Making and molding Plastic

[Radar]

I like customizing figures, but there is only so much you can do with something that has already been created. I have been looking periodically on the net for months and I have found a few interesting methods of making plastic, so that new figures (not based on Hasbro sculpts that we have seen before) can be made.


How to make plastic from Styrofoam (read cautions)

How to make plastic from household items


I do hope others will share what they know and have come to learn.

[superflytnt]

There's a bunch of ways, although that is likely one of the easiest to make durable plastic items. The molding, however, is harder.

Here's a link on molding:
www.hirstarts.com/moldmake/moldmaking.html

[Radar]

I had a bunch others saved on my laptop.

Making a two part silicone mold by Instructibles.

Roto molding (plus its really cool) from Fresh Diggs.

More info on his Roto-Molding.

Questions about metal molds from All Experts.

Mold making from The Miniatures Page.

GleeMax Forum: How to make a clear figure.

Some page selling a bunch of stuff you probably don't need , but it is interesting to read.

Semi relevant molding discussion by Mego Museum.

Another company trying to sell stuff that is an interesting read.

eNotes: How to make an action figure .

Instructibles : How to make an action figure.

Molding by Monkeywiz.

Custom Coalition , a group of customizers.

How to: a collection of articles relating to mold making and casting.

Creating a two part plaster mold by Raving Toy Maniac.

Making 3-D objects by Quazen.

Hopefully we can come up with come cool creative ideas and new Attacktix figures from this info.

-Radar

[superflytnt]

Hobby Lobby has a kit you can buy to mold parts, BUT, the question is "what are we going to mold?". I have some experience, here's what I suggest:

1. Disassemble a 'tix' figure.
2. Make a Plaster of Paris mold of the arms (or what-have-you)
3. Use Sculpey to make an original object with the p-o-p mold. Use this as a template.
4. Sculpt the arm (or w.h.y.) to your specification and idea, being sure to not change the mating dimensions of the joints (so it will reassemble when made)
5. Make a silicone mold.
6. Make the plastic object as you desire in the final medium

Now you have a durable, playable plastic Tixman!

[Radar]

See this is where I get confused. I read all these simple directions, but I don't really understand. I'm sure these directions make since, I just don't understand. HELP ME TNT!

(or better yet) help me TNT, you're my only hope...help me TNT, you're my only hope...


1. Disassemble a 'tix' figure. Good, I understand so far
2. Make a Plaster of Paris mold of the arms (or what-have-you) OK, so the plaster of Paris is used to make a negative of the part/limb? Is this just to get the size of the joint right so it moves properly? Or are we making a plaster of Paris part/limb? Is the plaster of paris used as a model or as a mold?
3. Use Sculpey to make an original object with the p-o-p mold. Use this as a template. Then we are using the plaster of paris to jam a bunch of Sculpey into so that we have a part/limb/WhatHaveYou. This Item is then alterable to get the desired result, like changing a normal hand into a chainsaw or...what have you.
4. Sculpt the arm (or w.h.y.) to your specification and idea, being sure to not change the mating dimensions of the joints (so it will reassemble when made) This arm/WhatHaveYou is them comprised of sculpey.
5. Make a silicone mold. How do I do this? Do you recommend any product for the silicone?
6. Make the plastic object as you desire in the final medium How do I do this? Do you recommend any plastic mix, or epoxy as the product?

I know to someone who has done this before, What TNT described probably makes perfect since, but I think there are a lot of us guys who haven't quite got past repainting. And I'd love any more info you could provide. I'm still a little lost here.

Thank you!
-Radar

[ionicdesign]

Jun 27, 2008 21:30:48 GMT -5 Radar said:

5. Make a silicone mold. How do I do this? Do you recommend any product for the silicone?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=M400dj19nUs is part of of a two part instructional video narrated by a fellow who sounds remarkably like Mr. Rodgers.

The reason Silicone is good is because other molding methods limit the design because any in-cuts in the design would tend to break when the mold is removed (I've made a bunch of those kind doing sculptural things, ceramics etc.

I was very tempted to cast the main parts of characters when I last did claymation stuff (for a handful of NBA teams), but didn't, choosing to stick with clay and wire. If I do it again I'll cast them, it would have made maintenance during animation a much easier process.

[superflytnt]

Jun 27, 2008 21:30:48 GMT -5 Radar said:

See this is where I get confused. I read all these simple directions, but I don't really understand. I'm sure these directions make since, I just don't understand. HELP ME TNT!

(or better yet) help me TNT, you're my only hope...help me TNT, you're my only hope...


1. Disassemble a 'tix' figure. Good, I understand so far
2. Make a Plaster of Paris mold of the arms (or what-have-you) OK, so the plaster of Paris is used to make a negative of the part/limb? Is this just to get the size of the joint right so it moves properly? Or are we making a plaster of Paris part/limb? Is the plaster of paris used as a model or as a mold?
3. Use Sculpey to make an original object with the p-o-p mold. Use this as a template. Then we are using the plaster of paris to jam a bunch of Sculpey into so that we have a part/limb/WhatHaveYou. This Item is then alterable to get the desired result, like changing a normal hand into a chainsaw or...what have you.
4. Sculpt the arm (or w.h.y.) to your specification and idea, being sure to not change the mating dimensions of the joints (so it will reassemble when made) This arm/WhatHaveYou is them comprised of sculpey.
5. Make a silicone mold. How do I do this? Do you recommend any product for the silicone?
6. Make the plastic object as you desire in the final medium How do I do this? Do you recommend any plastic mix, or epoxy as the product?

I know to someone who has done this before, What TNT described probably makes perfect since, but I think there are a lot of us guys who haven't quite got past repainting. And I'd love any more info you could provide. I'm still a little lost here.

Thank you!
-Radar

ROFL...let's start over, with an example of how to make a figure by using an old figure as a starter.

1. Disassemble...a Luke Skywalker S3 striker.
2. Make a plaster of paris mold of the parts. Be sure to fill a tupperware with a bit of plaster, then use waxpaper or something to cover the edges as best you can. Then fill the rest to completely cover the arm.
3. When dry, seperate as best you can.
4. Load up the mold with sculpey.
--EXPLANATION: The reason for this is so you have something that is TIX friendly, but you can then do whatever you want to it. You can skip 1, 2, and 3 if you are making something NEW, completely NEW.
5. The P.O.P. mold will allow you to get a rough version of whatever you made the first time. I prefer P.O.P. because it's CHEAP and EASY, rather than mess with a resin mold or a silicone mold, although they will print better than P.O.P.
6. Take the newly created sculpey (or whatever) and make it into whatever you want the final product to look like, then cure it (or bake it....whatever the medium is)
7. Now you have an original object base model. Now comes the fun.

---SILICONE MOLDING 101 FROM SOMEONE NOT QUALIFIED TRULY TO HELP---
Take your object and put 'release compound' on it. This can be gotten at Hobby Lobby and other fine retailers. You also need to have a frame. These can be gotten online, or in kits at certain Hobby shops. You can also make one - it's not really hard if you have some tools and some time. It's a bit like making 2 opposing picture frames, but with the back and front covered. Then take some wax paper and REALLY REALLY WELL coat the insides to make it reusable. Take one side and fill it with the molding compound. Drop in (press) the object. Let that set and cure. Now that one side's done (it will have the consistency of REALLY thick jello) coat the entire thing, with release compound, use a paintbrush of good quality, and then fill the second half of your frame with the silicone. It pours. Take the half that has the arm (or whatever) and the frame, and set it on top of the other side. This is messy, REAL MESSY, and if you do it right the silicone will ooze from the edges in between the frames. Let the whole shebang cure, and if you did it right you will have 2 perfect images of half the object. Remove the original and SAVE IT SAFELY. The only problem you have now is that you need an ingress for the new object's material to fill in. There's a couple of ways to do this - the one I like is to drill (with a SMALL BIT) into one side of the side of the frame into the cavity where the object is to be molded.

Now you can coat both halves with your release compound, and close it up. Were you SMART, you would've made offset tooling pins on the frame so that it always aligns perfectly. Most kit frames have this built in. Mine didn't as I made it out of pine, and I had to use clamps to align. Worked, but only by luck.

Now that (we assume) both halves are aligned, you're ready! Mix your resin (or whatever) and prep it for launch. Take a syringe and load it with the material, then inject it into your ingress hole. Try to go slowly or the pressure can cause it to ooze in between the halves, making a nasty tag to remove later. If you've done it correctly, in 20 minutes when the resin sets you can seperate the halves and inside one side will be an almost perfect copy of the original.

There will be a need to X-acto the tags off, and remember that there is a tube of resin attached from where the inlet is that needs to be snipped off to remove the item.

Hope that helps!

[superflytnt]

PS - this is what I used the last time I tried it out. I made some models for a chess set, and they turned out pretty well. These guy's directions are good too.

www.castaldo.com/english/usinprod/u_silicone.html\


I should mention that the originals were sculpey and the finished product was a pewter pawn.

[LarimusPrime]

awesome! this is very useful for customs!!!

[Radar]

Jackpot...or at least interesting.

The Blog of a Hasbro intern.


Also, SmoothOn seems to have a wealth of information.

Lots of info here as well.

[rebel122]

How would i be able to make a lando calrissian attacktix figure?

or a Luke Skywalker at Jabbas Palace?