Resin Casting In The Home Workshop

Resin castings are ideal for reproducing car or wagon body sides. They can also be used
to reproduce stone, brick, board or other siding material for use in architectural models.
They are often made in open (one-piece) moulds although to ensure a uniform thickness a
sheet of acrylic or rubber should be placed over the open surface. Take care to exclude air
bubbles. More complicated castings involving detail on both sides of the pattern or even
whole wagon bodies can be made using two-piece moulds.

Overview Of The Process

A full size master (pattern) is made up using suitable materials.
A mould is made of the pattern using two-pot silicon rubber. This material doesn't
stick to anything except itself.
Two-pot resin is poured into the mould and allowed to cure.
The casting is removed and the process is repeated.

Making The Pattern

Techniques are the same as for model making in general. The level of your crafting
ability will be the bottom line as far as your patterns are concerned. Styrene or acrylic
fabrication, soldering of metal, lathework, carving and rivet embossing can all be used.
Care must be taken to select materials that will not inhibit the curing of the mould
although with the current generation of silicon rubbers this is not usually a problem.
Some overhangs are possible, particularly if a more flexible rubber is going to be used to
make the mould.

Making A One-Piece Mould

The pattern is mounted on a flat base and surrounded by a fence high enough to allow
effiecient thickness of rubber above the thickest part of the pattern (see Fig. 1).

Freshly mixed silicon rubber is poured over the pattern and allowed to cure (see Fig.
2).
 The rubber is removed carefully form the pattern and inverted. If all has gone well
you will have a perfect, bubble -free negative of your pattern (see Fig. 3).

Making A Two Piece Mould

This could be done in the same way as the moulds for metal casting are made. The
method outlined below is described in Adrian Gunzburg's article in the Australian Model
Railway Magazine, Issue 145, August 1987.
The pattern is mounted temporarily on a platform, slightly larger than in area than the
pattern itself. The pattern needs to be securely mounted because if it is filled with
air (e.g., a complete, hollow wagon body) it could float off! The platform is then
mounted on a flat base and surrounded by a fence high enough to allow sufficient
thickness of rubber above the thickest part of the pattern (see Fig. 5).

Freshly mixed silicon rubber is poured over the pattern and allowed to cure (see Fig.
6).
The rubber is now removed from within the fence, probably best achieved by
breaking away the fence itself. The pattern may come with the rubber or it may
stick to the base. If the latter is the case it must be removed (see fig. 7).

Coat the inside of the mould with a mould release agent and replace the pattern. Place
a suitable piece of scrap in position for a tube (sprue) through which the resin can
be poured when making the casting (see Fig 8)

.
Pour another batch of freshly mixed rubber into the hollow of the pattern and filling
up the first section of the mould (see Fig. 9).
 When the rubber has cured, remove the sprue and pattern (see Fig 10).

Cut some small channels to allow for the release of air as the resin is poured in.

Making Castings
The interior of the mould is coated with mould release or spray-painted. For a one
part mould have a cover ready and coat it with mould release also. The cover can
be from any smooth material. The base of old or unused moulds is an excellent
surface because it releases so well.
The mould should be assembled and set up on a level surface.
Freshly mixed resin is poured into the mould, taking care to exclude or remove air
bubbles. A toothpick is good for working bubbles out of fine detail on the mould
(see Fig. 4). If the mould is in just one piece, the lid should be over the resin,
making sure that no air csavities are trapped.

For a two-piece mould it may be convenient to make a rudimentary funnel from paper
or stout foil to direct the liquid resin through the hole.
 When cured the casting is removed from the mould and, after cleaning, is ready for
use.

Notes About Resin Casting

General Remarks
• Resins can be a problem to people with sensitive skin. It is a good idea to wear
rubber gloves when working with any of the chemicals used in casting.

• Many chemicals used in model making are injurious to the eyes. Protective
googles or safety spectacles should be worn whenever working with them.

• The vapour from polyurethane resin should not be inhaled.

• Spread old newspaper around when casting in resin. A degree of mess is

inevitable!

• See Graeme Brown's article 'The Compleat Chemical Modeller' in Australian

Model Railway Magazine, Issue 144, June 1987 for safety tips regarding the use
of chemicals in the home workshop.

• See the article on page 50 of the February 2002 issue (Number 232) of Australian
Model Railway Magazine!

Materials
Rubber
Dow Corning J-Type ('green') rubber is quite flexible and is suitable for use with casting
resins. It does need de-airing under a vacuum and is sensitive to a number of inhibitors;
you need to be careful about the materials that you use to make your mould. Rhodorsil
RTV 585 is very flexible, is strong and doesn't need de-airing. It is also less sensitive to
inhibitors. The catalyst ratio is low (2%). Dow Corning make a similar product.
Resin
Polyester resin is available from any fibre-glass merchant. It has noticeable shrinkage. It
is OK for scenery work but you would have to build in adjustments to pattern size if you
used it for more precise work. It does not cure properly and is not recommended. The
inclusion of fillers such as talc or aluminium dust are reported to reduce both deficiencies
mentioned above. Polyester resins are relatively cheap. Epoxy casting resin shows
negligible shrinkage and takes about 24 hour to cure. You should obtain the technical
specifications from your merchant. A drying oven can speed up the process in cold
weather but take care! Proportions of the two components are specified by weight and
should be adhered to. Some epoxy casting resins are fairly colourless and transparent and
can be used where you want to simulate windows or water. Significantly more expensive
than polyester resins. Araldite Resin-M is one brand and various merchants have similar
lines. Polyurethane resins are used by most VMRS members who do their own casting.
Fast-Cast 810 and Ezi-Cast both begin to cure within a couple of minutes of mixing and
set in a short time. They should not be removed from the mould to soon because they
'remember' their shape as they cure and any deformity during this process will become
permanent. Super-Cast is more viscous than these and requires a little more fiddling to
remove bubbles. This is compensated for by it being a little slower setting. It is reported
to be more stable once cured. Polyurethane resins are slightly more expensive again than
epoxy casting resins.
Mould Release
Commercial types in spray cans are available from fibre-glass merchants. You can make
your own by dissolving petroleum jelly ('Vaseline') in a suitable solvent such as paint
thinners.

Suppliers Of Materials
The following firms in Australia supply materials for casting. The list is not exhaustive.
VMRS has no connection with these firms other than that our members have been
satisfied with their service.

Rubber, resins and general supplies

Solid Solutions (One Stop Plastics)
http://www.solidsolutions.com.au
19 Ardena Court, PO Box 142
East Bentleigh,3165 Victoria
Australia
(03) 9579 2044
Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm
Barnes Moulding & Casting Supplies
http://www.barnesproducts.com.au
53 King Street
Newtown NSW 2042
Telephone: (02) 9557 9056
Facsimile: (02) 9557 9246
Both firms have a good mail order service

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