Tank ornaments
- Thread starter NewLuv4Fish
- Start date
Plecosterone
We don't need no stinking badges!
Cast a plaster mold of something you like. Best if done in two seperate halves. Make sure 2 halves fit tight against each other. Pour in resin. Paint with non-toxic paint.
it isnt quite that "simple"
You would need to have the equipment to make the casts, the skill to sculpt the plaster, and artistic ability and an airbrush if you want to make a decent looking resin background.
First you would need someone to carve or sculpt a structure to actually make the mould from.
Either that or some of that green flower foam large enough for your needs, and some rocks or whatever to impress into the foam.
then you get some wax and pour it into this foam.... since your making a mould you need a good cast, so you put this wax filled foam into a vaccuum chamber to draw out any remaining air in the plaster.
Once it hardens you will your master positive cast.
you then take your wax master, and stick it partially into a container filled with plaster, so when the plaster hardens it leaves an impression of the wax cast.
once the plaster is hard your throw it into a kiln, and melt away all of the wax.
now you have a master negative mould.
Fill that mould with resin, since you dont want a solid block, you would wait until the resin has hardened enough to leave a thick layer covering the sides of the mould.... pour the rest out and let the resin coating harden on the plaster mould.
once the resin is hard, break away the plaster carefully, and paint the resin to your liking with aquarium safe paints, or once its painted with any form of paint, cover it one last time with a resin or epoxy to seal it up.
This is just a ROUGH idea into the look of how moulds are made
You would need to have the equipment to make the casts, the skill to sculpt the plaster, and artistic ability and an airbrush if you want to make a decent looking resin background.
First you would need someone to carve or sculpt a structure to actually make the mould from.
Either that or some of that green flower foam large enough for your needs, and some rocks or whatever to impress into the foam.
then you get some wax and pour it into this foam.... since your making a mould you need a good cast, so you put this wax filled foam into a vaccuum chamber to draw out any remaining air in the plaster.
Once it hardens you will your master positive cast.
you then take your wax master, and stick it partially into a container filled with plaster, so when the plaster hardens it leaves an impression of the wax cast.
once the plaster is hard your throw it into a kiln, and melt away all of the wax.
now you have a master negative mould.
Fill that mould with resin, since you dont want a solid block, you would wait until the resin has hardened enough to leave a thick layer covering the sides of the mould.... pour the rest out and let the resin coating harden on the plaster mould.
once the resin is hard, break away the plaster carefully, and paint the resin to your liking with aquarium safe paints, or once its painted with any form of paint, cover it one last time with a resin or epoxy to seal it up.
This is just a ROUGH idea into the look of how moulds are made
Plecosterone
We don't need no stinking badges!
Thanx darksoul. I didn't want to get that much into the details. The way you described IS the way it is done but a lot of work. My way is easier, faster and will work. At least NewLuv now knows how moulds are really made and can decide on what to do.
you just made it sound so simple.... I wanted to expand on it so he didnt go on thinking making a mould was a cheap or easy process.
he is going to have to go through all of that stuff, and more (i know ive missed steps and left out info or other methods of doing it) if he wants to make a resin background..... it would be more cost effective to just buy one
I currently work making orthotic devices for shoes, and we do one form of moulding using a foam like mentioned above, and thermoplastics melted over the plaster cast.... again this would be another way of doing it, but again you need the equipment and the materials... and none of it is cheap if you arent going to be making these things for mass production.
he is going to have to go through all of that stuff, and more (i know ive missed steps and left out info or other methods of doing it) if he wants to make a resin background..... it would be more cost effective to just buy one
I currently work making orthotic devices for shoes, and we do one form of moulding using a foam like mentioned above, and thermoplastics melted over the plaster cast.... again this would be another way of doing it, but again you need the equipment and the materials... and none of it is cheap if you arent going to be making these things for mass production.
I know how to make molds and sculpt and all that and am very artistic, I'm not asking how to make background out of resins, I was asking how to make the ornaments that go into tanks ..but its the same process. But what I'm really wondering is about the resin...can somebody go more into detail about resin. How costly would it be to make tank ornaments? What I want to ultimately do is be able to create a line of them and sell them and I want to make them in the easiest, cheapest way possible with cheapest being first priority over easy.