Material for making moulds.

[Andy in Sig]

I'm posting this in the hope that there is somebody here who really knows his/her modelling. I want to take a mould of a metal item (part of a large format camera as it happens) and then reproduce the item in a hard substance. Ideally I would cast it in brass but don't want to go to the trouble (and possible danger) of using molten metal. So what I'm after is a substance that ideally starts out as a liquid or paste and hardens off into something really tough, perhaps there is some sort of resin that would do the trick. I would make the actual mould cast out of plaster or indeed the same resin stuff if that were possible. Any suggestions?

 

[vernon]

Here you go.

Easy Composites has everything that you need

This is the low temperature method. You make a silicon rubber mould then cast in a resin.

 

[Andy in Sig]

Cheers Vernon, that looks right on the button.

 

[Over The Hill]

I have not looked at the website fully but seems to be on the right lines and I agree with Vernon.

Silicone is good for the mould. but then you may ned to support it with an outer mould. Plaster or wood will support it OK.

For a metal look you can get cold cast bronze (or other metals) which is basically a fine powder of metal that is mixed in with the resin. When cast it can be sanded polished and finished like the real metal and is quite a good copy with similar weight and feel.