Viability of dentistry moulds for casting bitz

[Taz]

I posted in a bitz swapping forum that I've been looking for meltaguns and got a reply offering to sell me a dentistry mould that they casted a meltagun into. We haven't discussed price yet, but it certainly sounds like a cool thing to have if it's not too expensive. Is this kind of thing what people typically use to cast things? I just don't know anything about casting and I wanted to know if anyone had any experience with this material.

[puck]

Tread carefully, selling recast bitz or molds of GW bitz will get you in very hot water with GW's lawyers. That said (mods correct me), its my understanding that casting bitz for your own personal use and not selling them is acceptable. With regards to how the process of casting works search for something like "press molds" and you should get a wealth of information on the topic.

 

EDIT: I would think dentistry moulding supplies would work quite well to cast bitz in but it might be a little pricey.

[Yodhrin]

Find out the price, then see if buying yourself some Instant Mold of Blu-Stuff would be cheaper. From my experience, Instant Mold is cheaper in the long run since you can just heat it up, squish it, and then reuse it to mould something else, but it's easier to get a high-fidelity impression in one try with the Blu-Stuff. Both are suitable for making GS moulds or, if you need something with a bit more rigidity, you could try extra-fine grade Milliput.

 

If you're talking about casting in resin, I'd be leery of using anything other than RTV silicone to make the moulds.

[Brother Morgan]

I use dentist sillicon putty to make press moulds all the time. Price is relative - to buy a lot of the same bit or make a mould and use the mould to make lots (for your own personal use by the way!). I buy the sillicon putty on ebay for approx £20.00 plus p&p and this tends to last months. The more you buy, the cheaper it becomes.

 

As long as you are careful, depending on what you are moulding and the material you use (I use Milliput), your mould should last a long time. I have moulds that have been used hundreds of time and still have life in them.

 

Have a look at my projects in my signature to give you some examples of press moulds being used.

 

Regards, Brother Morgan.

[sombreromaster]

dentistry molds are usually an alginate composition, safe for internal use obviously, and break down quickly over time. Id say if you want to have some really nice molds to make repeat casts from, you should go with a more permanent solution, check out the company Smooth-On. They have tons and tons of different mold making materials, as well as some wonderful 2 part plastics that cure in only about 10 minutes. You can usually fine small trial sized containers for about 20 bucks for both part a and part b. And seeing as how it seems you just want to reproduce the firearms, you would have enough for millions. Also, mold making and casting is a very lengthy and rewarding process, and i think is an excellent skill for anyone to know, so i would chopose to make my own over buy a previously made one if i were you.