RyanSilva

I havent touched this in years, it will be revised in the fall, when the cool weather gets me thinking of snow

Looks great Ray, nice front Budds

The 4300(4270 and the like) was a bigger tractor, the cab is different and the hood larger and longer. It was the bigger truck for hauling which shared a cab to a paystar which was a heavy duty on/off base chassis the S and F series were based more on vocational - delivery trucks, single axle dump trucks,school buses etc. Having smaller hoods and cabs, granted there are always options for dual axle, wider cab i believe, set back axles etc Im sure there is more to it and I think I have most of it somewhat correct, Dave can correct me!

I agree John, would be nice to have that kit for only 30 bucks vs the 60$-??

I dont think Ive seen Daves tires/wheels on a Paystar before, what a good match! Awesome rig, I'll be watching

Using rtv silicone, you will really only need the mold release for 2 part molds, and Easy at home recipe is simply petroleum jelly, just graze the jelly surface to pick up most of the oils and spread away, you can mix it with mineral spirits to create a thinner substance but it works both ways.

Here is the original thread where it all started, I gave a small writeup with pictures of my mold and the slit. It's what I use for my resin and rubber tires.. http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=52233&hl=&fromsearch=1

Michaels use to carry plastikote till the valspar name swap happened, however the remaining lacquer went to clearance. I bought abut 10 cans for 2 dollars at the few michaels I have in the area. last year

Yea thats the big downside to platinum when molding rubber tires as masters, I get through it by painting the tire with primer or a clear. I made new seals for my harbor freight pot with urethane rubber, so much better! between that and ball valves before and after the regulater I get constant pressure.

I would avoid all starter kits, why? The resin you get has a really fast setup time, this can discourage many folks starting out. You will need to work quickly, and to be honest it is just a hassle. Most often you will also get a 1:1 silicone, which doesnt last very long making parts. I would start this way.. Smooth-on makes many silicones and resins with many set up times in "trial kit" packaging, the same size items found in the starter sets, its just you are picking what would be a better experience. Smooth-on smoothcast 305 for white parts, or 321 for tan parts these resins are the same just a different color, it has a 7 minute mixing time and a 30-1hour demold time, it is much easier to use than the faster stuff as it allows you knock out air bubbles or pick them away. Silicones, this is where I would use a 10:1 mix silicone, you will need to weigh it with a gram scale, but its really easy..it sounds more complicated than it really is. Smooth-on mold max 20 would be a great way to go, you get about 45 minutes of actual mixing time with it, allowing you to pour thin streams to get the least amount of bubbles in your mold. Now you can try the smooth-on mold start silicone which is 1:1 mix and very durable, but platinum based silicones dont play nice with some masters, so i would hold off on it till you get your feet wet. Some folks may suggest the Oomoo 1:1 silicone but that stuff is not durable at all, you can tear it with your hand, its only good for a handful of castings ..a bit more if you baby it.

What one? They make tin, platinum silicones and urethane rubbers. I tried most of them from smooth-on, and will continue using their product.

It is pricey...but the way I see it, I spend the money and buy the 16lb kit (im on my 3rd one) a typical tire weighs about .20 ounces, so I can get 5 tires to 1 ounce. Also if you dont want to order from them directly (they are in Pennsylvania) get it from "brickintheyard mold supply they are in texas. I used there dye..but I used smooth-ons and saw no difference, but thats only my experience. To be honest I dont have a ratio, lol...I just squeeze it into the 1 gallon jug, get a real good mix and test its clarity, if it still looks clear green i will add more dye till its not as translucent.

Greg, Try polytek PT Flex 50, I use it for all my tires. its a casting rubber rather than a molding rubber so the viscosity is about 600! which for a rubber that is thin. I can pour tires and demold them in 45 minutes.

Glad it worked for you Frank!Your tires look great! I did the same myself a few months ago.

Beautiful work Steve!

If you're using silicone for the molds, you don't need any release, however using it will allow you to get more castings from the mold itself..however you wont really see the benefits unless your doing production casting. A little bit goes a long way, I buy my ease release in the bottle rather than the spray, and I brush it on with a nylon bristle brush. spray or bottle, you should brush it out regardless it helps it get in the nooks and crannies, and spreads it out evenly. Let it dry..but it doesnt take long. when Iput it near a warm spot.

Hi Maxx, I will post here when I got the molds complete! just working on a few items I have to finish before I got these from Dave.

You don't need to degas silicone if you are putting it in a pressure pot. Did you pull the mold out of the pot before the cure time? Most times when you pull a mold out of a pressure pot early you can get some weird pulling off the master/part, mostly due to the pressure changes. Never used alumilite silicones though, Used almost all of smooth-on's line however.

Sent you a PM Steve, that looks great!

I got the body started, ended up going with a rack setup, need to add a bunch more to it but the basic structure is here. I drilled a few holes on the bed to 1/16 to insert 1/16 sprue to the bottom of the supports so everything lines up

They are 22.5's in 1/25.

Hi Shane, they are based on my many versions of the Satco Bridgestone tire, Ive made them into many widths, so making a resin hard copy allows me to chuck them in my lathe and machine the tire to 22 inches instead of the 15-16 that they normally are, which in result gives me a lower sidewall profile like those on 19.5 commercial tires.

I make them, they are in the fine tuning stage before I start to sell my copies

Hi Guys I'm building a show case rig for a few new wheel and tire combos I got in the works. Its starting out as a early 90's AMT issue of the 1500 sportside for the cab items (sportside bed being used on future project) Its 84" from cab to axle. The flat bed was from the Ford c-600 stake bed with diamond plate on top. im not gonna be correct as far as the chassis goes,since im using the light duty 1500 forward portion, I just backhalved it roughly for now. The wheels are my super single10 holes on front and the rears are from the transtar 4300 which I modified to be a bit better than they are from the kit. I can go duals, single or a really massive wide rear single, most likely duals, but the really wides are really cool looking for a tubbed back half. More photos here: http://public.fotki....tbed/?view=roll

I scored a ss 454, and a sportside this week, im gonna make a 454 ss sportside version.