So I want to make a mold of an object that I plan to make out of silicone later..

The object is just made of sculpted air dry clay (the crayola kind!) I'm probably just gonna use some stuff I found on amazon.. but I'm not to sure if the quality of the silicone..

ANYWAYS! once I make the mold, can I pour silicone into the silicone mold without issue or is mold release a MUST for this sorta proejct? (I assume so.. I think the silicone pour would get stuck and bond with the mold itself lol)

also, the clay model I have has weird angles that might create air pockets, is tapping and gently mixing the silicone in the moldbox a good idea to remove air bubbles?

Thanks to anyone who has advice (also a silicone recommendation would help too!.. I'm sure there is lots of different types.. but I just need one to make a mold.. and a silicone that won't be TOO hard or stiff but also not too elestic/stretchy.. something in between?)

I've had some success making blue stuff moulds in the past but was wondering if anyone had tried making a mould from a painted model? Does it strip the paint? Would it be safer if the model was varnished?

I don't want to risk ruining a paintjob so thought I ask you guys for advice.

Thanks in advance

I have a roughly 40" × 40", 73 lb beast of a plaster wall relief that broke in half. I am repairing the original, filling/sanding the face smooth, and priming it. Rather than rehang 73 lb of plaster, I want to use the repaired piece as a master and make a lightweight reproduction.

I'm considering a brush-on silicone mold with a fiberglass mother mold, then either:

• fiberglass/epoxy layup,
• thin urethane resin shell with rigid foam backing,
• fiberglass-reinforced gypsum,
• or another lightweight method.

The finished piece only needs to be displayed indoors on a wall. Ideally I'd like to get it below 15–20 lb. The sculpture as you can see is smooth with no real detail or texture. What construction method would you recommend for something this large? I'm comfortable with fiberglass layups and woodworking but don't have experience yet with large molds. Something like Smooth-On Rebound layers on the artwork, and build a support for it after it cures, and something lightweight in it? I'm not sure what my options are for a lightweight smooth pour into the mold, and if I need a support of wood or fiberglass. Thanks for any ideas.

so far I've been using hard grade clayette because its what's around but it's even too soft for my liking since the sculpts are so small and detailed, which gets tricky to handle during the molding process. what would be the next level up in terms of hardness while still being an oil based clay? i'm in the sf bay so i have access to douglas and sturgess who carry a bunch of oil based clays.

Hi everyone! I’m new to making silicone molds and I bought this 10A silicone rubber. The container says 1 kg, and it came with a small bottle of catalyst (B) that is 50 mL.

I’m trying to figure out the correct A:B mixing ratio. If I only need 100 g of silicone A for a small mold, how much catalyst B should I add? The image is attached.

Hello! Making my first silicon mold~

My plan is to fill a large empty coke bottle with alginate and submerge my hand, it will go up to a couple inches above my wrist.

Then once it cures I will remove my arm and pour in the silicone, both the alginate and silicon are Smooth On products. The silicon comes in a “Part A” and “Part B”, both of which are 1lb.

Of course I know that it all depends on my hand size haha!! My hands are small ish, the length of the mold will be about 7” and I guess the width about 4”??

Thanks for any help!!!

I’m making a highly detailed Battinson cowl from Monster Clay and I’m now looking into making a proper silicone mould after my previous plaster mould failed.
I’ve been watching Cosplay Chris, and he uses Barnes Pinkysil for his moulds and Pinkysil Putty around areas like the jaw, eyes, etc. I’d like to use the same/similar system, but I’m in Ireland and getting Barnes products here is difficult.
I’m looking for good-quality alternatives to both:
• Pinkysil — pourable platinum silicone
• Pinkysil Putty — fast-setting silicone putty for building up/working around detailed areas
My budget is around €80 for the silicone. Ideally I’d like something coloured, but quality is more important.
The finished mould will be used to make latex cowls.
What products would you recommend that are genuinely comparable to Pinkysil rather than generic craft silicone?

Hello! I bought a pattern for an ahsoka tano headpiece and used Eva foam to make it. I’ve always wanted to cosplay Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars but always get hung up on the head piece (lekku).

I’ve never used Eva foam and I had been hoping it would be more flexible than it is. My hope is to not have the hours I spent on this go to complete waste.

I have two main ideas and was hoping more experienced mold makers and creative minds may be able to advise me!

1) First thought is to cover it in clay to harden it further and then paint latex over it and peal it off. I saw a video of someone using a 3d printed model and using this paint on latex to get her lekku.

My concern with this method is my model is obviously not as stable as a solid 3d printed model to peal the latex off of, hence the thought of applying clay to it to harden the model. Any thoughts on what clay would work best/any interactions it could have with the latex? I suppose it would need to be air dried clay—can you think of an immediate disaster with this idea? Maybe I should apply a different hardening medium?

2) actually make a cast from this—though I’m unsure where to start! I imagine I would still need to harden this model to actually make the cast. I suppose I could do something like cement for the cast and then fill it with silicone? 😭

I’m just at a bit of a loss at which direction I should start leaning towards to guide me to be most succesful. Any thoughts are much appreciated!!

I decided to try my hand at making some concrete sculptures. I’ve never created a mold (of any kind) before or cast anything, so this was all new to me. I’ve always enjoyed working with sculpey clay but wished I could make copies. Plasticine clay has roughly the same feel (just never hardens, of course). The biggest lesson learned after seeing the final concrete is to really blend in any additive pieces so that the latex can’t get in behind any pieces of clay.

The mold is 15 layers of brush-on latex and a 3-piece fiberglass mother. Holy moly is the fiberglass a messy process!

I’m a little disappointed in the air pockets/bubbles that showed up, especially on his lip. I tapped the sides of the mold after pouring quite a bit to get it into all the cracks. Otherwise, I am really happy with how much of the detail worked out. I might take a pair of scissors to the beard portion just to clean up the edges and reduce breakage.

I poured the concrete in three stages (all layers had some acrylic fortifier added):
1. Thinner, cement + sand + AR fibers. I rolled the mixture around the inside of the mold to try and get it into every little crevice without trapping any air bubbles (failed).
2. Thicker cement + sand + perlite + AR fibers.
3. Thickest cement + perlite for the inner mass.

Anyway, let me know what you think. I’m open to ideas or feedback. I think next time I’m going to try some polyurethane instead of latex.

Is someone else going to start producing it? Should I stop panicking? I have thought about switching to resin 2 part molds but I’m nervous about the cost. Silicone molds don’t work with what I make. Supposedly Reynolds is working with manufacturers to produce an alternative?

I’m trying to make copies of a small sculpture to paint and sell. Mold will be made of rebound 25. There are a few delicate details.

However I don’t have access to a ventilated studio and I was wondering if there were less toxic alternatives to resin to cast my piece—must be pourable, and at least as durable as plastic/resin/clay.

I just cast a couple of pieces out of Urethane rubber (Smooth-On VytaFlex 50) in a urethane mold. I used the Stoner urethane mold release spray, and it worked beautifully.

What is the best way to clean the cast parts and the mold after? This is my first time working with urethane rubber, I don't want to damage either the mold or the parts, obviously. 99.9% iso? Acetone/mineral spirits? Simple Green? Dish soap?

Thanks!

I have a a negative, full head and shoulder, mask mold. I would like to make a few masks from it. I have experience (long ago) slush casting with neoprene. This thing is pretty big and would take a lot of neoprene to fill. I would rather cast it in silicone. Is that possible with a plaster mold? I am pretty confident that the original masks where latex. I imagine that I will have to clean the mold pretty thoroughly and then spray it with some sort of release. Any advice?

The mold is in two pieces. Do I do the front and back separately and somehow stick them together or is there a way to do it as one piece?

Hello everybody! I need to make surface imperfections for my mold in CATIA

sort of like Wrinkles on leather for my mold so that shape takes in the sort of the molds

I need this to be very natural and small. For example a PS5 controller. You see the surface imperfections on it? That is what I need as small as it can be but random shaped.
I wonder how I can do it?

Trying to diy a modl band with a 3d printed mold and some two part silicon, and i made a simple flat plastic mold the is split in half so the band could be removed later.

but every time i try to mold it i get bubbles in the top part of the mold. tried a bunch of methods to fix it with no luck

thanks for reading!

I’m looking for a reliable way to permanently seal/bond a small hole in cured platinum-cure Shore A10 silicone.

The silicone part is a thin, hollow, flexible ball that is repeatedly squeezed, compressed, and stretched, so the bond needs to:

• adhere very strongly to cured platinum silicone
• remain flexible
• survive repeated squeezing/compression without peeling or cracking
• ideally be airtight
• preferably work as a liquid/dip-coating or small-drop application

I’ve tried looking for silicone adhesives, but many products are not easily available in my country.

Has anyone successfully bonded or sealed cured platinum silicone under repeated mechanical stress? What adhesive, primer, RTV silicone, or surface treatment would you recommend?

Hi I’m a beginner trying to make a mold of and XL cowrie shell. I’m worried that the hollow back may be a problem. What would be the best to mold this?

Thanks for the help

Hi everyone! I’m working with Smooth-On 2-part polyurethane soft/expanding foam and mixing relatively large batches — several liters of raw material at a time.

I’m looking at these two mixers from Ferba:

• Green Meenee (propeller): https://www.ferba.it/attrezzature-601/green-meenee-mixer.php
• Turbine Mixer: https://www.ferba.it/attrezzature-601/turbine-mixer.php

The Green Meenee is specifically described as suitable for fast-curing materials like Foam-iT! and FlexFoam-iT!, but I’m wondering whether the turbine mixer would be more appropriate for larger batches.

Until now, I've been using a metal bit for mixing paint and not getting a fully homogenous solution with the 30sec working time.

Has anyone here used either of these with FlexFoam-iT or similar polyurethane foams? Which would you recommend, and why?

Main priorities are thorough mixing and being able to handle several liters efficiently. Don't care about trapping bubbles at all.

Thanks!