question for the community / help?
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question for the community / help?

Posted in Custom Workstation

hey guys whats up! so I was looking for a project for me and my lil sister to work on. she is great with her hands, anything artsy or crafty. she makes lots of items for cosplay and for various conventions, so shes pretty boss. anyway I was looking around at the various head/accessory casts sites collected on here and also on other customizer's sites. and aside from DMC (currently down I think) I noticed that there isnt a huge selection. esspecially for accessories! so I guess I was wondering if there was a demand for stuff like that? I know I love collecting weapons and such for my figures and aside from a few figures here and these, not many come with a lot of them, not like in the good ole days anyway. but is that something people would be into? this is a lil bit of what I got



I also have some batarangs that I've been working on for my batman characters and what not.

aside from that I was wondering if anyone used any of the techniques from the links in the head casting thread? seems most of them use the older style heads where the peg is part of the figure, rather than there being a ped hole. is there a big difference in using the same methods?

im trying t figure out the best way to start this lil projectand so far this link I got from kyle robinson's customs looks the most promising
http://www.smooth-on.com/index.php?cPath=4_1217
but the kit is over $50. since I've never really tried to cast anything im not sure if that just what it typically costs to get started up of is there is a better way to go about it. really any feedback from someone who has actually used a "kit" from a specific site to try and cast smaller items like heads or guns would be great to hear!

well thanks for your time guys! lemme know what you think. is its somethung you'd be into, shoot me any ideas! prices, selection, anything that will help our collecting community!

Posted by DeathByMexico
on Wednesday, May 23, 2012
User Comments
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shapp -
Monday, September 10, 2012
Wooooo! We have a success!
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DeathByMexico -
Monday, September 10, 2012
ok since I started that other thread im gonna post one last pic in here then mainly be communicating any casty/moldy fun stuff in the other thread


I dare say this one came out 'perfect' you can see the detail in the sculpted spear tip, all the other details look really good too. no air bubbles or voids or anything. so this is my first victory!!! now you may be asking why the hell I'd even wanna cast an old movie accessory from the '89 batman flick? well I am working on building my bat armory, and I have a few batarang that I sculpted by hand already (not worth moldiing and casting since theres not really lot of detail and I can craft almost identical onces) but I didn't have any grapple type tool except the one tht came with the 'detective' dcu batman. and that one kinda sucks. I like the design of the arkham and nolanverse grapple gun so after some modding I hope to turn this into a pretty sweet pistol grip type grapple gun for my arkham city bats! and one for robin and nightwing too. on a side note is anyone has any o the DCD arkham batman gadgets or accessories and they wouldn't mind sharing, those have a lot of detail and would definitely warrant a mold. esspecially if you have anything from the arkham asylum series
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shapp -
Thursday, September 6, 2012
they'll never find me!
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crea-torX -
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Oh by the Shapp, the National Guard would like the weapons back as soon as you are done with them. I think the Home Land Security is also looking for you too! There's always a need for guns! Toys and in the Real world too!


Protect our rights and the 2nd Amendment!
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shapp -
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
ill try to do that tonight but can't make any promises =/
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DeathByMexico -
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
sure man if u wanna send me a pic or something of some stuff you think would be kool for me to cast, that would be sweet. I think tomorrow I am gonna try one of the smgs or assault rifles that I have pictured
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shapp -
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
hey dude, hit me up if you need some test items to cast =)
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DeathByMexico -
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
fail


I put the pouring sprue and the air venting sprue too close together, next time im going to pour the resin through the barrel maybe let the air vent out towards the top? or maybe where the circular thing is towards the bottom I don't really care if the "handle" comes out since I will be cutting it off anyway. I would like to try with a gun that has a trigger guard tho so I can tackle problem

oh and thor sketch by my buddy joshua werner. http://asfallleaves.blogspot.com/ if you wanna check him out!
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DeathByMexico -
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
so I got my molding/casting kit and I think I have the general gist of it. I did a mold of a batman accessory from the '89 batman figure. his spear/grapple gun. got it to be almost perfect but I think I put the 'sprue' or whatever too far from the barrel, so I need try to do a new mold altogether. however as you can see from my collection I have a lot to choose from as far as experiments go, thats where you guys come in! see something you like? shoot me an offer and I will give it a go! then once I get it to come out awesome I will totally sell it to ya! now I know I don't have the guns numbered or anything but just gimme a general idea of what you want. I did sorta group them together in the pix by type, so most of the rifles, assault rifles, smgs, heavy guns and pistols are near each other.
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Mad_Bastard -
Friday, May 25, 2012
Oh yeah, I'll take 2 or 3 everything please!!!
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Ole Jade Jaw -
Thursday, May 24, 2012
I cast a lot of my own heads and I can tell you that guns are way harder to do. The tiny details and trigger guards alone pose frustrating problems. One air bubble in the middle of a little gun barrel and it breaks in half. They generally have to be done in 2 part molds and I would venture to say if you haven't done it before, you'd be trying to start out at a more advanced level. Maybe you should try molding and casting some heads first. They tend to be the easiest to gain experience with. I could be totally wrong, and you could end up being a master at it, I'm just throwin it out there.
If you do venture forth, try to find a distributer near you. These containers weigh, and the shipping tends to be almost equal to the product. I pay 25.00 for a 2 lb silicone kit, (15-20 head molds) and 25.00 for smooth-on 2 lbs resin (maybe 30-40 casts) Those numbers are without mistakes and include unsuccessful casts, which you will have some of without a pressure pot or vacuum chamber. It is fun though, and a lot cheaper than buying figures just for heads.
OJJ
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pock63 -
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Try looking up some video tutorials on youtube, I found them very helpful back when I was getting started, and feel free to ask me any questions you have.
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shapp -
Thursday, May 24, 2012
I for one am always looking for accessories. Look at it like this, even if someone can cast themselves they have to have the item.
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DeathByMexico -
Thursday, May 24, 2012
guess that may be another problem, if a lot of people on here are already casting there isnt much incentive to buy from someone when you can make it yourself. I was thinking about going with that kit from smooth-on. my buddy works at an a.c. moore also tho and I was gonna see if they had the stuff I would need as seperate pieces and use on of their online coupons (50% off!) I don't think I am gonna invest in a vaccum chamber, haha 50-70 is about the budget I wanna start out with unless I see a lot of peple take interest. thanks for the info tho man! if you have any tips at all that would be great since I've never done casting before. esspecially tips on ways to get started!
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pock63 -
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Well depending on what kind of casting you decide to use the cost may vary. I have a silicone casting kit and the starter kit was originally priced at $105 but I got it for $60 with a boss coupon! After that the silicone runs out eventually but it will take a very long time and I'm still using the first to bottles of casting plastic I bought, they go a long way. If you already know how to cast then you could save some money by buying the silicone and plastic separately instead of the starter kit. Also, if you decide to go high end you would want to buy a vacume chamber, although I don't have the exact price because I don't have one I think they range from $120-$300. I would suggest to go without one at least to start off with. I hope this helps good luck
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DeathByMexico -
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
yeah dude a collection for my collection! glad you share my enthusiasm! if more people get on board then I would be super psyched to supply people! I also have a buncha gears of war weapons that would work great for bigger characters like cable. anyway from looking around on other sites, prices can range from 1.25-4.00 for guns, so I was also trying to gauge what price people thought was fair. without knowing how much the start up costs are and how often I'd need to buy more supplies, its hard to say what a good price would be to be fair to myself, as well as any potential customers
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pock63 -
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
I for one am always in kneed of more guns for my figures
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