Thread: Cloning celluloid scales: a work in progress

Corn razor?

Originally Posted by JP5

Corn razor?

Surgical prep razor!

Originally Posted by HARRYWALLY

We have a brand new art store very close to me. The fella that works there is super helpful. When I bought the polyester resin, he also tried to sell me some silicone. Haha. Maybe a little too helpful. If I do make a silicone mould, I want to do something that can be used more than once. Maybe a classic twist scale.... Is that what they're called????

Attachment 287873

I do like this idea. The twisted in Black and red, along with the others like the stag and the naked lady. All made without pin holes so a person could adjust for the razor they want to dress them in.
Nice idea.

Been watching this thread and it looks like its working out. Guessing in a few months you guys might end up with lots of orders.

An update on the progress here.

I'm now a full 72 hours into curing the EasyCast resin I got from TAP Plastics and I'm prepared to say it is NOT viable for scale replacements.

I've got a couple of poured scales that are close enough to fully cured to have a clear idea what the material is like. It looks fantastic, but it's too rubbery. Below about 68 degrees Fahrenheit it's close to usable. You can trim it with a sharp knife and do limited sanding (though it's not possible to sand & polish it back to the original glass-like finish, even using micromesh). Above about 72 degrees Farenheit, it becomes rubbery enough that you can bend it and it will retain the bend for a few moments. At near skin-temperature, you can bend it into shapes and it will stay that way. At least with the thickness of these Temperite scales. The half-round Dubl Duck style might fare better, but I've found other resins to try and I'm gonna attempt to get some today.

This stuff would be good for brush handles. It's really durable and attractive, but at the thickness of scales, it's just too soft in standard operating temperatures.

Danged-old try, try again Zak!

Wonder if there is a hardener for that stuff? It certainly looks great!

I am confident that you will find the correct product

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Danged-old try, try again Zak!

Wonder if there is a hardener for that stuff? It certainly looks great!

I went and dug around some model making forums where it's been pretty extensively played with, and it looks like This Is Just How It Is.

Luckily, there's also this in the world.

That is too bad they didn't harden up. They looked so good too! Sounds like it wasnt too much stronger than the vegetable based resin you said was like a gummy bear after curing.
I wonder how hard alumilite scales would be by themselves. I don't remember if that is what Andrew used, but he had something he had used for brush handles he had wanted to try for scales. I know they use alumilite in "Shokwood" type scales, but I don't know how hard it is.

The product in the link certainly sounds promising from what little I read. I'll have to check out their site more.

Sometimes things take forever to cure....
My brush dipped repeatedly in Rustoleum was soft for a while..Gave it 4 months. Rock-hard!

Could just take time?


Wonder what the stuff B52 used as he made some scales and brush I have?

It seems very sturdy! I want to say acrylic?

Originally Posted by JP5

That is too bad they didn't harden up. They looked so good too! Sounds like it wasnt too much stronger than the vegetable based resin you said was like a gummy bear after curing.
I wonder how hard alumilite scales would be by themselves. I don't remember if that is what Andrew used, but he had something he had used for brush handles he had wanted to try for scales. I know they use alumilite in "Shokwood" type scales, but I don't know how hard it is.

The product in the link certainly sounds promising from what little I read. I'll have to check out their site more.

Today was just generally a day when nothing went quite right, so I didn't have a chance to go buy new resin stuff and all sorts of other things just went ever so slightly wrong.

BUT! I haven't fully given up on the EasyCast resin. I noticed that some parts of it are harder than others, so it may just be a lack of patience on my part. I'll give'em a few more days. I'm still going to try some stuff from the Smooth-On product line though.

Unfortunately, the stuff that looks most ideal requires two things that are mutually exclusive for me -- either temperature control or good ventilation. My only option for good ventilation is going outside, where it is reliably both too chilly and too damp for any of these resins. But, the one I linked to may work.

I'm a little dubious about it having difficulties with temperatures above 115 degrees, since it's pretty easy for hot tap water to exceed that and I'd rather not have the scales be super delicate that way. The answer, as always, is experiments.

Hell, I even started looking into what it takes to mold polycarbonate.