Outcome

The final products

The story starts with the mold being made from the original part. The softer clay was used to build the bottom of the mold, and the foam core was used to build the walls.

the clay was removed, although it ended up sticking to the clay master, and I ended up re-texturing the one side, as I ended up damaging the grooves trying to get the clay off.

The end mold came out pretty well. It also never looked this clean at any point past this.

I added the pour spout on the pommel area, as that surface would be largely flat, and so easy to sand back down.

The first cast was weighed by volume, not weight. It was also the only one I put into the pressure pot. Also I swear that one image is upside down no matter how I flip it in post.

The first cast was mixed incorrectly, and the exterior felt like a wobbly eggshell, the interior like cookie dough, and the smell was that of mixed resin. However, it was successful in that I learned to mix by weight, and I never made this mistake after the first pour.

The second pour was another learning oppurtunity. I had picked up brass powder, and was ready to start cold casting, so I dusted the inside of the mold with the powder, and then mixed my resin. I wanted the resin in the back to be black to add to the overall sheen, so I used what I had, India Ink. This was a regrettable choice, as it made the resin bubble. A lot.

However, it actually cured! The cold cast was actually one of the better ones of the project, and it weighed only 50 grams, which is light, since the bubbles were left in the center. To be honest, I might use it in the future if I ever want something lightweight, but it does very little to dye the resin. It also painted up well, and became one of my final pieces.

The next 3 casts were uneventful. I mixed the resin, and added brass powder to the resin 1:1 by weight. The brass powder settled a bit during the casting process, meaning that the underside of any raised surfaces didn't have brass powder on the surface. Shaking and tapping the mold didn't help all that much during this process, although they weigned in the neighborhood of 105 grams, almost exactly double the weight of the bubbly cast.

At one point I managed to underpour the resin, which resulted in this monster. Having a spare, I decided to do some science, and by science, I mean I chucked it at the concrete floor by Wean, to see what it would take to break it. It only left some scratches, and I concluded that these could probably be used to break through glass, if needed.

The mold lasted through the process, albeit dirtier.

The final family of parts

Detail shots.