Getting into resin casting; tips, advice etc?

[Evil Eye]

Whilst I'm still saving up for a 3D printer, my experiments with press-molds got me interested in the idea of actual resin casting. My understanding of the process is that it seems to be relatively straightforward; build/prepare "mold box", fill one half with clay and half-bury item (along with registration keys and vents), pour silicone on top, allow to cure, invert the whole thing (removing the clay of course), spray mold release, apply second half of silicone, allow to cure and voila, mold.

 

Anyway, whilst I understand the basic process pretty well, I wanted some advice before I get super into it.

 

Firstly, as a UK denizen, what's a good source of resin and molding silicone? I looked on Amazon and it seems quite pricey, but I don't know if that's just unscrupulous sellers marking things up.

 

Secondly, what are the best silicones to use? I heard tin-cured silicone is necessary for casting from 3D printed masters (which I may very well do in future), and I would assume that lower viscosity would be helpful for getting all the details down.

 

Thirdly, what are the best resins to use? Fairly self explanatory, really.

 

Fourthly, if I were to cast up a part that had paint on it (for example, a figure piece), would I need to protect it to avoid paint damage? IIRC silicone only sticks to itself once cured so it should be fine, but I just want to be sure. For instance I got some rather cool Bandai bug gashapon figures in and kinda want to make some replicas of some of their components- separating the parts will be easy as the joints are modular, but some parts are painted and I don't want to damage the figures.

 

Finally, is a pressure pot or vacuum chamber actually necessary? I recall watching a CrafsMan video (very good dude FWIW) giving some advice on avoiding bubbles but his usual products are bigger and simpler than "ours".

 

Thanks!

[tychobi]

Having met the folks from Creature Caster and talked to their main caster a bit this may be a project that balloons greatly as you dive into a very tricky art practice. 

[Bung]

You can find some good Tutorials in YouTube.

I do cast some stuff myself that has been discontinued or the company stopped existing.

 

Neither Silicon for moulds nor Resin for casting are really cheap.

Its around 40€ for 1 kg of Silicon and 27€ for 1kg Resin in my Hobbystore.

 

For the Silicon you would look for something soft, so its easier to Release the parts and dir the Resin you should look for working time before it Starts to cure and shrinkage.