Casting Help Please!!

[keeproftheflocks]

[keeproftheflocks]

I know there’ve been posts about pretty much the same thing, I read them already. But I really would just love to hear from someone who can offer some helpful suggestions?

I am casting my small baby ball python sculpture. The mold making worked great, but I can’t get rid of the bubbles in the cast no matter what I do. I’ve tried two different types of plaster (with and without “bubble-be-gone” spray, made it thinner, made it thicker), I’ve tried a resin/plaster mix (this stuff expands- creepy!- and still has lots of bubbles in it), and just plain resin (I still get bubbles!?!). I really want to use plaster for the finished products if possible. Resin just feels so.. cheap. I also don’t get the finished texture I want for painting that I can get with plaster.

I’ve tried using the bubble spray. It only helps (a little) right where it sticks when I spray the plaster in. It sort of doesnt’ stay put on my silicone mold, just sprays down into it.

I’ve tried vibrating the plaster inside the mold (with, ehm, a vibrator) 😮 and tried vibrating the mold itself, I’ve even set the entire mold on a table with a sandless sander running full blast for about 10 minutes.

My mold is open, so I can’t really shake it. Any helpful ideas? Mostly I end up with lots (LOTS) of tiny pinhole size bubbles, but I do sometimes get big ones that are more the size of a sewing pin head.

Help please! Any artists out there already gone through the headache?

[twindragonsmum]

You might give purplecat a poke and ask her. I know she went through a lot to get her castings bubble free… Her work is awsome! One of these days I’m adding some of her work to my collection 🙂 Good luck!

twindragonsmum 🙂

tdm

[Melody]

keeproftheflocks wrote:

I know there’ve been posts about pretty much the same thing, I read them already. But I really would just love to hear from someone who can offer some helpful suggestions?

I am casting my small baby ball python sculpture. The mold making worked great, but I can’t get rid of the bubbles in the cast no matter what I do. I’ve tried two different types of plaster (with and without “bubble-be-gone” spray, made it thinner, made it thicker), I’ve tried a resin/plaster mix (this stuff expands- creepy!- and still has lots of bubbles in it), and just plain resin (I still get bubbles!?!). I really want to use plaster for the finished products if possible. Resin just feels so.. cheap. I also don’t get the finished texture I want for painting that I can get with plaster.

I’ve tried using the bubble spray. It only helps (a little) right where it sticks when I spray the plaster in. It sort of doesnt’ stay put on my silicone mold, just sprays down into it.

I’ve tried vibrating the plaster inside the mold (with, ehm, a vibrator) 😮 and tried vibrating the mold itself, I’ve even set the entire mold on a table with a sandless sander running full blast for about 10 minutes.

My mold is open, so I can’t really shake it. Any helpful ideas? Mostly I end up with lots (LOTS) of tiny pinhole size bubbles, but I do sometimes get big ones that are more the size of a sewing pin head.

Help please! Any artists out there already gone through the headache?Tiny little pin hole bubbles are from the plaster not acting right. Maybe it is just too old, but we’ve had whole truckload batches of it that does that because it was manufactured wrong. You can’t fix bad plaster unless you are a chemist! Vibrating it won’t help. Try switching plaster brands.
Are you whipping excessive air into your plaster when you mix it? Put the dry plaster into the water little by little so it all melts down and does not trap air, and then mix it under the water with your hand.
Small bubbles trapped on the upper surface of the piece (when it is right side up)might be from pouring the plaster in a way that traps bubbles against the mold.Try filling the mold carefully by pouring into the lowest point and filling it up from the very middle. Don’t let the plaster slop onto the sides.
Once you know where they form, big bubbles can be removed pretty easily by poking them out of the mold after it is poured, with a paint brush or with a little bit of shaking or vibration while the plaster is still liquid. Too much agitation of the plaster when it is setting causes water marks (vertical grooves) on a piece. Ten minutes is way too much! My art teachers just would thump the table the mold was on a few times with their fist.
We regularly patch bubbles, no getting around ’em completely !

[drag0nfeathers]

I’m glad someone brought this up because I’m also stuck in a similar/but different problem… I don’t mean to hijack, but can anyone help me with this one? It’s a bit unique…

Okay so I’m trying to cast an Emperor tail. Long story short, I paid I think like $25 bucks for an Emperor Dragon a few years ago. The reason I got it so cheap? It has no tail and no feet!

He still stands on his own but barely! I have been spending months trying to find a material I could use on an Emperor Dragon I have already to make a mold, but I didn’t want to damage the paint on mine of course. SO I finally got a nice amonia free latex and made a mold! ……..aaaaaaaaaand that’s all. I don’t know what to do next? I suppose I need to submerge it into sand or something so it retains the shape for the most part and pour plaster into it and let it harden? Is that what you do? I need to use something that will come out of the latex mold easily, but also be able to be modified and sculpted so I can try and attatch it to the break sites as seamlessly as possible, but of course be hard enough to last over time once it’s painted to match. The mold took like a WEEK to make to so I don’t want to use something that’s going to harm the mold incase my first few tries don’t work out.

Any advice from all those wonderful sculptors out there?

Got a busted Windstone?
drag0nfeathersdesign@gmail.com
*OPEN for repairs*

*SEEKING GRAILS*
Arc-en-ciel Emperor
Siphlophis Male Dragon
Calypso Hatching Empress
Ivory Moss Sitting Baby Kirin
Tattoo Mother Kirin
Emerald Tabby Male Griffin
Tie Dye + Orion Hatching Royalty
Indigo Rockfish + Flame Tabby Little Rock Dragons
Dragon Quail + Obsidian Frost Old Warriors
Betta Sun Dragon + Male Dragon
Dreamscape, Orion, Poison Dart, Fireberry, Spangler + Tigerberry Dragons

[keeproftheflocks]

Quote:

Tiny little pin hole bubbles are from the plaster not acting right. Maybe it is just too old, but we’ve had whole truckload batches of it that does that because it was manufactured wrong. You can’t fix bad plaster unless you are a chemist! Vibrating it won’t help. Try switching plaster brands.
Are you whipping excessive air into your plaster when you mix it? Put the dry plaster into the water little by little so it all melts down and does not trap air, and then mix it under the water with your hand.
Small bubbles trapped on the upper surface of the piece (when it is right side up)might be from pouring the plaster in a way that traps bubbles against the mold.Try filling the mold carefully by pouring into the lowest point and filling it up from the very middle. Don’t let the plaster slop onto the sides.
Once you know where they form, big bubbles can be removed pretty easily by poking them out of the mold after it is poured, with a paint brush or with a little bit of shaking or vibration while the plaster is still liquid. Too much agitation of the plaster when it is setting causes water marks (vertical grooves) on a piece. Ten minutes is way too much! My art teachers just would thump the table the mold was on a few times with their fist.
We regularly patch bubbles, no getting around ’em completely !

Yeah, I’ve tried the paintbrush trick, and stick, it didn’t help. The only way I’ve gotten one to turn out decent is by painting the plaster on thinly, letting it set up a bit, then painting more. Do that a few layers then pour the rest in. That turned out ok, but I don’t want to ahve to do that for every mold. :nea:

I’ve managed to get rid of most of the big bubbles (trial and error, and switching plaster brands), but it’s the little pinhole sized ones I cant seem to be rid of. I am currently getting my plaster from a craft store (so they probably don’t go through it very fast), but they’re ordering more (I used it all!) so maybe that batch will be better. 🙂

Sigh. I’ll give purplecat a holler too, and see if she maybe has some suggestions. Thanks.

[keeproftheflocks]

drag0nfeathers wrote:

I’m glad someone brought this up because I’m also stuck in a similar/but different problem… I don’t mean to hijack, but can anyone help me with this one? It’s a bit unique…

Okay so I’m trying to cast an Emperor tail. Long story short, I paid I think like $25 bucks for an Emperor Dragon a few years ago. The reason I got it so cheap? It has no tail and no feet!

He still stands on his own but barely! I have been spending months trying to find a material I could use on an Emperor Dragon I have already to make a mold, but I didn’t want to damage the paint on mine of course. SO I finally got a nice amonia free latex and made a mold! ……..aaaaaaaaaand that’s all. I don’t know what to do next? I suppose I need to submerge it into sand or something so it retains the shape for the most part and pour plaster into it and let it harden? Is that what you do? I need to use something that will come out of the latex mold easily, but also be able to be modified and sculpted so I can try and attatch it to the break sites as seamlessly as possible, but of course be hard enough to last over time once it’s painted to match. The mold took like a WEEK to make to so I don’t want to use something that’s going to harm the mold incase my first few tries don’t work out.

Any advice from all those wonderful sculptors out there?

I might be able to help, at least offer suggestions. If you have an undamaged Emperor you can borrow for a while, make a mold of the entire area of your damaged dragon plus an extra 2″ or so on all sides beyond that, where it’s not damaged. Use plaster-cloth strips to build over the outside of your mold (this will give it strength instead of sand), and let that dry. Pour your plaster (or whatever you plan on using), in your mold, and insert the entire statue in there, so that (theoretically) it will fill in the damaged areas. I don’t know about how well it will bond with the statue itself, but it should line things up pretty well to glue it on later.

Another option would be to fill the mold you already have with the pink-peach colored Sculpy clay. (I think it’s called Super Sculpy). You can demold the piece, attatch it/sculpt it onto your original, then touch up scales where you have to. I love the stuff myself because it’s really easy to work with (once you knead it a bit), and doesn’t dry out. It has to be baked though.

[Melody]

keeproftheflocks wrote:

drag0nfeathers wrote:

I’m glad someone brought this up because I’m also stuck in a similar/but different problem… I don’t mean to hijack, but can anyone help me with this one? It’s a bit unique…

Okay so I’m trying to cast an Emperor tail. Long story short, I paid I think like $25 bucks for an Emperor Dragon a few years ago. The reason I got it so cheap? It has no tail and no feet!

He still stands on his own but barely! I have been spending months trying to find a material I could use on an Emperor Dragon I have already to make a mold, but I didn’t want to damage the paint on mine of course. SO I finally got a nice amonia free latex and made a mold! ……..aaaaaaaaaand that’s all. I don’t know what to do next? I suppose I need to submerge it into sand or something so it retains the shape for the most part and pour plaster into it and let it harden? Is that what you do? I need to use something that will come out of the latex mold easily, but also be able to be modified and sculpted so I can try and attatch it to the break sites as seamlessly as possible, but of course be hard enough to last over time once it’s painted to match. The mold took like a WEEK to make to so I don’t want to use something that’s going to harm the mold incase my first few tries don’t work out.

Any advice from all those wonderful sculptors out there?I have a queation.. does any one know how to glue sculpey to things? I haven’t had much luck!

I might be able to help, at least offer suggestions. If you have an undamaged Emperor you can borrow for a while, make a mold of the entire area of your damaged dragon plus an extra 2″ or so on all sides beyond that, where it’s not damaged. Use plaster-cloth strips to build over the outside of your mold (this will give it strength instead of sand), and let that dry. Pour your plaster (or whatever you plan on using), in your mold, and insert the entire statue in there, so that (theoretically) it will fill in the damaged areas. I don’t know about how well it will bond with the statue itself, but it should line things up pretty well to glue it on later.

Another option would be to fill the mold you already have with the pink-peach colored Sculpy clay. (I think it’s called Super Sculpy). You can demold the piece, attatch it/sculpt it onto your original, then touch up scales where you have to. I love the stuff myself because it’s really easy to work with (once you knead it a bit), and doesn’t dry out. It has to be baked though.

[drag0nfeathers]

Well I made the mold already as you described. I used some medi cloth and stuff too like you mentioned. As for attaching it directly to the broken piece I never thought of that…. I wonder if it would work? Hmmmm…..

Also, I got the sculpy you’re talking about already too, but my only concern was if it would shrink or otherwise “come out kind of deformed looking” during baking or anything along those lines.

Here’s the poor fellow

Got a busted Windstone?
drag0nfeathersdesign@gmail.com
*OPEN for repairs*

*SEEKING GRAILS*
Arc-en-ciel Emperor
Siphlophis Male Dragon
Calypso Hatching Empress
Ivory Moss Sitting Baby Kirin
Tattoo Mother Kirin
Emerald Tabby Male Griffin
Tie Dye + Orion Hatching Royalty
Indigo Rockfish + Flame Tabby Little Rock Dragons
Dragon Quail + Obsidian Frost Old Warriors
Betta Sun Dragon + Male Dragon
Dreamscape, Orion, Poison Dart, Fireberry, Spangler + Tigerberry Dragons

[keeproftheflocks]

drag0nfeathers wrote:

Well I made the mold already as you described. I used some medi cloth and stuff too like you mentioned. As for attaching it directly to the broken piece I never thought of that…. I wonder if it would work? Hmmmm…..

Also, I got the sculpy you’re talking about already too, but my only concern was if it would shrink or otherwise “come out kind of deformed looking” during baking or anything along those lines.

Hmm, he is a little sad looking, but I think any sort of feet on him would help immensly! I’ve never tried pouring plaster in a mold and inserting something already finished like yours would need, so I might try it on something else first (I’d hate to somehow ruin your lovely guy!).

However, Sculpy is a bit more forgiving. I think it does shrink some during baking, but it’s never been anything noticeable to me. As far as attatching it, if it’s possible, I would drill two small holes into your statue (like into his hips, on the broken white area, as close to the middle of the broken area as you can), and then have either heavy metal wire or double-ended screws in the statue, and leave some sticking out. Mold your sculpy in the mold you made, insert the entire thing into your statue and try to line things up as well as you can, then make sure the screw holes are just a bit bigger in the sculpy side, and then bake the sculpy. If the screw holes in the sculpy are a bit too big after you bake it, you can fill the holes later with glue when you attatch it on to your statue. If your screw holes in the sculpy shrink a little bit too much, you can drill out the holes a bit and make them bigger.

Paint up your sculpy piece after it’s fired, do any gloss coats you want to do to make him match, then apply a craft-glue (the thick stuff in the brown plastic bottle works great) to where the broken edges match up on the two pieces, and use either the same glue or hot glue inside the thread holes. (work fast if you use hot glue). DONT use hot glue to glue the two broken pieces together- it won’t press together all the way and you’ll have a crack/gap where they meet. I’d recommend the craft glue for both.

Ugh. I know this is probably a little confusing but hopefully itll help you out some. 🙂

[keeproftheflocks]

Quote:

I have a queation.. does any one know how to glue sculpey to things? I haven’t had much luck!

I think that’s Melody asking a question that got lost in all the quotes? 🙂

Um, depending on what you’re trying to glue the sculpy to, I’ve had decent luck with:

*The thick, white glue sold in the plastic brown bottles: It’s better if both pieces of your work are roughed up a little bit before you glue them together.
*super glue (um, it’s called E6000 I think): this stuff bubbles up quite a bit so it’s definately for things that wont’ be seen on your work. It smells awful too, but it is pretty strong once dried.
*High-temp Hot glue: very limited uses where this works well. I pretty much only use it when I’ve got holes in sculpy that I’m putting wires in or something, and use the hot glue to fill in the gaps between the sculpy and the wire.

What are you trying to glue it to? Maybe i can come up with something else.

[Angie]

keeproftheflocks wrote:

Quote:

I have a queation.. does any one know how to glue sculpey to things? I haven’t had much luck!

I think that’s Melody asking a question that got lost in all the quotes? 🙂

Um, depending on what you’re trying to glue the sculpy to, I’ve had decent luck with:

*The thick, white glue sold in the plastic brown bottles: It’s better if both pieces of your work are roughed up a little bit before you glue them together.
*super glue (um, it’s called E6000 I think): this stuff bubbles up quite a bit so it’s definately for things that wont’ be seen on your work. It smells awful too, but it is pretty strong once dried.
*High-temp Hot glue: very limited uses where this works well. I pretty much only use it when I’ve got holes in sculpy that I’m putting wires in or something, and use the hot glue to fill in the gaps between the sculpy and the wire.

I think the first glue you mentioned is Tacky Glue. There’s also fast-setting epoxy (the kind that you mix together, like this one). It also stinks to high heaven but I haven’t found anything that it couldn’t bond permanently! I haven’t tried it on clay, but I use it a lot on resin kits. In fact, I recently used it to glue this very top-heavy model to a wooden base (and she’s standing tip-toe on one foot!). She won’t be coming off of that base now unless I break her off of it.

[drag0nfeathers]

Wow! Thanks for the information everyone! keepofftherocks! That’s a great idea bout the drill holes! I never would have even thought of that. I wonder if I can manage to drill it without shattering it though. I have a dremel so I guess we’ll see. I’m going to attempt to repair this guy over the next few weeks so we’ll se what happens.

Melody, if you have any thought I’d love to hear them! I think your comment got lost in the post somewhere. I’d very much like to bring this poor fellow back to his former glory!

Got a busted Windstone?
drag0nfeathersdesign@gmail.com
*OPEN for repairs*

*SEEKING GRAILS*
Arc-en-ciel Emperor
Siphlophis Male Dragon
Calypso Hatching Empress
Ivory Moss Sitting Baby Kirin
Tattoo Mother Kirin
Emerald Tabby Male Griffin
Tie Dye + Orion Hatching Royalty
Indigo Rockfish + Flame Tabby Little Rock Dragons
Dragon Quail + Obsidian Frost Old Warriors
Betta Sun Dragon + Male Dragon
Dreamscape, Orion, Poison Dart, Fireberry, Spangler + Tigerberry Dragons

[Melody]

keeproftheflocks wrote:

Quote:

I have a queation.. does any one know how to glue sculpey to things? I haven’t had much luck!

I think that’s Melody asking a question that got lost in all the quotes? 🙂

Um, depending on what you’re trying to glue the sculpy to, I’ve had decent luck with:

*The thick, white glue sold in the plastic brown bottles: It’s better if both pieces of your work are roughed up a little bit before you glue them together.
*super glue (um, it’s called E6000 I think): this stuff bubbles up quite a bit so it’s definately for things that wont’ be seen on your work. It smells awful too, but it is pretty strong once dried.
*High-temp Hot glue: very limited uses where this works well. I pretty much only use it when I’ve got holes in sculpy that I’m putting wires in or something, and use the hot glue to fill in the gaps between the sculpy and the wire.

What are you trying to glue it to? Maybe i can come up with something else.Yeah my question got snarled up with another comment there… I was trying to glue sculpey to wood. Nothing I used worked. The sculpey piece would always fall off.

[dragonmedley]

drag0nfeathers wrote:

Wow! Thanks for the information everyone! keepofftherocks! That’s a great idea bout the drill holes! I never would have even thought of that. I wonder if I can manage to drill it without shattering it though. I have a dremel so I guess we’ll see. I’m going to attempt to repair this guy over the next few weeks so we’ll se what happens.

Melody, if you have any thought I’d love to hear them! I think your comment got lost in the post somewhere. I’d very much like to bring this poor fellow back to his former glory!

I know Kirin drills holes to attach wings to her PYOs. You may want to poke her and ask.

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