1988 - 1991 Ford LTD Crown Victoria Scratchbuild

[NYLIBUD]

Me want want one

[DEL]

1 minute ago, NYLIBUD said:

Me want want one

Me too, Bud, Me too..

 

[Greg Wann]

Here are a couple of photos of the buck that Mike will pull the clear plastic over to make the vacuum form glass sets to add to the kit.  The first one Mike made, the other two I made out of the resin I use.  These might still need additional work and remade again depending on Mike's inspection.  I added the lettering to the master.  I needed some really tiny letters one day for a project.  So......I looked at the undersides of the clocks and radios in my house and hit a gold mine.  I simply poured a small amount of silicone over the lettering and waited for it to cure.  Then I mixed and poured the resin over the mold then I squeegeed off the excess and placed it in my pressure pot.  I then take a toilet plunger cup I bought at the dollar store and placed it over the top of the mold so that when I turn the air pressure on it does not blow the resin all over the inside of the pot.  I'm actually pretty smart like that.  Well.... once you have made a mess a couple of times you do something different and actually get a different outcome.  I have been doing this for awhile, I have discovered much!  Now, if only I could remember how much the toilet plunger was at the dollar store.  DANG IT!

Edited April 1, 2018 by Greg Wann

[Greg Wann]

Here is the start of the mold for the door mirrors.  Dwayne did an amazing job scratch building these.  I decided to clay these up like this so that no mold line crosses the mirror face.  Some times on tiny parts it is just best to follow the original mold line and part of the part gets formed in what will become the top of the mold.

[NYLIBUD]

Man,that's a lot of work to mold a model car.Jeeez

[martinfan5]

[Greg Wann]

8 hours ago, NYLIBUD said:

Man,that's a lot of work to mold a model car.Jeeez

Yes, it is a lot of work.  It is not really hard work.   Just careful boring detail work.

[peteski]

I appreciate you posting photos of how you are making the molds, etc. It is like getting free education from an experienced caster. Thanks!

[Greg Wann]

http://smcbofphx.proboards.com/board/45/resin-casting

You are welcome peteski.  Here is a link to a forum I have been posting projects and photos to for many years now.  Page 6 are my first entries so start there.  I am pretty much the only person posting there anymore, but the forum gets a lot of visitors in a 24 hour period.  Posting photos on this forum is much easier than the two others I post to.  I can just upload a photo straight out of my pictures file and not go through a hosting site.

http://resinmodelcasting.proboards.com/

Here is a forum that Rocky Smith and I started and have been posting to for awhile now.

Apparently no other resin caster on this forum shows any kind of work in photos as to how a project gets done.  I think they think it is super secret stuff.  Companies that sell resin and silicone have tons of videos online.  There was a guy in the Cactus Car Model club that did resin casting. I took an interest in resin casting and after my third question he quit helping me.  I guess if he told me he would have to kill me!  I have thought about doing videos, it might be kind of fun.  In order to make good resin parts having the right equipment is important.

Edited April 2, 2018 by Greg Wann

[Greg Wann]

Here is the mirror mold finished.  I cut in vents with a piece of brass tubing then I take a exacto knife and create these wells.  I  like the excess resin to pool here while it is in the pressure pot under 65 PSI.  I will make a few sets and then create yet another mold that will make several sets at one time.  I should have added the hood ornament in this mold.

Edited April 2, 2018 by Greg Wann

[Greg Wann]

I like to have the excess resin pool in these wells.  The flash is nice and thin, this is good.  The best way to release small parts from the thin flash is to carefully break the flash away from the part with a sharpened Starbucks coffee stirrer

[peteski]

Thanks for even more "casting secrets" Greg. And the mirrors came out really nice!  You mentioned flash, but how did you brake the mirrors off the pour stubs?  With the same stick?

Edited April 3, 2018 by peteski

[Greg Wann]

Hi, I'm not certain what you mean about the pour stub.  There is the stub where it will be glued into a hole on the door of the body.  When I make the part I pour ra small amount of resin in and then pour a small amount on the part of the mold that makes the mold lid.

[peteski]

On 4/2/2018 at 12:30 PM, Greg Wann said:

I like to have the excess resin pool in these wells.  The flash is nice and thin, this is good.  The best way to release small parts from the thin flash is to carefully break the flash away from the part with a sharpened Starbucks coffee stirrer

 

 

Greg, by "pour stub" I meant the pools of resin shown here in the center  the mold.These are solid funnel-shaped cavities (the top part is large, then there is a small opening going down towards the part's cavity).  I was wondering how this funnel-shaped piece of hardened resin is detached from the molded mirror.

[ChrisBcritter]

Thanks Greg, this was helpful - I've been stuck lately on my 1/24 T-bird wire wheel project because the knockoff hubs have been giving me trouble; this gives me another way to try it.

[Greg Wann]

1 hour ago, peteski said:

Greg, by "pour stub" I meant the pools of resin shown here in the center  the mold.These are solid funnel-shaped cavities (the top part is large, then there is a small opening going down towards the part's cavity).  I was wondering how this funnel-shaped piece of hardened resin is detached from the molded mirror.

OK, I see what you are asking.  To me, those are vent holes where excess resin and air gets pushed out when the two mold parts are put together.  If you go to page 6 on the top link above you will see my secret weapon.  This is a sort of waffle shaped thing I found at work.  It was perfect for my experimenting back then.  It is actually for vibration isolation on motors and pumps to mount on.  So....I place this waffle on top of the mold and then I place molds on top of it.  For me, air pressure and weight on the mold is what makes a good part.  There are still little tricks to know.  When I first decided to try resin casting I was doing what most everyone else was doing.  I joined the Cactus Car model club.  I saw some resin pieces I would have thrown in the trash instead of expecting someone to shell out a lot of money for a difficult task of using them.  So, I learned to make really nice parts pretty quickly and I became the mastercaster.

[Greg Wann]

1 hour ago, ChrisBcritter said:

Thanks Greg, this was helpful - I've been stuck lately on my 1/24 T-bird wire wheel project because the knockoff hubs have been giving me trouble; this gives me another way to try it.

Hi Christopher,   wheels can be a real pain to make.  Wire wheels have a lot of delicate detail.  Resin can reach upwards of 160 degrees when it cures.  Fine detail in molds can get baked from the heat.  I use Mann 200 mold release.  It is a thermal barrier and a mold release.  Still fine detail can just get trapped in the part you are making and the silicone will tear out of the mold damaging it.  Perhaps you could post a photo in a new topic here and I might be able to help.  You might go to the other forum and find some help there.  Making resin parts can be fun when there is success, but when parts are crappy you are wasting time and material.  Interior tubs and chassis are my biggest enemy

[peteski]

2 hours ago, Greg Wann said:

OK, I see what you are asking.  To me, those are vent holes where excess resin and air gets pushed out when the two mold parts are put together.  If you go to page 6 on the top link above you will see my secret weapon.  This is a sort of waffle shaped thing I found at work.  It was perfect for my experimenting back then.  It is actually for vibration isolation on motors and pumps to mount on.  So....I place this waffle on top of the mold and then I place molds on top of it.  For me, air pressure and weight on the mold is what makes a good part.  There are still little tricks to know.  When I first decided to try resin casting I was doing what most everyone else was doing.  I joined the Cactus Car model club.  I saw some resin pieces I would have thrown in the trash instead of expecting someone to shell out a lot of money for a difficult task of using them.  So, I learned to make really nice parts pretty quickly and I became the mastercaster.

Ah, so you put some resin in the female mold, then you put the male mold in and squish the resin out. Some resin comes up the vent holes. Then you put it under pressure and let it cure. But aren't those vent holes still filled with resin? If so, then you just break the cast parts off those stubs of resin in the vent holes?

[Greg Wann]

The photo is a bit grainy.  These two bright light colored dots are the vents filled with resin.  They are close enough to the part to be effective and not be directly connected to the part.  I think this is much nicer than the typical sprue attachment points in model kits.  I think it is a advantage.  Some parts on sprues are as small as the sprue itself.

[Eshaver]

I used to make Fiberglass molds for Custom vans in the 1970's . Mold making is a thankless , tedious chore ......

[DEL]

Greg you're doing fantastic detail in the molding that greatly compliments what little bit I have been able to do on the masters themselves. All kidding aside the molding side of it is just as much an art as creating the masters. Kudos and THANKS!!  I was wondering how on earth you would be able to cast those tiny door mirrors but what the hey- I built 'em anyway. It's one of those details most kits leave out but I find essential. Anyway, I wrote most of this yesterday and forgot to hit send so I got the extreme pleasure of seeing the molded mirrors come out.  Casting is truly an art in itself!  Excellent work Greg. Now I can't wait to see a BODY and know that there are at least TWO of them in the world!! 

And muchos gracias thanks to The SchnurMeisterMaster for the glass bucks and molds not to mention the EXCELLENT hood detail work!

Martinfan5:  You gotta put up with SOME racket before removal of your funds!!  But that's a good one. Makes me LOL every time!!  I'm waiting right along with you brother...

[Maindrian Pace]

De nada, señor Larriviere. Just trying to maintain the same level of quality that is present in the other parts. You'll see another body soon. And another. And another.

[DEL]

12 hours ago, Maindrian Pace said:

 You'll see another body soon. And another. And another.

 

As an LEO I could find that disturbing... NAAAHHH..  Not in THIS case!! 

[Greg Wann]

Here is another set of mirrors with a bit more weight added to the top in the pressure pot.  The flash is nearly non existent.    Dang!  I forgot to change the date on my camera.  I did not want anybody to know I am a time traveler.  

 

Edited April 9, 2018 by Greg Wann

[Greg Wann]

Joseph is making and sending four tires.  I sent him a set of the wheels I made and he sized them accordingly.  He does really nice work.  I will attempt to make tires on my own.  Hopefully it will be a success.