casting ruminations

Well.  That was interesting.

I was in the process of prepping up a few parts to send away for someone, and I found that I really, really suck at casting.  Ok, I have really really crappy equipment so my casts suck.  I had to pull about 4 tries for every actually moderately successful part.  Now, if these were for me, it wouldn't really have been a big deal.  I make casts as shortcuts, so I can duplicate the major work and don't have to be super-symmetrical which is something I always struggle with.  Any of the mistakes or issues just become part of the overall modeling process.  So, if some things aren't quite right, I just fill, sand and move on.

Since I'm sending these out to someone else, I really can't let them be quite that bad.  It's when I put it through that lens that I realize just HOW bad my casts are compared to some of those really good guys out there in the Garage industry world.  Which just dovetails into the discussion on getting what you pay for.  There are folk that whine about the price tag of these 'Mechs, but I'm still one to say "I dare you to make it for less.. or better."   Heck, a Warhound Titan from Forgeworld is about $600 and JPG's quality has Forgeworld beat to hell.   Even a GW Knight Titan is on par with the medium 'Mechs.

Ok..tangent grip over.  Looking at mine, I'm working on trying to improve in steps what I need to do so I can minimize the extra effort.   I am going to try a little trick that T.F. mentioned and see if that fixes one of the major issues, and go from there.

While I was getting these done, I ended up ruining one of the molds and had to re-mold and re-cast the Archer's thigh part.  The new cast actually came out better, as I was a bit more cautious about how I did it.  But still, I find myself thinking about de-gassing and pressurization machines.  (and I'll have to change the mold rubber and casting resin from this 20 minute set stuff).  Hmm..maybe just changing out the rubber and resin will make enough of a difference, letting the air settle out as it cures.  I should probably reach out to JPG and pick his brain to find out what he uses.  The quick set stuff I use is decent for the purpose, and it's cheap (ish), but if there's a better way, it might just be time to start looking into that.

Anyway, enough whining. I need to finish up one more task then I can bundle this up and get it off to the Dropship.