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Heavy Liquid Casting Resin
Hello all,
I have some hollow plastic models that I'm trying to make much heavier, and I figured some sort of casting resin would be ideal, although I don't know much about it. I figure a low viscosity resin could be poured through small holes into the plastic forms, but I'd need one that hardens with a fair amount of weight. Any suggestions? thanks much |
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#2
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Kind of depends on why you are doing this.
If you are trying to balance an aircraft model on its nose wheel, forget it. The resin just isn't dense enough to get enough weight in the limited space available. You're better off pouring in small lead shot (sporting goods or gun store) and sealing it off with some resin or superglue. I'm not sure what to do if you are just looking to make them feel more substantial (stiffer?). I'd be leary of any resin that can flow easily through small holes. Seems like it could also run OUT of small holes. Stay away from polyester (fiberglass) resin. It can generate a lot of heat when it cures in thick (1/2"?) sections. (Doesn't it also attack styrene?) I've heard horror stories about guys trying to pump polyurethane foam (that spray can insulation stuff) into finished models. It can generate enough pressure to split most model glue seams. A common technique for stiffening up large vinyl kits, is to use fill them with plaster or Durham's Water Putty (hardware store). Unfortunately, these aren't very runny and may not be easy to work into an assembled model. Good luck, Greg Reynolds, IPMS On 8 Dec 2004 16:45:45 -0800, wrote: Hello all, I have some hollow plastic models that I'm trying to make much heavier, and I figured some sort of casting resin would be ideal, although I don't know much about it. I figure a low viscosity resin could be poured through small holes into the plastic forms, but I'd need one that hardens with a fair amount of weight. Any suggestions? thanks much |
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#4
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#5
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I'm working on a movie, and what I'm doing is turning hollow plastic
squirt guns into heavyweight "stunt doubles" for the more expensive guns. These need to be heavy so they can be dropped, tossed about etc. with the same physics as the real guns. I've considered lead shot but worry that I won't be able to ensure even distribution inside the form. I tried wall putty, but it wasn't heavy enough (or I wasn't able to fill the entire area inside the form). I figure low viscosity resin will fill all the nooks and cracks, then harden evenly. Obviously, any filler that expands, heats up, or dissolves plastic is out. |
#6
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"Obviously, any filler that expands, heats up, or
dissolves plastic is out." Resin tends to generate considerable heat during the brief but intense curing process. Might not be enough to melt down your guns, but I'll bet it is enough to distort them here and there. Norm |
#7
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"Obviously, any filler that expands, heats up, or
dissolves plastic is out." 20 minute casting plaster! It stays cool, doesn't expand, doesn't harm plastic, and it's cheap... |
#8
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In article ,
"Chris Wilson" wrote: "Obviously, any filler that expands, heats up, or dissolves plastic is out." 20 minute casting plaster! It stays cool, doesn't expand, doesn't harm plastic, and it's cheap... I find that plaster does gets warm. It's more noticeable with large castings. But it doesn't get as warm as casting resin, and not enough to harm a plastic model. Plaster also tends to cool down quickly after a certain point, probably due to evaporation of the water. |
#9
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The filler needs to be low viscosity enough to flow into the form
through relatively small openings: 1/2" or so at the small end of the spectrum. My feeling is that if plaster were thinned enough to do so, it wouldn't dry heavy enough. I don't have a lot of experience with plaster (besides spackling my walls) so I'll defer to the expertise of others. |
#10
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Plaster is simple and you can buy a 50 lb. bag for about the cost of a quart
of casting resin. I use it at work (modelmaker) all the time for filling vinyl tubes (squeeze type) and empty shampoo bottles to make them rigid and heavy for painting. They are smallish (as is a squirt gun) so heat generated isn't a problem. I usually only mix about 20 oz. at a time and use cold water to keep the heat down further. If your mix is smooth (I sift the plaster into water to avoid lumps) it can squirted through a syringe or poured through a funnel. If you do choose casting resin, you may want to try refigerating it before mixing. This will slow down the gel time and help with exotherm, but will thicken the mix... Good luck Zactoman |
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