Resin Cars

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Adam Wright
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Resin Cars

#1 Post by Adam Wright »

Me and the kids decided to start playing with Epoxy Resin. Avi made little tea cups, I made Porsches!
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Adam Wright
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Re: Resin Cars

#2 Post by Adam Wright »

Ok, so after polishing and clear coating, this is where we are. I'm trying some more refinements, but overall it's fun!
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Adam Wright
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Re: Resin Cars

#3 Post by Adam Wright »

Tried to do black resin, worked out ok, but I kind of like the clear better. Might experiment with lite tinting, rather than solid colors.
Also, ran out of resin, so ordered 2 gallons, it's gonna be a long winter.
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Doug McDonnell
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Re: Resin Cars

#4 Post by Doug McDonnell »

I wanted to see Avi's teacups :>)
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Adam Wright
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Re: Resin Cars

#5 Post by Adam Wright »

Doug McDonnell wrote: Mon Jan 18, 2021 3:52 pm I wanted to see Avi's teacups :>)
They are a work in progress. First we make the cups, then the straws, then the tops, the the colored resin for the tea, and the little balls for the boba. It's boba tea.
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Sebastian Gaeta
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Re: Resin Cars

#6 Post by Sebastian Gaeta »

Oooh, send me a coupe!
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Adam Wright
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Re: Resin Cars

#7 Post by Adam Wright »

Ok, made a new mold tonight and yes there are lots of 356's in there!

Hoping to do all these this weekend, check back for updates.
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Re: Resin Cars

#8 Post by Adam Wright »

So after three tries to make a larger mold for more cars, and three failures I went back to the drawing board. More research showed me an alternative method to making the mold that looked very promising, and a lot less work and mess. It involved DAWN soap and water, pretty simple, right? I tried and it was much easier. I poured resin in the new molds so tomorrow we shall see if the finished result is better. But I now have 11 car molds, so everything from a 917, to a Speedster, to a RSR. One drawback, the new method take all the paint off the little cars in the mold making process. Strange byproduct.
Stay tuned.
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Re: Resin Cars

#9 Post by Adam Wright »

Ok, so lots of trial and error later, more error actually. I've upgraded the mold making twice and am much happier with the latest results, shiny and crisp, without any buffing or sanding. I'll keep working but the process is improving, and I'm still having fun!
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Brooks Herrick
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Re: Resin Cars

#10 Post by Brooks Herrick »

Adam:
Do I see bubbles in your castings? The best way to get rid of the bubbles is to pressure cast the part. You'll need to make or purchase a pressure pot (i.e.Harbor Freight) and cure the casting under 30-40 psi pressure. I've done some of this work and would suggest you use the "Alumilite Water Clear" product for your resin. Despite what the directions say, do not vacuum cure. It won't work and Alumilite will admit that their instructions to vacuum cure are incorrect. Pressure cure only! They also have a bunch of mold making products that are compatible with the "Water Clear" to use in making the mold of the items you are replicating.
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Alan Hall
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Re: Resin Cars

#11 Post by Alan Hall »

What is pressure casting? I thought to get bubble free casting you vacuum de-gassed the resin before pouring. As I recall (it has been quite a while) you pulled a vacuum on the mixed resin until it frothed, then broke the vacuum and repeat a couple of times until it did not froth under vacuum and was crystal clear, then poured into the mold.

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Joris Koning
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Re: Resin Cars

#12 Post by Joris Koning »

Alan, yes. It does help to have a pressure pot because depending on how complicate your mold is it might be sensitive to trapping air. The pressure pots helps with this.
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Adam Wright
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Re: Resin Cars

#13 Post by Adam Wright »

I guess I have to decide how far I want to take this. My original plan was to make these as giveaways at swap meets and the like, the costs have escalated more than I had planned, and if I start buying lots of equipment it might get too crazy. But like I said, still having fun, and the kids like it, so quality time there.
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Re: Resin Cars

#14 Post by Brooks Herrick »

Alan: When you mix the two part resins, you are challenged not to introduce air in the mixing process. Seriously, good luck. No matter how slowly you mix and try to NOT to introduce air, you will. Pressure curing takes those microscopic bubbles you can not see and compresses them so much that when the product has fully cured, the bubbles are compressed to an invisible state. Those bubbles are compressed and the cured resin they are encased in, does not allow the air bubbles to reinflate. You are partially correct with the vacuum cure process. If you are casting an opaque object in a pour-in mold with a material/resin that has a longer cure time, vacuuming the mixed product/resin before pouring it into the mold will indeed remove most of the bubbles that were introduced in the mixing process. Open, top-sided pour-in molds typically produce a finished product that has a flat bottom. You pour your product, let it cure, pull it out of the mold and then flip it over, which gives you your finished product. After you have poured, the remaining bubbles start rising to the surface which just happens to be the flat/base part of the finished product. If there are bubbles, they tend to be in an area of the the finished product that you can not see. If you are pouring a clear resin, the only way I have had success is to pressure those pesky bubbles so much that they become invisible. Alumilite has some really cool products. They have many videos. Their mold products are very good. You can even achieve success of molding items with deep undercuts. Again, if you want absolutely no bubbles, pressure cure. It's all fun!

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Re: Resin Cars

#15 Post by Alan Hall »

Thanks for the explanation Brooks!

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