260/289. I’m working on two of them right now, one of them will be one of the first 260 racers and the other a street 289. I have made a tremendous number of errors on the 260 which was my first attempt, it probably would have an easier just to scrap it but I just can’t throw it away if it can be possibly salvaged. My 289 is going much better although I am going pretty slow with it making sure I get this one right. I have a thread on my builds although I need to update the list I put up on the errors that need to be corrected.


----------



## 1scalevolvo (Feb 5, 2004)

Not bad for a 1st effort ! Me,personally I like to repop cars that are not made any more & any thing unusual or where the originals are too expensive for the average guy.


Neal:dude:


----------



## mmheyho (Jan 3, 2008)

*Sorry guys*

I have not had any time since I have done my first casts to log on. I see I have alot of questions to address. The mold material is from the jewelry industry. I have invited the rep I have been working with for years to join HT. He has helped me out on many occasions, so when he says it is ok I will release his info. Because I thought it in poor taste for him to start to solicit sales on the forums. I like this forum very much and I respect the information sharing atmosphere. The company he works for has used me to test market products in the past. I love their products. I use them for all of my mold making needs. I will log on soon to reply to all the questions.

Mike


----------



## mmheyho (Jan 3, 2008)

slotcarman12078 said:


> Seeing these results have got me thinking!!! You may have a lindy van and wrecker in your future!!! LOL.. Just to let you know, I'm waiting for my supplies for your fire engine's lights to show up now, and a decent priced red fire truck is on order from a seller on the bay and will be listed soon. Wanna trade??? LOL :thumbsup:


Yes I want to trade. I would love to pop out a few vans and tow trucks.
Please consult me before you send the pieces I may have a special request on how the tow truck arrives it may have to be molded in two or three molds
Mike


----------



## mmheyho (Jan 3, 2008)

fastlap said:


> mmheyho,
> 
> Ok, let's start from the beginning. Those are fantastic. You seem to be bringing a different way of casting to us from your jewelry experiences. Can to share a step by step molding process? Also, I have some questions
> 
> ...




I love all of the interest in how I made the molds. I enjoy mold making. It is probably one of the things I miss most about my former profession. I would like to sell molds to this hobby that everyone can cast with relative ease. Making molds is easy. CUTTING them is much harder I would not discourage anyone from trying it. But understand you are applying lots of pressure to a mold as you are gingerly cutting it apart. I will provide advise when I can. 

I would prefer to supply a needed service to the hobby at a reasonable cost. I have been in contact with a few HT members that have shown an interest in my work I am going to send them a couple of molds as I get them done. Hopefully they will give me some feed back to better supply people and we all can pop out cool cars trade and have even more fun.
Mike


----------



## mmheyho (Jan 3, 2008)

slingshot392 said:


> Great job on the casting! I haven’t seen the dash in person, but the 289 looks just like the ones I have that I haven’t butchered yet! I like the clear rubber. Does the clear rubber make it any easier when you cast? Is it clear enough that you could see any air pockets that need to be worked out?


Yes I think all of the advantage is in the clarity during casting, you can give a little squeeze here and there. Plus you can see how the resin behaves. Or if you need to add more resin after the mold burps out a little air.
Mike


----------



## mmheyho (Jan 3, 2008)

1scalevolvo said:


> Not bad for a 1st effort ! Me,personally I like to repop cars that are not made any more & any thing unusual or where the originals are too expensive for the average guy.
> 
> 
> Neal:dude:


Neal,
I would love the opportunity to pop out some rare stuff. But I own nothing rare or expensive. I am one of those average guys. I just have a lot of mold making experience. Let me get a little practice in then you can send me some of your rare stuff:wave:
Mike


----------



## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

Mike, do you have access to a pressure pot to de-air your castings? And are you vaccuming your mold material?

Reason I ask is Id personally love to re-pop all the differnt styles of AFX wheels (turbines, ansens, t/As, etc) , but if theres any air pocket issue at all, theyd be useless. At least if SOMEONE were to start doing them, itd be pretty sweet indeed.


----------



## mmheyho (Jan 3, 2008)

grungerockjeepe said:


> Mike, do you have access to a pressure pot to de-air your castings? And are you vaccuming your mold material?
> 
> Reason I ask is Id personally love to re-pop all the differnt styles of AFX wheels (turbines, ansens, t/As, etc) , but if theres any air pocket issue at all, theyd be useless. At least if SOMEONE were to start doing them, itd be pretty sweet indeed.


I have a vacuum for the mold material. I never have exterior bubble problems. I would love to try some small parts. I think I could do a good job molding them as they would be more like jewelry parts to me. I would love a try. We could try shooting a bunch in wax then molding like a tree of ten wheels for a multi-mold resin pour. It would get quite economical that way.

Mike


----------



## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

Mike, youre exactly right. One big slab mold could hold a full set each of several different styles of wheel. There are plenty of slow-set resins that you could dye black, pour, and then toss into the pressure chamber for a few hours then you demold a full set of however many wheels you wanted in the mold. 

Im telling you right now that if you can make some high quality, reasonably priced re-pops of all the different AFX wheel styles you wont have any trouble selling them. All the alternate styles are fairly tough to come by, and lets not forget that auto world has only done a (poorly executed) verson of the original 5-spoke that are hit and miss in terms of wobbling.

And lets not forget that outside of the first curvehuggers with their centerline style wheels, and when Mattel made some in the old school Redlines hotwheels style, Tyco has yet to make anything that looks good at all. If you sized your AFX repops for Tycos, then theyd be a 1/16 drill bit away from fitting AFX, Tomy, and Autoworld cars. Tyco-size also equals Lifelike size so long as we're talking about the M chassis, also.


----------



## slotnewbie69 (Dec 3, 2008)

you guys are on to something here alright!i would personally love to see some afx repops.all the wheels on my magnet cars suck.the afx wheels are the only ones that look good at all,but i keep stealing them to put on my tjets!lol!


----------



## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

Mike, another thing you might try for your small parts experiment is those little side pipes for tycos. There are like 2 or 3 styles out there, they were used on a real wide range of bodystyels and theyre missing at least 3/4 of the time.


----------



## mmheyho (Jan 3, 2008)

*More casting fun*



grungerockjeepe said:


> Mike, another thing you might try for your small parts experiment is those little side pipes for tycos. There are like 2 or 3 styles out there, they were used on a real wide range of bodystyels and theyre missing at least 3/4 of the time.


Sent you a PM on this subject.
Mike


----------

