what casting material

[1stturkey]

Okay, I'm very new to casting and am trying the waters with a kit beaver.  I made a death mask and then cast it and now have the head mold ready to pour.  I'm casting the body now but had a problem with the tail.  I ran out of alginate, which I hoped to mold it in so I went & molded it in thinned bondo as if I was molding with alginate - which completely cooked it.  I had to dig out the cooked tail and it looks like the mold is okay but my question is: what material can I cast the tail with?  I don't do much casting/mold at all so was hoping I could use something found locally, like the silicone caulk w/ acrylic paint thing.

If I either spray PVA down in the mold or melt some vaseline into it will I be able to pull the cast silicone tail from the bondo mold?  It's the only mold I have & now that the tail is toast (literally) I want to make this next try count.

Thanks,
Bryan

[Doug Bridges]

Bryan,
It sounds like you want a flexible cast from silicone? What is the reason for that?
I think I would use the PVA and do several light coats. Then make you cast from resin/bondo mix. If you have prepared the mold correctly, then you should be able to remove the cast from the mold. Then paint to finish.

[1stturkey]

I don't necessarily need a flexible cast but thought the silicone would keep that "leathery" look.  I'll go ahead then and prep the mold w/ PVA and cast w/ resin/bondo.

Thanks for the advice, Doug.  I greatly appreciate it.

Bryan

[1stturkey]

Just following up here.  It worked!  Though I had to tug pretty good to get the cast out of the mold and apparently there was a tiny bit of the edge of the real tail still in the mold I think I can smooth the area w/apoxie sculpt & paint it.

Thanks again for the advice.  Molding/casting certainly is a ton of work but what can be done is pretty cool.

[Southland Taxidermy]

I think Chris Barnhardt had a tutorial in Taxidermy Today Magazine on how to make a beaver tail

[Doug Bridges]

I think there are better ways to make a mold and casting. If you are getting in to mold making, it's not the cheapest thing to do. But, on the other hand, if you invest in good products, you will reduce your time invested and end up with a much better product. There are sample size (quart) kits that you can get of the Smooth-On products that are in-expensive and will produce a small molds and castings without a huge investment.
Get in touch with me if you want to talk products from Smooth-On.

[1stturkey]

Doug,

The bondo tail turned out okay, though I'm sure not as well as it could have had I more experience and better molding materials.  If the foam cast of the body actually turns out I'll contact you for information about Smooth-On products and maybe try casting the tail again.




Southland,

Thanks for the info.  Wish I had that issue.

Thanks again,
Bryan