Head mold tutorials?
- Thread starter Weezer
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unsung hero
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I may have something, let me dig through some old stuff I saved.
the dude person
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Dorgs is really the expert, I think, but I can try to explain the process of casting for you if you want. (I'm not totally inexperienced, I've actually cast four different heads before! 
)
The first thing you want to do after you've selected the HS you want to cast, is find a mold container for it.
This is the little "box" where you will put the head and pour silicone rubber around it until the head is covered.
Now just to make sure you're clear on this, silicone rubber is used to make flexible rubber molds, which are later filled with casting resin (a kind of plastic.) Both come in two liquid parts which must be mixed together and then poured before curing into solid form.
I use the term "mold box" loosely, because a lot of the time what I do, is take any old soda can, and cut off the top and bottom. This way, you just have a nice metal cylinder to use. Of course, usually this is a little too large for a head mold (might waste valuable silicone), so I cut the metal cylinder up the side, and kind of roll it a little tighter/smaller, then duct tape it on the outside so it won't come unrolled again.
Cylinders really are the best shapes for mold boxes, as you don't have any corners to fill up.
Anyway, with the soda can approach, you want to make sure the can is at least an inch taller than your head, and if you put the head inside it, the head should have about a centimeter of clearance or so.
Once you have your cylinder the right size, you're going to need a flat surface and some clay.
You want to use the clay to fill the seams between the can and whatever surface you use. The surface you attach the can to should be something smooth and non-porous, such as a plastic plate. When you pour your silicone, you don't want it leaking out that bottom edge!
You don't have to use a soda can, you could also use any plastic container that was about the right size, including the bottom parts of McDonald's cups, among other things. Some people like to make boxes out of Lego's, all you really need is a space in which to pour the silicone around the headsculpt.
Once you've got your mold box set up, you need to assess what kind of HS you have. If it has no neck, you're going to want to sculpt one out of clay. The purpose of this is to get the head upright and stable within the mold.
You will need to smear the edges of the clay neck onto the bottom of your mold box so that it stays upright by itself. Also, the clay neck will provide a hole for you to pour your resin into later.
If your head does have a sculpted neck already, just secure the bottom edge with a bit of clay.
Anyway, at this point you should have: an appropriately sized container with your headsculpt attached neatly inside.
Now comes the part where you actually use the silicone. You'll probably have to order some from Smooth-On or Alumilite, unless you can find some silicone rubber at your local hobby store.
The silicone comes in two parts, which must be mixed together in a ratio dictated by instructions that should come with the stuff.
You need two measuring/medicine cups and one other disposable plastic cup. One measuring cup to measure part A, one for part B, and another to mix them together in.
Once you measure out the right amount, you'll need to mix it until it seems completely homogenous/consistent in color and vicsocity. From your mixing cup, you'll need to pour the mixed silicone into your mold container.
Don't pour it on the head itself, try to pour it down the side of the mold box, slowly letting it fill up. Keep going until the level of the silicone is at least a centimeter or so above the top of your headsculpt.
Once you're done pouring, you'll need to wait about 24 hours before removing the sculpt from the mold (depending on what brand of silicone you get, and what it's instructions actually say)
There are three ways to do this:
1 - pull the head out of the hole in the bottom of the mold (the hole created by the neck) This method leaves no seamlines when you cast the head, but may be impossible. The head might just be stuck in there, or removing it this way may cause the silicone to rip. This is only reccomended if you have the extra special flexible kind of silicone rubber.
2 - cut the mold up the back with a relatively sharp knife, but stop when you get to the top of the mold. This way you'll have a slit which you can sort of pry open, and remove the head from behind. This also means that the seamline will only go up the back of the head when casting it. (PS, you may want to mark your soda can/mold box with a Sharpie to remember where the back of your head is - you don't want seamlines running up the front of the face!)
3 - cut the mold in half. This will leave seamlines on both sides of the head, but this method could be useful for heads with a lot of detail. Also, you will need to figure out some way of lining the mold halves back up again, or else you'll never be able to cast in it.
I usually use method two.
Anyway, I hope this helps! It's kind of written off the top of my head, so I apologize if it seems kind of confusing. Feel free to ask questions, and I can write up a casting tutorial too if you'd like.
You should check around the web for molding/casting tutorials, there are some very helpful and informative ones out there.
Good luck with your casting Weezer!
)The first thing you want to do after you've selected the HS you want to cast, is find a mold container for it.
This is the little "box" where you will put the head and pour silicone rubber around it until the head is covered.
Now just to make sure you're clear on this, silicone rubber is used to make flexible rubber molds, which are later filled with casting resin (a kind of plastic.) Both come in two liquid parts which must be mixed together and then poured before curing into solid form.
I use the term "mold box" loosely, because a lot of the time what I do, is take any old soda can, and cut off the top and bottom. This way, you just have a nice metal cylinder to use. Of course, usually this is a little too large for a head mold (might waste valuable silicone), so I cut the metal cylinder up the side, and kind of roll it a little tighter/smaller, then duct tape it on the outside so it won't come unrolled again.
Cylinders really are the best shapes for mold boxes, as you don't have any corners to fill up.
Anyway, with the soda can approach, you want to make sure the can is at least an inch taller than your head, and if you put the head inside it, the head should have about a centimeter of clearance or so.
Once you have your cylinder the right size, you're going to need a flat surface and some clay.
You want to use the clay to fill the seams between the can and whatever surface you use. The surface you attach the can to should be something smooth and non-porous, such as a plastic plate. When you pour your silicone, you don't want it leaking out that bottom edge!
You don't have to use a soda can, you could also use any plastic container that was about the right size, including the bottom parts of McDonald's cups, among other things. Some people like to make boxes out of Lego's, all you really need is a space in which to pour the silicone around the headsculpt.
Once you've got your mold box set up, you need to assess what kind of HS you have. If it has no neck, you're going to want to sculpt one out of clay. The purpose of this is to get the head upright and stable within the mold.
You will need to smear the edges of the clay neck onto the bottom of your mold box so that it stays upright by itself. Also, the clay neck will provide a hole for you to pour your resin into later.
If your head does have a sculpted neck already, just secure the bottom edge with a bit of clay.
Anyway, at this point you should have: an appropriately sized container with your headsculpt attached neatly inside.
Now comes the part where you actually use the silicone. You'll probably have to order some from Smooth-On or Alumilite, unless you can find some silicone rubber at your local hobby store.
The silicone comes in two parts, which must be mixed together in a ratio dictated by instructions that should come with the stuff.
You need two measuring/medicine cups and one other disposable plastic cup. One measuring cup to measure part A, one for part B, and another to mix them together in.
Once you measure out the right amount, you'll need to mix it until it seems completely homogenous/consistent in color and vicsocity. From your mixing cup, you'll need to pour the mixed silicone into your mold container.
Don't pour it on the head itself, try to pour it down the side of the mold box, slowly letting it fill up. Keep going until the level of the silicone is at least a centimeter or so above the top of your headsculpt.
Once you're done pouring, you'll need to wait about 24 hours before removing the sculpt from the mold (depending on what brand of silicone you get, and what it's instructions actually say)
There are three ways to do this:
1 - pull the head out of the hole in the bottom of the mold (the hole created by the neck) This method leaves no seamlines when you cast the head, but may be impossible. The head might just be stuck in there, or removing it this way may cause the silicone to rip. This is only reccomended if you have the extra special flexible kind of silicone rubber.
2 - cut the mold up the back with a relatively sharp knife, but stop when you get to the top of the mold. This way you'll have a slit which you can sort of pry open, and remove the head from behind. This also means that the seamline will only go up the back of the head when casting it. (PS, you may want to mark your soda can/mold box with a Sharpie to remember where the back of your head is - you don't want seamlines running up the front of the face!)
3 - cut the mold in half. This will leave seamlines on both sides of the head, but this method could be useful for heads with a lot of detail. Also, you will need to figure out some way of lining the mold halves back up again, or else you'll never be able to cast in it.
I usually use method two.
Anyway, I hope this helps! It's kind of written off the top of my head, so I apologize if it seems kind of confusing. Feel free to ask questions, and I can write up a casting tutorial too if you'd like.
You should check around the web for molding/casting tutorials, there are some very helpful and informative ones out there.
Good luck with your casting Weezer!
unsung hero
Super Freak
<iframe title="YouTube video player" class="youtube-player" type="text/html" width="480" height="390" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-UInrL40Gqw" frameborder="0" allowFullScreen></iframe>
Something you can do different to make some better casts is to use a vacuum chamber. I am making one now, it's super easy and not that expensive, but will help with themold and castings.
Something you can do different to make some better casts is to use a vacuum chamber. I am making one now, it's super easy and not that expensive, but will help with themold and castings.
dh4
Super Freak
Great tutorial, UH!
the dude person
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"maulsballs"Great username, and even better tutorial! That is a rather revolutionary method of molding. Sure beats the crap out of my "soda can" method...
However I, being the cheapo I am, will stick to my soda-can method for the time being, as it saves me the silicone for making a huge boxy mold like that...
Anyway, nice tutorial. I may use this technique sometime.
thundergod
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I discovered a sea-weed based (?) moulding alginate at my local craft shop . You simply mix it with water and use it more or less the same as you would silicone rubber . After a bit of practice , good results can be achieved and the stuff sets in 10 minutes , so depending on the resin you use , you can have a new head in less than an hour ! It's a fraction of the price ( I paid £11 and got about 6 moulds out of it ) and simple to use . The downside is that the moulds have a limited life ( bio-degradeable you see ) and are quite fragile , so you have to handle them quite carefully . It's ideal if you're on a budget ( who isn't! ) and don't need multiple casts . 
Dorgmal Snow
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well I have no idea about using seaweed for making moulds and I have never tried the stuff. But I know that is quite brittle and smell of fish and seagulls (although there is no such thing as a seagull by the way)
I am a 100% rubber man... DP did a very good description and the maulsballs is also great. There are shed loads of tutorials on utube but I find they all make it really complicated. All I can offer that has not been said is give it a go!! Its great fun and very exciting and infuriating all at the same time.
I am a 100% rubber man... DP did a very good description and the maulsballs is also great. There are shed loads of tutorials on utube but I find they all make it really complicated. All I can offer that has not been said is give it a go!! Its great fun and very exciting and infuriating all at the same time.
the dude person
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Seaweed molds? Really?When I need a quick, cheap cast, I actually just stamp whatever I need a cast of into a blob of silly putty. Then I carefully take it out, and just pour resin into the silly putty.
It's not the best method of casting, as you only get one cast of what you want, and it's not really possible to cast an entire headsculpt with this method. But I wanted to make a battle-damaged T-2 Arnold Schwarzenegger sculpt yesterday, so I mashed a Hot Toys endoskeleton's skull into the silly putty, removed it, and poured in the resin.
I had a partial cast of a Terminator skull in less than 10 minutes.
Oh, and the silly putty is re-usable! Once you pull it off the resin cast, you can just mash it up and use it again!
It's not good for casting full objects, or multiples of an object, but it makes a great temporary mold if you don't want to waste any silicone, or are unsure of dipping your prized Terminator endoskeleton into a bunch of chemicals!
Anyway, just thought I'd throw that out there.
I usually do go with silicone though.
unsung hero
Super Freak
I discovered a sea-weed based (?) moulding alginate at my local craft shop . You simply mix it with water and use it more or less the same as you would silicone rubber . After a bit of practice , good results can be achieved and the stuff sets in 10 minutes , so depending on the resin you use , you can have a new head in less than an hour ! It's a fraction of the price ( I paid £11 and got about 6 moulds out of it ) and simple to use . The downside is that the moulds have a limited life ( bio-degradeable you see ) and are quite fragile , so you have to handle them quite carefully . It's ideal if you're on a budget ( who isn't! ) and don't need multiple casts .
The problem with alginate is that it also shrinks rapidly. You have to use that mold asap, or you are going to get a smaller head or warpage.
Exactly. And always think of everyone's tutorials as a guide, feel free to experiment and see what works best for you.
Yup, it's the same thing as dental alginate, what dentists use to make impressions of peoples mouths, and people worldwide use for making lifecasts.
It's pretty easy stuff, but you have to work fast with it as once it begins to set, you have about thirty seconds to finish.
Yeah, I saw a user with that name on another board a few years ago and thought it was funny, so when I started that youtube account I appropriated it.
My DeviantArt account has the same name.
Hey unsung, this is your video? Did you make these heads? I took them off of a website from sarlacpit a few years ago.
unsung hero
Super Freak
Yes, that was me. I had that site for a long time, but lost interest when I went through some bad times (first marriage) and I had some people pretty pissed at me (which they had every right to be). A very dark time for me, that I'm not too proud of. It's been almost ten years since then, and I still feel uncomfortable thinking about those days. My own fault though.
That Neeson head remained in that state until about two years ago, I never finished it. The Maul I did finish, but never looked quite right to me. I found the mold last year, and that is what prompted me to do a new one which has a few casts about to be done.
That Neeson head remained in that state until about two years ago, I never finished it. The Maul I did finish, but never looked quite right to me. I found the mold last year, and that is what prompted me to do a new one which has a few casts about to be done.
I sent you a few questions when I first discovered the site regarding a few sculpting questions and never heard back from you. Soon after, the site was closed. Good to see you back in the game and in a better place.
thundergod
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The problem with alginate is that it also shrinks rapidly. You have to use that mold asap, or you are going to get a smaller head or warpage.
Exactly. And always think of everyone's tutorials as a guide, feel free to experiment and see what works best for you.
Yup, it's the same thing as dental alginate, what dentists use to make impressions of peoples mouths, and people worldwide use for making lifecasts.
It's pretty easy stuff, but you have to work fast with it as once it begins to set, you have about thirty seconds to finish.
Yeah, I saw a user with that name on another board a few years ago and thought it was funny, so when I started that youtube account I appropriated it.
Well I'm glad you know what I'm on about Unsung , I was beginning to put it down to one of my "delusions " ( again ) !
Gregorbian
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That is a fantastic tutorial Unsung Hero! Thanks for posting it. I think I might take the plunge and pick up some casting materials. I was always reluctant to do it because I had no idea where to start, but reading this thread has been very helpful. Thanks everybody!
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