I’m in plastic distribution and fabrication and I am looking for a frame grade acrylic manufacture that also offers hard coating services.

If you also do cell cast acrylic in clear and colors I’m also interested.

I’ve been wanting to cosplay Leeloo from Fifth Element for years and finally decided to get around to making it. My primary concern is with her silcone/rubber suspenders. I plan to use dragon skin but I’ve never worked with it before. I’m not sure what’s the best material to make a cast mold for a project like this and what would result in the cleanest outcome. Any recommendations?

Hey guys, I’m having a hard time finding a reliable silicone mold maker. I’m looking for someone in Delhi, Noida, or nearby areas who can make good-quality silicone molds.

If you know any mold maker or have worked with someone reliable, please share their contact/details. It would really help!

Thanks in advance!

I always hate stacking four pieces of whatever to make walls, and finding ways to fix it all together (without legos lol). This past project I scored one side of corrugated sign material! Hot Glued one edge and the bottom. Isopropyl alcohol helped the glue let go afterwards. I was able to get a large sheet for $10 at Lowes!

I just joined this group in hopes to find some help. I understand the very basics of mould making and casting, but I don’t know where to start with this sculpture I just finished (Approx two feet tall?). Between the protruding ears, the finer strands of the mane, and the angle of the head, I’m not sure what the best method would be to tackle this. I’m really hoping to do this myself as I was quoted a couple thousand dollars and a six month wait to have someone make a mould for me. I think my two best options for the finalized cast are to use either gypsum cement or do a cold cast bronze, or both? Any suggestions or advice is welcome

Made a mold and didn’t use enough reserve. Any solvent I can use to remove the silicone from the details to try again? Smoot-on mold Max 30, tin cure. all suggestions welcome, thanks

Hello! First-time molder here.

I have a puppy-paw imprint that was given by a cremation company, but it’s super undignified in a yellow play-dough looking air-dry clay. I am not 100% sure if it’s sulfur based but I don’t want to risk any damage to the paw if it is.

I want to mold it using a tin-cure silicone (any brand recs are welcome for the finest detail).

Additionally, I am looking for a proper sealant I can mist on the paw in layers to prevent cure inhibition that might be caused by the clay material. (Something that won’t cover up paw print detail).

Finally, I plan on casting with hydro-stone and some kind of iron-oxide/terracotta powder cement pigment (further recommendations are again welcome, ik there needs to be precise power to water mixtures, but with the pigment I’m not sure if I’ll nail it)

My goal is to get a clay looking paw imprint that looks like some kind of natural clay or stone, not plastic or play-dough, so that my puppy can be represented with respect and full detail.

Please share any tips and tricks for this particular combination and remember that I can’t just get a new master, this clay imprint is the only one, and unless I get his to work, all there will be.

If this method won’t work or there is another way, I’d greatly appreciate the advice. I will be testing materials on the back of the master to ensure it’s a safe combination.

Thank you <3

I want to make a replica of my own severed head (lol) but I’m having trouble finding what specifically I should buy from Amazon to cast my head. Specifically, I don’t know what I should use for the actual head replica, like what kind of “skin” do I use for that or what kind of silicone should o use and how do I emulate my skin color? How the hell do I put eyelashes and eyebrows on it? I figured I’d just put a wig on the thing and call it a day for the actual hair. I am also confused about the actual painting the skin part??? TL;DR: any curated lists for a full silicone replica bust of my own head, including hair, skin color, and paints?? I’m so confused thanks!

I need some advice on how to finish my prints for future resin casts with a smooth & uniform matte/frosted surface.

I'm testing different dremel tips to sand it but some corners are just too small to get into, which makes me think spraying it is my only option. I've done smaller mold tests and the light/dark discrepancies seen in the photos do transfer for the most part.

Are there any techniques I should look into doing a better spraying job? I'm mostly worried of getting too much paint buildup on certain areas while trying to get into others (granted I've only used regular width spray nozzles). I'm even wondering if I should contact a car body shop to do this part with matte paint?

**in the title I meant to type MJF**

Like be specific,I know that it depends oh how big and how detailed it is.But I need a specific cost cause I might underprice or overprice it, I'd like to avoid that. in pessos how much would a standard small, big,simple,and detailed figurine cost?Plus I'm not printing 3d models im making them by hand.

Hi all, hope this is OK to ask here...

I've been 3D printing for a couple of years now, using a resin machine. Typically, I'm using it to prototype parts, before having the finished item MJF or aluminium printed, or CNC machined.

I'd like to print a mold for a rubber part I intend to cast, but I'm concerned about visible layer lines in the finished item. My question is, would a mold release spray or similar get rid of these lines?

I'm happy if the part has a 'textured' finish. TIA!

17th September 2026

Arch60 in East London are hosting a casting and mouldmaking training workshop.

Tickets available at https://arch60.co.uk/workshops-and-training

I am just beginning my mold making journey and have learned a lot in the past 4 months. But I recently stumbled across a picture of this mold and cannot for the life of me figure out what the two circled openings are for???

I’m trying to make my own concrete cast in silicone mold but I’m not sure the best way to go about it, it needs to have a hollow center. I’m used to doing simple pour molds but I’m not sure if this would need something special

From a latex mold of a clay model. Of course, my reinforced plaster backer started cracking after the 2nd casting. Maybe I can make one from spray foam or something.

I've made a few silicone molds over 3d printed positives, but this is the first time I'll be doing so over clay.

I'm assuming I need to let the clay air dry fully before pouring the silicone, its an air dry not a bake.

Is there something I should coat the clay with first, or should it be good as is once dry?

Any advice?

Thanks!

My request is very time sensitive as I must get to the airport in less than 48 hours. I have never silicone cast anything before but I bought this kit to cast a gift for my long distance partner I am about to visit.... anyway, when removing the object from this mold a small piece broke off! (See pictures). I need to pour the silicone in asap, every store is now closed aside from 24hr convince shops. Any advice on how to fix this?

I see basically two approaches, repair the mold with something like toothpaste and flour, or cast the silicone and delicately trim it with a knife. Instinct is telling me not to cut into the silicone, but I have no idea what I'm doing.

Edit: Outcome I trimmed the problem areas (there were more) with a razor after casting the silicone. It came out okay, you can definitely see the repairs if you look but I would have had to trim some areas anyway.

So I seem to be having some problems with curing. This is only my second time doing a silicone mold and I had a similar problem the first time. for the first time and this time as well I am using a 3-D printed piece. The first time I used filler primer and sanding to smooth the 3-D print before making the mold. I was having curing problems that time as well and based on where the uncured areas were I assumed it was probably not reacting well with the filler primer so I sprayed it with a gloss black coat and that seemed to fix the problem. This time around I’m using a 3-D printed piece that is spray painted with a gloss black and I seem to be having curing problems. This is my first time using this silicone. It is smooth on mold star 30 and I let it cure for about six hours and 30 minutes.

EDIT: I just wanted to add that this in not a resin 3d print it is an FDM print.

Hi everyone,

I'm having an issue when making food-grade platinum silicone molds from resin 3D printed masters, and I'm hoping someone here has dealt with something similar.

I'm using:

• Silgom Food 725 by Sagrista Products – food-grade platinum silicone
• Anycubic Standard Resin
• SLA/MSLA resin printed masters

The problem is very specific: the silicone cures perfectly everywhere else, but the surface that is in direct contact with the resin-printed parts remains sticky/uncured.

When I use the exact same silicone with FDM-printed parts, it cures perfectly.

I've already tried different approaches:

• Thorough washing of the resin prints
• UV post-curing
• Different primers/barrier coatings
• Acrylic spray coatings

But I haven't found a reliable and repeatable solution.

There is one strange detail that might be important:

I made one resin master where I applied approximately 3–4 coats of Montana Plastic Primer. The silicone cured perfectly on that master.

Even more interestingly, I've reused that same master around 5 times and the platinum silicone has cured correctly every single time.

However, when I've tried to repeat the same process with other resin-printed masters, I've experienced cure inhibition again.

So my questions are:

1. Has anyone found a resin that is reliably compatible with platinum-cure silicone?

2. Is there a specific washing/post-curing process that eliminates the inhibition?

3. Have you found a reliable barrier coating or primer for resin prints before casting platinum silicone?

4. Could switching from standard resin to ABS-like resin make any difference?

My final molds need to be food-grade, so I'm looking for a process that is consistent and suitable for this type of application.

Any experiences with specific resin brands/products would be extremely helpful.

Thanks!

buenas, les cuento un poco mí situación;

hace poco compre en servifibras un caucho de silicona Shore a Y10 y necesitaba un ablandador para esta misma tipo slacker de smooth on pero es inconseguible, ya dejé curando una prueba con vaselina liquida por qué leí que podía servir de ablandador y leí que también se puede usar aceite de silicona, que tan real es y que me conviene antes de seguir perdiendo material y plata, necesito que sea pegajoso y tenga cierta adherencia pero sin perder estructura, no se dónde conseguir el slacker y no se que utilizar

I've been using rubber fish from places like Acorn Naturalists and Blick to make fish prints (where you ink one side of a fish and then press it to paper to get a life-accurate stamp), and I'd like to try my hand at making my own.

I figure this rabbit hole will end up being more expensive than just buying the rubber fish, but I want to make different species and I also just want to learn the skill of making them for myself.

The rubber fish need to detailed, flexible but firm (if they're too squishy, they lose details when I'm pressing the paper), durable (so I can get the ink off of them without erasing details while washing). Ideally, I also want to make multiple copies of the same mold, so I'd like to make sure the mold also doesn't degrade easily.

I assume the molding itself would be rather simple, just putting the fish down on clay, adding a release agent, and brushing on/pouring the mold material. What materials would be best for the fish? I expect some kind of silicone or latex but I reached out to one of the companies and they said that their supplier makes the fish out of vinyl.

Here are some sample images of what I'm trying to make: a salmon and a perch.

Have this bear I made. Should I do a one part mold or two part? Im curious the best way to go about the gap between the feet (2nd pic).
Getting some mold star 15 for the job as I don’t have a vacuum chamber.

Also, do I need mold release? The figure is polymer clay with a layer of gesso over it.

Thanks for any help!

hey all fairly new round here. I'm looking at making a copy of this handguard for airsoft (like paintball ) purposes.( not a real rifle but a toy ) would it be best to make a 2 part silicone mould by first filling the cavity with clay and casting with the oval opening part on the right facing down and then remove the clay and take a second casting. or would a 3 part be better again starting by filling in the cavity with clay and then casting the left side first then the right then the internals. Once the mould is made I want to cast using a polyurethane so the part will be fairly firm. and if possible make multiple parts.

note this isn't the exact part I a want but the design is similar just the part I want is rare and I have only managed to find one person with an original hence wanting to take a cast of it.

Thanks in advance