Now the time has come that I will reveal to you how to make a mold “Barbarian Rage” Style.
Whatever level of casting you are at, you probably started with a box and dumped some silicone into it and cut your piece out... a one part mold.
One part molds have their advantages and their disadvantages. My problem is that no matter how neat I try to cut, my seam is always jagged and ugly.
Two part molds are difficult because they take So. Much. Time...
And after a while the two parts don't connect anymore leaving you with a duel cast that doesn’t line up.
So, I have come up with a way to fuse a two part mold in a crucial area so you get the best of both worlds. You'll get a solid mold with a beautiful seam line.
It's the “Barbarian Rage” technique.
First draw a line on your piece where you would like the seam to go.
I've learned to do this with everything I cast. That way, if both sides of your 2 part mold fuse together, you still have a guideline if you need to cut the piece out of the mold.
First, make the bottom half of your mold.
I build a box around the piece with LEGOs give yourself room on all sides.
Fill your box in with oil based clay. Try to get the clay and your piece to meet at a 90 degree angle as best as you can.
This step takes a long time. I've had it take over 8 hours. It is time consuming and difficult. Its like making a completely new sculpture.
Now to press the “keys” into the clay. Do not press the keys in around what will be the bottom of the mold. Keep it flat. This is where the mold will fuse (Notice there are no "keys" up around the head)
Mix up some silicone. I usually use MoldStar 15 (Slow) from Reynolds Advanced Material (Smooth-On).
Then I put the silicone into the vacuum pump and wait for it to do its thing. (I leave it in one minute after it rises and falls)
Pour the silicone into the lowest point of the mold and let it fill from that area.
Pressurize the silicone at 60 PSI
After that has cured (Give it 5+ hours), Take the back off the LEGO box and carefully peel the clay off the back.
Clean all the little bits of clay off. Make sure your seam looks nice.
Now, another advantage to this way of casting is surface consistency. If you were to just spray the back with some Ease Release 200, the back of the piece would have a dullish Semigloss.
I wanted to cast something really glossy. The front turned out good but it was because I sprayed Ease Release 200 on the second half of the mold, the front surface did not match the back. The front was glossy and the back was not.
Now you should have one part of your mold done.
Now you should have one part of your mold done.
The real secret in the sauce is Ease Release 205. It's a liquid version of Ease Release 200 (Which is the Spray).
Take the Ease Release 205 (The Liquid Mold Release) and paint it on with a fine brush.
Do not put the Ease Release 205 where you would like to fuse the mold . In this case right above the shoulders all the way to the head.
I do two passes of the 205 and wait 20 minutes to dry. Then repeat the process.
Then you should be ready to pour the second half of the mold.
And that's it! These are laborious little devils. But I think its worth it to spend time with your molds.
I hope you find this helpful. Tell me if you try it out.
If you have any questions, put them in the comments section and I will try to get t them in a timely manner.
Best of luck.
Now go make a mess!
Your friend,
Scott Cherry.
