bird head molding

Wolfgang just put a tutorial up using this for the mold.

http://moldputty.com/ProdDetail.cfm?Category=Silicone%20Rubber&Name=Amazing%20Mold%20Rubber

 

I have used several different RTV materials with good success .mold-max 30 is what i am currently using. i buy the gallon kit and also purchase a pint of the Fast-cat 30 (this allows me to make a mold and be casting the head in about an hour) mold max from smooth on is about 90.00 a gallon and it 18.00 extra to add a pint of fast cat

Options are GI-1000 rtv cost about 100.00 per gallon
the rtv out of McKenzie works good but more expensive (about 170.00 a gallon)

 

Silicone does work but poured it can be a mess as the outside doesn't want to cure very quickly. How thick of a layer of Dragon skin can be poured or molded??

 

the dragon skin is a different product then max 30(i think) but my first coat i thin and not made as hot(cure) so that it gets all the detail and no air bubbles. then after that you can make the outer layer as thick as you want and as hot as you want. far!!! far!! better then silicone. having a catalysis allows you to control how fast or slow it sets up.you can apply several layers depending on how thick you need it. you will also get more heads out of an rtv mold then you will ever get out of just silicone. hope that helps

 

Good topic specially to new ones like us that are new to molding. Like diffrent material on the market and diffrent techniques. I saw the new topic a few days ago by Wolfgang and was really intresting in seeing diffrent combination. You find many diffrent RTV material out there but I was quite serprise hearing that not all have the same results.
Well done guys in inform new comers...very good topic.

 

take'em that helps a lot ,,I just pulled another open mouth scoter head out today and ruined my mold,Hey it was worth it. I got 2 good ones. Where the silicone was thinner it inverted just fine .I first thinned it with paint thinner then slid the frozen duck head down into it overnight.

 

Take'em...

Ive had really good luck with the silicone method, having pulled nearly twenty or so casts from a many of them. Although, mainly simple closed mouth. Open mouth request's/projects are frozen, mandibles split and molded in two sections then assembled later. Its a slow proce$$... but charged accordingly.

How many heads does that gallon yield? (Ave sized, mallards ect)

...Missed ya at the show again this year bud...

 

yeah its just a bad time of year for me to try and pull a show piece together. i tried to find ya there but i think you all were in a seminar when i was browsing. i seen your bird mount, very cool!!! im not sure what else you had in there.

I also used the silicone method for a long time and I agree it does work. but there are so many advantages to using RTV and really the cost difference is not that much. (exp. cure time, tinsel strength, and consistency) when you start adding say "naphtha" to thin out the silicone you have exceeded what RTV would have cost.

I couldnt even tell you( A LOT!!) I would think that most that do it for a hobby could get away with just a quart sized kit. but I have found so many uses that I find myself ordering the gallon kit. I use it for making molds for casting rocks, barnacles, feet, driftwood, antlers, fish the list goes on and on. it sure beats the old LATEX prosses.
2wbdft swing on by my shop we need to go have lunch and catch up on things, we can mold you a head see what you think of it.