Need Help Casting my Duck Heads!

[NickyG]

Hello All!!   I was just wondering the best way to cast a Bird head/ Duck head in particular...  I am fairly new to molding/ casting my ownstuff, but its FUN!  LOL   Any advice you can give me?

I bought  release agent, tire shaving, and mold builder from research mannikins, and this sucker is still setting up after nearly 24 hours...

If anyone can give advice 0n how   they cast heads, instructions, I would appreciate it!!

Thanks. Nick  802 733 2590

[Doug Bridges]

I hate to be the ass to say it, but here goes. Did you type "casting duck head" into the search box and hit enter?

Start there and then let us know what you find.

[Mike B.]

Nicky,
Like Doug said there is a lot of info on here on molding and casting duck heads. There is even a couple of tutorials in that section.

Now after reading your post I believe your problem is that you are using MOLD BUILDER which is a latex that is meant to be put on in thin coats one at a time then repeat until the thickness is that is desired is reached. If you try to pour it thick like RTV SILICONE it will take an extremely long time to set.
Look in the tutorial section and there is a tutorial on molding duck heads with the silicone you can buy at the hardware store.

Mike

[alan webfoot]

the ONLY thing I can contribute [and I'm new to casting my own as well] is this ,,silicone won't stick to your frozen duck head ,,the ONLY time I used a release agent ,and very sparingly I might add ,it created voids and bubbles in the mold,using it directly on the bill and skull it peeled off with no trouble and the casting was much better .Recently cast an emu skull and bill turned out super. I used it for the mount and saved the skull.

[kirk33]

I use silicone mixed with acrylic paint. It works great I have not tried it on frozen heads though. Once the silicone sets up (like 15 minuets) I demold and cast with bondo mixed 50 50 with fiberglass resin. I am pretty sure I learned that on here though I dont take credit for coming up with this method.

[NickyG]

Kirk---  That Is a VERY INTERESTING way you mold/Cast Duck Heads...  I have been using the old latex, mold release, and tire shavings--LOL   Takes Forever and a Day to Make a Mold..  I did buy Smooth Cast from Mc Kenzie to make my Casts if these dang molds ever set up...  Would Love to make em in 15 Minutes like You...  WHATS THE SECRET??

Thanks, Nick

[marshell-with-an-e]

Nick,
I'm thinking that you didn't shake the catalyst, if the catalyst isn't mixed well before you start the mixture will not set.
Or it could be old, but it would have to be real old.  Try pouring up a small amount of the mixture and stir the catalyst real
good before you start and see if it kicks off.
Good luck.
Marshell

[John Helm]

Nick, the Smooth-On company is about an hour from my house so I go there frequently to purchase their products.  One of their technical experts gave me some advice on their products exactly for your question, so I'll tell you what works well for me.  First I impale the duck head upright on a drywall screw driven through a piece of plywood.  I usually do a few heads at a time to make it worth the effort.  I place the board in the freezer if they're not already frozen.  Make sure you dry off the bills and keep them closed with some Zap a Gap instant glue.  This seems to work on slightly moist surfaces.  I like the Cyberblast accelerator to instantly dry the glue.  Next I use standard silicone caulk mixed with some colored acrylic paint, and apply it the the duck head in three layers.  The first layer needs to be pressed into all the indentations and surface details of the head.  Use some soapy water and a latex glove to smooth this first layer evenly.  When this is dry, repeat twice to give some body to the mold.  When completely cured, these molds should release easily from the head.  Cut some holes in a cardboard box to stand the molds upright, then pour bondo (with hardener) thinned with fiberglass resin into the mold to create your first cast.  When you remove the cured cast, you can fill the surface defects and with Apoxie Sculpt (smoothed with Apoxie Safety Solvent) and use the cast in your mount.  The bondo cast works well with commercial mounts.  If it's a head that I'd like to reproduce repeatedly, I'll re-mold my bondo cast head with Smooth-On's Dragon Skin silicone.  This is much more expensive than silicone caulk, but the quality and stretch is incredible.  You should get their Thi-Vex II  thixotropic additive to increase the viscosity of the Dragon Skin since it's pretty fluid.  Repeat the above procedure to create a master mold that can be used many times with no fear of ripping the mold.  The Smooth Cast 300 resin is excellent for casting the heads and will give professional results.  You probably already know a lot of this but I hope I've been of some help.

[NickyG]

John!

Thank you sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much for your help man!!

I do have the smooth Cast in white, in which I will be using for my pintails  etc...  One guy said it sets up in like 15 minutes(silicone i mean)  Is this true?    If so, all I gotta say is FFFF ING   W O W!!!!   That frikkin latex mold builder I use takes FOREVER!!!  LOL!

Thanks again,  Nick 

[John Helm]

Nick, you're welcome.  The silicone caulk does set in 15 or 20 min if you add the acrylic paint.  Actually water is the catalyst for the cure reaction, but the acrylic paint allows you to see if it hasn't been mixed thoroughly, which is why I use it instead of plain water.  The Dragon Skin takes longer to set but it's worth the wait due to the quality.  Smooth On has a quick set catalyst for it I believe but I've never used it.  I've used Dragon Skin for all kinds of complex parts such as canine ears with all the inner ear detail, and after casting the part, it just peels off like a glove and doesn't rip. Their tech told me that lots of taxidermists use it for replicating antlers also.  It's well worth the money.  Let me know how things work out for you.

[Roadkill]

silicon is a good casting medium and the paint really works, but is not needed all the time. I use it all the time and make hundreds or duck heads and other replicas of many other things. Freezing the head when it is fresh and to hold things in place is perfect. You can soak the head in salt water to get the tissues to swell back to normal if it is a little dried out, or inject with syringe.
The cool thing, you can save the skull for cleaning too.
feel free to email me with questions if you want, I can walk you through making open mouth molds as well as some other fun little details.
Steve@jonesanddemille.com

[bill@hogheaven]

Nickey.....Latex is the WRONG medium to use . It is well suited for DRY subjects like rocks or antlers. It needs to be applied in THIN coats, many of them, not suitable for frozen objects.