What material is best for making a mould for a toy?

Question

i want to reproduce some napoleonic 1/72 scale soldiers by pouring wax in to a cheap homemake mould.

Answer 1

I'm not sure of all the molding materials that would not stick to wax, or what releases could be used on other materials, but the easiest way might be to make a two-part mold (each mold one half of the figure.. the front half and the back half), then join the two parts later and scrape off the excess at the join. I'm pretty sure wax wouldn't stick to cheap modeling clay (the kind kids play with that never dries or cures), though it may soften some? So if you pressed the front side of the figure, then poured wax into that, and did the same for the back side, it could work.
Your front side might have *projecting, thin* parts though and they may not be all that sturdy in wax.

If you don't need to use wax as your casting material, there are many other "clays" and more liquid and paste-y materials you could cast with.
Many other molding materials would work for those casting materials too, and there are lessons online for doing all kinds of them.

One molding material that doesn't stick to anything btw is silicone, so you could use a two-part silicone putty to create your mold (it will be fairly flexible after setting up, so easier to remove the cast from the mold than some other molding materials). Liquid silicone (like ArmorAll spray) can also be a good release for some casting materials, but paint may not stick to the molded item afterwards so that could be a problem for you.

You might want to check out these two pages at my site for info and links on various types of molds, mold making materials, and "clays"/putties/etc. that can be cast in them:

http://glassattic.com/polymer/molds.htm

http://glassattic.com/polymer/sculpture.htm
(on that page, look at the category called Non-Polymer Clays if you don't want to use polymer clays for any reason... especially perhaps the sub-category called "Two-Part Epoxy Putties, etc."...)


Good luck!

Diane B.

Answer 2

Reproducing soldiers suggests you'll need to mold in full 3-D...

WAX soldiers though ?? I'd suggest a resin or metal product.

I do plaster casting of many things for my model railroad using rubber molds... but it isn't as complex as a human figure.

Figures usually require a two-part mold... I'm stumped !!

Good luck !!

Answer 3

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