Rocket Al
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Let's see if old Al can make an actual useful contribution to the Forum, instead of causing discord and havoc.
Alot of folks are trying to do repro parts out of casting resin, in particular Alumilite, as I guess it's easy to get in small quantities from hobby shops and places like MicroMark. It is, however, probably not the best choice to use. The "Alumi" part of Alumilite refers to the fact that it uses powdered aluminum as a filler. Although one of the lighter metals, it is a metal nonetheless, and therefore will weigh more than a resin that uses other fillers. It's just a matter of what to use, where to get it, and how to use it.
For the real do-it-yourselfers who want to research and find it themselves, any sufficiently industrial city will have a listing in the business-to-business directory for "Mold and pattern makers supply", which is what tis stuff is primarily used for. Making patterns and prototypes. Places where molten metal and plastics may impinge against the material at some point (hence the need for metal fillers...) Specifically, you are going to want to ask about "liquid tooling materials", something with a Shore D hardness of at least 70 or so. Any softer, and while not "spongy", it may not want to hold paint that well.
You are going to need something to pour your resin in, so we'll need to get some silicone. You could also use a flexible elastomer urethane (cheaper) but they are a little harder to work with. The release process is a little more difficult and exacting. Their primary use, before someone said "hey, this sh!t would make great molds!", was as an adhesive. If you've used "Gorilla Glue", you've used urethane elastomer. Sticks like and SOB, doesn't it? That would be your carefully modeled master pattern, if you don't release it properly. Silicone, on the other hard, is easier to release. You will want to ask about "Condensation Cure" silicone, which means it uses a tin catalyst, rather than an additive cure silicone, which uses a platinum catalyst. It's also the less expensive of the two, and tends to be softer i.e. more flex makes it easier to remove parts.
Now if you don't want to do that homework, here are some specific places to go to buy some of this stuff...
Burman Industries www.burmanfoam.com
Supplies special effects needs, here are links to specific pages of good products:
BJB TC-808 quart kit: https://www.burmanfoam.com/estore/ProductDetail.asp?Recordset1_Action=Find('PID','186')&Recordset1_Position=FIL%3ACategory+%3D+%27RIGID+CASTING+URETHANES%27ORD%3AABS%3A20KEY%3A186PAR%3A
Walco VSI 1065 silicone quart kit:
https://www.burmanfoam.com/estore/ProductDetail.asp?Recordset1_Action=Find('PID','4')&Recordset1_Position=FIL%3ACategory+%3D+%27SILICONES%27ORD%3AABS%3A1KEY%3A4PAR%3A
Burman's has a lot of interesting stuff, including larger quantities of these materials. Go to the main page and enter the store to find more information. You can get more in depth product info on the BJB products by going to their page at www.bjbenterprises.com
A really good place to cut the middleman out would be Freeman Supply, at https://www.freemansupply.com/ Their main page has links to a number of free on-line video resources showing you how to use their products to make molds and cast up parts. Some highly recommended products there are Repro One, which is available in quart kits https://www.freemansupply.com/ReproOne.htm
also Repro Fast, also in quarts https://www.freemansupply.com/ReproFast.htm
Another handy thing these folks carry are sample kits of their materials at https://www.freemansupply.com/SampleKits.htm you can get a small kit of some of their silicone, complete with brushes, cups, paddles, etc. to try out, or even do that entire nose cone project. The thing I like about this company is that it's about 10 minutes from my house, so I can pick up whenever i need it. In L.A., I had an hour and a half drive to Burman's or Cinema FX when I needed anything
Any questions about this topic, email or PM me, and I'll tell you what I can.
Al
Alot of folks are trying to do repro parts out of casting resin, in particular Alumilite, as I guess it's easy to get in small quantities from hobby shops and places like MicroMark. It is, however, probably not the best choice to use. The "Alumi" part of Alumilite refers to the fact that it uses powdered aluminum as a filler. Although one of the lighter metals, it is a metal nonetheless, and therefore will weigh more than a resin that uses other fillers. It's just a matter of what to use, where to get it, and how to use it.
For the real do-it-yourselfers who want to research and find it themselves, any sufficiently industrial city will have a listing in the business-to-business directory for "Mold and pattern makers supply", which is what tis stuff is primarily used for. Making patterns and prototypes. Places where molten metal and plastics may impinge against the material at some point (hence the need for metal fillers...) Specifically, you are going to want to ask about "liquid tooling materials", something with a Shore D hardness of at least 70 or so. Any softer, and while not "spongy", it may not want to hold paint that well.
You are going to need something to pour your resin in, so we'll need to get some silicone. You could also use a flexible elastomer urethane (cheaper) but they are a little harder to work with. The release process is a little more difficult and exacting. Their primary use, before someone said "hey, this sh!t would make great molds!", was as an adhesive. If you've used "Gorilla Glue", you've used urethane elastomer. Sticks like and SOB, doesn't it? That would be your carefully modeled master pattern, if you don't release it properly. Silicone, on the other hard, is easier to release. You will want to ask about "Condensation Cure" silicone, which means it uses a tin catalyst, rather than an additive cure silicone, which uses a platinum catalyst. It's also the less expensive of the two, and tends to be softer i.e. more flex makes it easier to remove parts.
Now if you don't want to do that homework, here are some specific places to go to buy some of this stuff...
Burman Industries www.burmanfoam.com
Supplies special effects needs, here are links to specific pages of good products:
BJB TC-808 quart kit: https://www.burmanfoam.com/estore/ProductDetail.asp?Recordset1_Action=Find('PID','186')&Recordset1_Position=FIL%3ACategory+%3D+%27RIGID+CASTING+URETHANES%27ORD%3AABS%3A20KEY%3A186PAR%3A
Walco VSI 1065 silicone quart kit:
https://www.burmanfoam.com/estore/ProductDetail.asp?Recordset1_Action=Find('PID','4')&Recordset1_Position=FIL%3ACategory+%3D+%27SILICONES%27ORD%3AABS%3A1KEY%3A4PAR%3A
Burman's has a lot of interesting stuff, including larger quantities of these materials. Go to the main page and enter the store to find more information. You can get more in depth product info on the BJB products by going to their page at www.bjbenterprises.com
A really good place to cut the middleman out would be Freeman Supply, at https://www.freemansupply.com/ Their main page has links to a number of free on-line video resources showing you how to use their products to make molds and cast up parts. Some highly recommended products there are Repro One, which is available in quart kits https://www.freemansupply.com/ReproOne.htm
also Repro Fast, also in quarts https://www.freemansupply.com/ReproFast.htm
Another handy thing these folks carry are sample kits of their materials at https://www.freemansupply.com/SampleKits.htm you can get a small kit of some of their silicone, complete with brushes, cups, paddles, etc. to try out, or even do that entire nose cone project. The thing I like about this company is that it's about 10 minutes from my house, so I can pick up whenever i need it. In L.A., I had an hour and a half drive to Burman's or Cinema FX when I needed anything
Any questions about this topic, email or PM me, and I'll tell you what I can.
Al
