how to cast miniatures

8/10/2019 How to Cast Miniatures

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Casting Miniatures


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Why Cast Miniatures and the Purpose of this Booklet ..................................................... 4

Before you Start .................................................................................................................. 5

FAQs .......................................................................................................................................... 5

Glossary of terms ................................................................................................................ 7

Three Golden Rules to rememer ...................................................................................... !

Casting Material ....................................................................................................................... 9Resin ........................................................................................................................................................9Milliput/Testing Materials .................................................................................................................... 10

The "i#uid "ate$ Method ................................................................................................. %%

Background ............................................................................................................................. 11

Master Geometry .................................................................................................................... 11

Method .............................................................................................................................. ...... 13

Common pitalls ...................................................................................................................... 1!The Sili&one Method ......................................................................................................... %'

Background ............................................................................................................................. 1"

Additi#es and master orientation .......................................................................................... 1"

Method .............................................................................................................................. ...... 1$

Common %italls ...................................................................................................... .......... ..... &'

()* kits .................................................................................................................... .......... .... &1

Background ............................................................................................................................. &&

Method .............................................................................................................................. ...... &&

Common %italls ...................................................................................................... .......... ..... &3

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Why Cast Miniatures and the Purpose of this Booklet

Those of you in the wargames hobby are probably struck by the cost of kits produced bysome suppliers. hile such suppliers claim to re!ere e"perimentation and con!ersion#

the cost of buying kits for the sole purpose of pulling to parts becomes prohibiti!e.

This booklet is about gi!ing an alternate recourse to those of you who$!e been told to

%put up and shut up$ when shoddy business practices end up harming the hobby.

This booklet contains all the knowledge and e"perience to start replicating parts and in

some cases# entire figures using easily ac&uired materials at minimal cost.

hat you do with these skills is up to you# whether you want to try out a number ofcon!ersions# e"pand your parts collection or reproduce out of production armies.

'ood luck and (a!e fun.

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Before you Start

FAQs

Q*How cheaply can I produce miniatures this way?

A* +ery ,heaply. -n these difficult times cost is at the front of e!eryone$s mind# so -$!e

included an estimated %cost per mould$ in each of these sections based on my own

e"periences. ,ost per miniature !aries on the casting material you$re using# but -$!e

found - can produce miniatures for a few cents/pennies per figure.

Q* Will I get perfect results all the time, forever?

A* hort answer# no. ,asting and moulding# like all things# is a skill. -t$s not particularly

difficult# and if you follow this booklet it should sa!e you months of trial and error# butuntil you get a feel for things like where to put !ents and necking points you$re gonnaha!e some hiccups. - follow the %third time lucky$ rule. -f you learn from your first two

mistakes# you can produce something pretty presentable on your third try.

The financially responsible should note that factoring in the %learning cost$ of eachtechni&ue still lea!es it cheaper than buying first hand.

Q* Can I cast entire sprues?

A* -$m not sure why this gets asked so often# but here$s an answer. ou probably can#

but you shouldn$t. lastic sprues are massproduced from relati!ely cheap plastic

inected into steel moulds 3tools4 at high temperature and pressure. The sprues ser!e asinection points into the moulds# and also to e"pand the surface area per part on the tool

surface so it cools &uicker and increases production turnaround.

ince we don$t ha!e access to large industrial facilities# we$ll be casting at 3roughly4room temperature and pressure. 5ear in mind that while casting can be cheaper than first

hand purchase# you still don$t want to be wasting casting material on unneeded sprues.

Q* Can cast an army of copyrighted miniatures and then sell them on for profit?

A* ell - can$t physically stop you# but no. 6on$t. 7ot only is this illegal in e!ery

country where there is a system of law# you lea!e a black mark on e!eryone who has

taken up home casting for personal use. -f you do something like this# you distract thecorporate talking heads from the real issue and redefine e!eryone upset with

unreasonable pricing as a thief. -f a friend is looking to pick up some cheap miniatures#gi!e him/her this pdf# or cast for him/her for free 3or at cost4 and gi!e him/her the

moulds.

Q* Can I use my cast army of Cosmic Warriors in my local game store?

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A* ell as long as you$!e painted them and nobody can tell they$re casts. our game

store makes a li!ing selling miniatures 3-$d urge you to support your local business by

buying from them whene!er possible/reasonable4 so turning up with a case full ofunpainted cast miniatures and e"pecting to use their tables is like asking your fa!ourite

band to sign a pirate copy of their latest album. 5ut if you$!e painted and based all your

casts 3and you don$t ha!e any resin casts of metal models that gi!e you away4 nobodyshould notice. -f you$re caught out# then apologise and say you bought them second hand

on bay and repainted them.

Q*I hate you and this guide, where do you live so I can smash your windows and sueyou?

A* 12) :ake t

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Glossary of terms

Airlocking here air gets trapped in a mould# pre!enting the resin filling completely

Casting the method of making a replica of a three dimensional obect by filling a mouldwith a casting media

Glove mould a onepart mould with one entrancee"it point for the casting mediacasts.o named because it fits the master %like a glo!e$

Greenstuff


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Three Golden Rules to remember

&' (our Masters are #acred

< mould is only as good as the master you make it from make sure that you fileaway any unsightly mould lines and don$t do anything that could potentially damageyour master. -f you ha!e to modify your master in order for it to be used in particular

mould geometry# make sure you ha!e a backup master or think !ery carefully before

making any cuts. -t$s for this reason that - use superglue on plastic masters. lasticglue melts and welds plastic# whereas superglue can be snapped and filed off later.

24 )m*race the +rdtime lucky

7obody is perfect the first time they try something new.

The important thing is that you learn from your mistakes find out why your mould isn$t

filling# or why your late" is tearing# and then ne"t time@ try to sidestep or fi" the problem.ometimes it$ll take more than three attempts# sometimes it$ll take less. 5ut it can be

done. h# and all miscasts# no matter how

se!ere# can be fi"ed with the correct application of Milliput and filing.

+' )periment is -ing

7othing in this guide is immutable# aside from these three rules.-f you find that doing something slightly different yields better results# then go for it.

-f you$re unsure how to proceed# try a testmould or two.


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Castin Material

Resin

,asting has been around for a long# long time. ,orrespondingly# there are a lot ofdifferent methods and media. (owe!er# all but one of the techni&ues here uses two part

resin to form the casts. Resin is easily a!ailable and cheap if you know where to find it.Bnlike metal# it doesn$t re&uire moulds that can sustain high temperatures and is

generally safe. There is some concern about resin dust# but using a dust mask when filing

or otherwise and you should be fine.

The other thing about resin is that you ha!e a degree of fle"ibility when it comes to

properties like curing time and !iscosity. (ere$s a brief rundown of what you need toknow.

%iscosity how %runny$ the resin is. >b!iously you want this to be as low as possible sothat your resin pours well. -$!e found a !iscosity of about ;0mas works pretty well 3thisis about as !iscous as milkshake4. Cess is better 3water has a !iscosity of about 1mas4.

Cure time This one is ob!ious. -t$s also up to personal preference how long you wantthis personally - use a fast cast resin because - like a fast turnaround 31 hr4# though a

longer cure time 3? hrs4 gi!es you more time to remo!e bubbles from late" moulds# and

generally ha!e a lower !iscosity and pot life.

!ot life This is how long you ha!e to mi" the resin. -t is important that the twocomponents of resin are well mi"ed so that your resin cures. - mi" my resin by pouring

out my two components of resin# and then pouring one into the other# and pouring themback and fourth between the cups and swilling them before stirring the mi" with a

toothpick.


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increase in bubbles in my casts. There may be some merit in buying smaller &uantities of

resin at first.

#uppliershttp*//www.smoothon.com/Brethanelastica/c;F1120F1209/inde".html

moothon has made a name for themsel!es in the B for resins and casting@ thoughinternational deli!ery can be prohibiti!e.

http*//www.creati!ewholesale.com/asyG20,ast.html-$!e heard interesting thing about easycast resin# but -$m not entirely con!inced. >ne

thing to note is that it is an e"tremely slow casting resin 3A2 hours full cure time4 but this

does gi!e leeway to dislodge bubbles in the resin.

http*//www.tomps.com/shop/polyurethanefastcastresinp129.html

T>M is an e"cellent supplier for B= residents# and produce good fastcast resin

cheaply. The slower !ariety might be more appropriate if you don$t mind waiting an

e"tra )0 mins H hour for a full cure.

This list is by no means e"hausti!e# and there are many more suppliers of similarproducts out here for those in


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The "i#uid "ate$ Method

"e/uired materialsCi&uid Cate" 3found in most art/hobby stores4

>ld aintbrushuperglue/Milliput

Cost per mould 0 &1c2&1p

%ros Cons

,heap Moulds are comparati!ely fragile

asy reparation of Master is re&uired

'ood replication of detail rone to air locking

:le"ible mould material Bnsuitable for large casts due to warping

Ba%kroundCate" grows on trees so it$s pretty ine"pensi!e. The li&uid late" you get in the store is a

solution of rubber in water and ammonia. 7eedless to say# late" does ha!e a distincti!esmell because of this. Cate" is painted on in thin layers and then air dries# each layer

typically taking about 2 hours or less to cure. The greatest strength of late" is also its

greatest weakness# being fle"ible and fluid it captures detail with ease@ howe!er this samefluidity and fle"ibility means that a late" mould for anything larger than a 2Emm infantry

model will sag and distort without a mother mould# and late" moulds can only be made as

glo!e moulds.

Master Geometry


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Figure 1- )his generic space arrior can /e cast in late0 in to ays 2A in parts or 2B here thegaps ha#e /een illed ith Milliput4plasticard 2grey

ith glo!e moulds# the master or cast must e"it through the entry port for the resin# and

while late" stretches# you can only abuse it so much before it tears. This can be a

problem when making moulds of masters with interesting geometry with se!eral narrowwaists which can fle" and tear# or in e"treme cases# damage the master. -$!e found that

this problem can be sol!ed with Milliput or plasticard support struts 3ig &4

Figure &- ecking this generic 6F7 is prone to necking due to its ide midsection8 using supportingstruts during moulding pre#ents necking

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Method

14 repare your master# making sure to

account for any holes or potentialnecking points

24 il dissol!es late".This is another good reason to make sure that you mi" your resin correctly@

improperly mi"ed resin can secrete oily stuff while it cures and rots your moulds.

?4 This step is optional# but - tend to do it anyway# lea!e your mould an hour before

using it to cast# ust to make sure it is fully cured.

A4 hen casting# pinch your late" mould and slowly pour in your resin as you%unpinch$ your mould. This helps to pre!ent %airlocks$ 3bubbles4 forming inside

your cast. ome gentle s&ueeIing and tapping to get rid of the remainder ofbubbles works well here. ou may then lea!e your casts to cure. - use an egg bo"

to keep mine upright.

E4 hen not in use# store your late" moulds in an old airtight ar or similar topre!ent damage.

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Common pitfallsQ*My mould tore when removing my masterA* ,heck your master for potential necking points and throughholes. ,ompensate for

these and use more layers of late" ne"t time

Q*My mould 3ust won4t fill properly5A* Cook at the structure of your mould and master and imagine a li&uid flowing in.There are potentially places where air might get trapped 3airlock4. hen pouring your

mould# try filling your mould# then pinching it to s&ueeIe all the air and resin out. -f you

see any bubbles# pop them. hen you release the mould it should %suck$ all the resin

back into the places where air was trapped. >b!iously this works when you ha!e a rim

around your mould to pre!ent resin spilling e!erywhere 3ig :4


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Figure 3- Air /u//les can get trapped in glo#e moulds it is possi/le to s;uee


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lets you see if your silicone is correctly mi"ed. -t$s worthwhile noting that one of the by

products of the silicone curing reaction is acetic acid. This gi!es off a pungent smell not

unlike !inegar# and is a helpful sign that your additi!es are taking effect 3fig !4.

Figure !- (a silicone cures /y a/sor/ing ater rom the atmosphere8 this orms a aterproo cured

layer o silicone on the surace o any attempted moulds pre#enting urther curing. )his can /e

pre#ented /y introducing ater/ased additi#es into the silicone

hile two part moulds are much more forgi!ing than glo!e moulds in terms of geometry#it still pays to think a little before choosing a mould line for your master. 'enerally

speaking the mould line should bisect the master such that it has the greatest cross

sectional area through the master 3fig 54. Cooking at the mould lines in commercialminiatures should help you !isualise this. 7ote that the mould separation plane isn$t

always flat.

Figure 5- the mouldplane or the generic spacesoldier intersects the greatest cross sectional area

This being said# a suboptimal placement of the mould plane won$t render a silicone

mould useless# so don$t worry too much about it.

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Method

14 Make a mould bo" out of your unbranded plastic construction blocks# about fourcentimetres or ust less than two inches should be plenty for most of the thing

you$ll be moulding. The bo" should be deep enough to hold your master plus the

thickness of silicone mould on all sides 3about ;mm or about 1/; of an inch

should do424 :ill the mould bo" half way with modelling clay and bed the master in the clay up

to the mould line. =ey the clay 3create indents with the end of a paintbrush or bedin a marble or something4 so that your mould hal!es won$t slip when held

together.

)4 repare your materials before you start mi"ing the silicone. 'et a few plasticcups# fill one with soapy water# get disposable plastic spoon or other mi"ing

implement# ha!e your acrylic paint and glycerol ready to pour# and load your

silicone caulk into a caulking gun 3if you ha!e one# if not# use a hammer or

something else to push the base and s&ueeIe out the silicone4. The ne"t step canbe messy and re&uires you work fairly &uickly# so it$s worthwhile thinking about

doing this outside.84 Take the cap off the silicone# and s&ueeIe about 28 pulls of the caulking gun into

an empty plastic cup. 6ribble a drop or two of glycerol and acrylic paint into the

silicone cup and mi" &uickly. 7 7) A M7(+ G=>C+(7= 7(%A?). This will weaken your mould. The silicone will start to stink of !inegar.hen the silicone looks well mi"ed 3e!en colour4 dip your hands into the soapy

water 3douse them in it if you must4# scoop up as much of the silicone mi" as you

can and press it firmly into your mould bo". -f the silicone starts to stick to your

hands douse them in more soapy water. -f you ha!e made too much silicone mi"#then try pressing it into your mould bo" anyway# the more firmly you force the

silicone into the mouldbo"# the better. ,aptures more detail that way. -deally

the mould bo" should be slightly o!erflowing with silicone mi". 3This willproduce a frilly fringe around the edge of the mould due to the nubs on the plastic

construction blocks4.

;4 Cea!e your mould half somewhere warm that you don$t mind smelling of !inegarfor about four hours to cure.

?4 op the clay and mould half out of the mould bo"# and '7TC peel off the

modelling clay# taking care not to accidentally remo!e your masters.A4 Thin down some +aseline with white spirits# and paint the mi" onto the inside

facing half of the silicone. This is your release agent. 6on$t worry about putting

release agent on your masters# they should be fine# all you$ll do is obscure detail

in the final mould. The important thing is to make sure the two hal!es of the

silicone mould don$t stick to each other.E4 Repeat step s ); and all the frantic mess it implies for the second half of the

mould.94 6emould your masters. 6o this by gently separating the two silicone mould

hal!es. The silicone may be initially difficult to separate# but once you get

started# the rest of the mould should separate easily.

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104 ,ut !ents in your mould hal!es with a pair of scissors or craft knife. 6ue to the

nature of gra!ity# it$s normally a good idea to ha!e the !ents mostly !ertical so

that the resin flows into the mould easily.114 There is a significant chance your moulds will leak. To pre!ent resin pissing all

o!er your floor and irreparably damaging e!erything it touches - suggest placing

your moulds in a plastic bag# and using parcel tape to hold the plastic bag T-'(Tto the bottom and sides of your mould. -f done correctly you should ha!e a

watertight %second skin$ to your mould that pre!ents leakage and also holds it

together.124 our your moulds# and lea!e to cure. hen cured# cut the moulds out their leak

proof skins and demould your casts in the same manner as you did your masters.

1)4 Bse clippers and a file to remo!e flash.

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Common Pitfalls

Q*My moulds didn4t capture surface detail5A* you probably didn$t use enough sealant mi". The key is to press it :-RMC into the

mould bo"

Q* - don$t ha!e any unbranded plastic construction blocks# what do - make my mould

bo"es out ofK

A* omething nonporous. -$!e heard cardboard LcanL work well# but only if it$s glossy

and not raw. -$!e got doubts about if it could handle the rough treatment of making the

mould hal!es. +arnished wood 3M6:4# tiles and plastic would probably all work# but areprobably e"pensi!e and fragile if you$re making moulds of different dimensions.

Q*My moulds aren4t filling correctly5 I4m getting lots of leakageA* These two problems can be caused by the same thing# which is not ha!ing your

waterproofing tight enough about the mould. hen - say %second skin$ - really do meana tightfitting layer. -f moulds still aren$t filling correctly or no leakage is present# then

there is a good chance that you need to add more !ents to allow resin to flow into areaswhere it might not normally reach.

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RT' kits

The sa!!ier of you will recognise that a lot of this section looks like a guide to producingcasts of !arious items with RT+ silicone.


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T e Re()sable Mouldin Material Met od

"e/uired materialsReusable Moulding material 3>yumaru4

po"y utty 3Milliput/greenstuff/procreate4

Cost per mould ; theoretically 71281

%ros Cons

"tremely cheap 3reusable4 Bnsuitable for resin casting

Robust solid moulds "pensi!e cost per cast

6id - mention its reusableK Cong cure time for casts

=nce you$re tired of your mould# simply dunk it in hot water again to soften it up

and reuse.

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Common Pitfalls

- seriously don$t know how you can fuck this up. Really. -f you$!e managed to eat it or

something maybe go to a doctor and tell him what a moron you are so he can euthaniIeyou.

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After*ord

-f you ha!e read this booklet co!er to co!er# you$ll know e!erything - do about casting

miniatures on a tight budget. - hope you find this useful in breathing life back into

tabletop games and the modelling that it entails.The best thing you can do if you appreciate this guide is to share it. pread it like herpes#

send it to your friends# gi!e printouts to your friends who don$t ha!e computers# put it onmegaupload# post it on forums.

how to cast miniatures

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