Casting Headgear Experiment

Continuing on from my last post where I tried to restart my project plan for this blog (create a 'peg soldier' army), today I took a look at my initial casting experiments. This very quick and simple experiment was really so I could witness the process involved in using Oyumaru Instant Mold. I didn't put much planning into it, I just followed the instructions to see if I could produce some castings.

Well, the good news is that the process worked fine!

My only criticism is that I pressed in too much Milliput putty so left myself with a little too much excess, which I would now have to cut away. But, it's no biggy as the main goal was just to see if I got anything to cast at all.

Moving forward I could be a little more careful about filling my moulds OR (as some have commented) don't build up my moulds so that they allow so much overflow (another comment suggested that I cut down my hardened mould, as I did with the Pickelhaub mould, so that the putty I use just comes up to the top of the mould casting). Either way, I'll move on to making more economical and better shaped moulds the next time.

The level of detail is good enough for me and - as I suspected - using Milliput means that I have a very hard cast object. (So it was worth the wait.)

Getting into Hot Water!
By the way, on a procedural issue, I have to confess that I didn't monitor the temperature of my hot water - with a thermometer, as in some tutorials - when I soaked my Instant Mold. I took the easy route and just boiled a kettle and used the boiling water straight out of that. The Instant Mold softened in three minutes, so you don't have to be absolutely exact in your temperature monitoring! :)

Finishing Off the Casting
Well, how difficult was it to trim away the excess Milliput? Actually, it was easy - I used a Tamiya Craft Saw (like a craft knife with a fine saw-blade) and it went through the Milliput very quickly...

Not bad (for a first attempt)! I'll start banging these out for my first peg-soldier 'regiment' - some French Chasseurs à Pied (light infantry) - I just need six Kepis.

Oyumaru Instant Mold Summery
Well, it turned out not to be rocket science and it's a great little product for what it is. If you are a plastic kit or miniatures modeller this is a fantastic 'emergency' component copier. I've lost small kit parts before and if they are part of a pair Instant Mold can allow you to duplicate the part you need or make extra parts if you want.

It is what it is though, don't think it's ideal for banging out a large number of objects. I'm probably stretching it's capabilities with my need for half a dozen duplicates, particularly because I am using slow hardening Milliput. (I'll look into some other faster hardening casting mediums, like plumbers silicone for example, etc).

But there you go. Quick and easy duplication - I think I'll try a two part mould at some point.