Plastic Resin Casting and Molding - How-to Guide

I've decided to put together a basic "how-to" guide that covers rubber mold making and resin plastic casting and molding. I learned quite a bit over the last 5 years while building my B9 Robot and a couple dozen Mystic Seers'. This is will not cover plastic injection molding but rather the type of molding you can do at home

Hopefully you will pick up a few tips here that will help you avoid some of the pitfalls. If you haven't already, you should first check out my Silicone Rubber Mold Making - How-to Guide.

	When molding parts, I use a 2 part resin called Por-A Kast "Mark-2". I have also used Smooth-On's "Smooth Cast 300" series (300, 321 & 326) with great success. You measure it out by volume so it is pretty easy to use. It's also pretty forgiving if your ratio is off a little.
	If you want your resin part to have a specific color you will have to experiment with some coloring. I use So-Strong colorants. There are very strong and very reliable once you figure out how much to use. To get the desired pink-flesh tone I have to mix a drop of orange with a drop of red. That is enough to tint about 4 ounces of resin. I mix up a small batch of the Part A of the resin and keep it in an air tight container.
	If you want to extend the life of your molds you'll want to have to spray on mold release. Lightly spray both halves of your mold and let it dry a few minutes.
	Measure out an appropriate amount of Part A and Part B.
	Combine the two parts. I pour them back and forth a few times to make sure I get it all mixed. They say you should pour both parts into a third container. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't. As long as you thoroughly mix it up, you should not have any problems.
	Continued on Plastic Resin Casting Page 2