How can i make copies?

Bacardi King wrote:

Hihi, I am sure I will make copies but I still don't know lot of things...  
Rubber(1kg) for mold and resina(1kg) for copies are 84 euros together   
I don't know how many copies I can make from 1kg resina and how many mold from 1kg rubber   

It always depends on how big the model is. From 1kg silicone you are able to do one mould most of the time, sometimes you need a bit more but with small animals little bit less. From about 1Kg resin, i don't know but if the animals is in size of horse 1:20 then you can expect maybe 6-8 copies, but if it's size of foal then something like 20 copies, it depends. I recommend for resin for example Smooth Cast 310 (it's white in colour and has long time until it's hard, about 20 minutes gives you enough time to prepare everything).

Ana wrote:

Bacardi King wrote:

Hihi, I am sure I will make copies but I still don't know lot of things...  
Rubber(1kg) for mold and resina(1kg) for copies are 84 euros together   
I don't know how many copies I can make from 1kg resina and how many mold from 1kg rubber   

It always depends on how big the model is. From 1kg silicone you are able to do one mould most of the time, sometimes you need a bit more but with small animals little bit less. From about 1Kg resin, i don't know but if the animals is in size of horse 1:20 then you can expect maybe 6-8 copies, but if it's size of foal then something like 20 copies, it depends. I recommend for resin for example Smooth Cast 310 (it's white in colour and has long time until it's hard, about 20 minutes gives you enough time to prepare everything).

Thank You Ana! This will be similar size as Schleich cattles.

Could anyone who has experience in making copies tell me a bit more about making copies of animals with 4 legs?? I studied multiple tutorials, so i think i understand how it works with figures which have 2 legs. But 4 legs?? I wonder how to make the copie in regard to the 4 legs (making a mold in 2 parts means (i think) you won't be able to get the legs of the copie out of the mold??) AND what is the best position to make the "entrence" for the resin to pour in the mold. Is there anyone who could tell me more about these 2 things???

mreyder wrote:

Could anyone who has experience in making copies tell me a bit more about making copies of animals with 4 legs?? I studied multiple tutorials, so i think i understand how it works with figures which have 2 legs. But 4 legs?? I wonder how to make the copie in regard to the 4 legs (making a mold in 2 parts means (i think) you won't be able to get the legs of the copie out of the mold??) AND what is the best position to make the "entrence" for the resin to pour in the mold. Is there anyone who could tell me more about these 2 things???

I have found this a few days ago. Maybe it will help you :)
http://www.smooth-on.com/gallery.php?galleryid=315

Thanks Agata!!! Very good tutorial indeed!! Much different then i would have expected.... I only wonder how to do a mold with an animal with arched horns....

This is a quote from Kosta in the topic about my african lion model:

costicuba wrote:

Wow, that`s realy great Mgarat
Will be very very great, if you find a time in the future..and try to make one tutorial for making copies I realy hope , that you will do that for us :)

I promised him to do that. However, once I started to think how to do it in the better way and looking through the net to find the best English words -to better explain myself- I found this topic with this very good link brought by Ana, which reproduces almost identically the method I used  for my lion and my jaguar.

There are only some tips of mine that I would like to pass you to simplify the method and make it a little bit cheaper.

MY TIPS:

• I use wires to make the vents that I fix to the model making small holes with a dremel drill.




• I don’t use a wood box. Instead,  I make a base of plasticine what I call “bed”. Be sure de plasticine is sulfer free (not difficult to find on-line), otherwise it can badly react with the liquid silicon and destroy the final cast. From the base you can thicken the vents with additional plasticine.




• I use a semi-rigid plastic and adhesive tape to make ”a wall” surrounding the figurine. You  have to leave a margin  between the model and wall no less than 1 cm.





• Fix the wall to the bed simply pressing. Then I use  wrapping plastic stretch film to seal the union and the entire box, not  putting too much pressure but  being sure the box is isolated to prevent silicone leaks. To manage it in a better way I use to cut the film roll into small pieces.




• Once filled the box with silicone and cured I remove away the film and the plastic and I use a scalpel to carefully extract the model in the way explained in the tutorial.







• A GOOD TRICK!  You can use old silicon molds to reduce the quantity of the liquid silicon you have to use. To that purpose cut the old mold into pieces like small dices and drop them into those parts of the box already covered by the silicon and not close to the model. These pieces will sink in the silicon forming part of the new mold saving silicon …and money!!  (the silicon is relatively expensive)

• Once the original figure is out of the mold, to make a  new one,  wrap the mold with plastic stretch film with not too pressure but ensuring the mold is completely isolated. Then pour the resin into the model  through the widest air vent you left. To prevent air bubbles use always the same vent.








• CAUTION!  If the density or “surface tension” of the resin is too high (mostly polyester types), do not use conical “trough” to fill the mold but cylindrical, to ensure the resin is not acting like a blockage and the air is vented

Wow, Thanks Mgarat! I'm definitely going to use it someday.
Also, the idea of poring in the liquid resin in the lowest point to prevent bubbles with a very explanatory picture is also very helpful