Casting- How?

[smackerr]

Hey all,
Ive been wondering about this for a while. Ive done a few of my own sclupts, but when working on models for an army it becomes very tedious making multiple versions of the same model, and I end up never finishing a full project once the novelty of the first sculpt has worn off.

Does anyone know anything about casting?
I hear there are ways of casting using your own greens at home.
From what I understand, the main two methods are white-metal casting, or cold-resin casting.


Is this easy to do?
Which method makes the least mess, and why?
Which method has the superior finish?
Can a single mould be used multiple times, or does each mold simply make one model, then a new one must be made?
Which is the least expensive?

Finally- where do you get your supplies from for casting, and does the company do a starter kit or a guide of some kind?


Thanks a lot,
Jon

[eBob]

ok.. this is quite a big subject actually.

I get my casting done professionally - I send them in the post to Griffin mouls - who charge around £50 for a mould - which will hold up to 16 miniatures (28mm humans) - and then the metal is charged on top of that for casting.

That said, doing it at home could cost almost as much. I think silcone rubber that you need to make a mould is probably £25 at least - and then you make the mould yourself - and you have to buy the metal which is heavy and so the postage means you need at least £15 worth of metal etc. That said it can be quite fun if you're into that sort of thing.

But, yes you can do it at home - I haven't personally, not since I was a teenager some 25 years ago. The metal casting method is called 'drop casting' - and if you google that you should find some info on it. The mould should last for as many casts you're likely to need it for.

Resin casting is the same method - but no heat involved - the resin gives a sharper reproduction - but is extremely brittle and smelly stuff to work with. Better for larger objects like elephants or buildings imho.

That's about all I can say about home casting - but if you contact UKFreddybear on TLA, he has done some amazing home casting in metal - so maybe he can give some more useful advise.

www.thelastalliance.com/
www.thelastalliance.com/index.php?pid=viewprofile&user=ukfreddybear

[smackerr]

Thanks a lot for the quick reply!
This is really useful, Ill certainly be getting in touch with freddy.

Thanks again!
Jon