I just won an old blue box Monogram P-47D, of which I already had a much newer copy. The seller informed me of an over-sight on his part that a landing gear cover was actually missing from the kit, which had been described as complete (and the reason I bid on the 'Bolt). This was actually very good on his part, as he actually seemed to imply that I could get out of the transaction if I had chosen; but I appreciate his honesty and decided to go forward with the purchase. I believe I should be able to take the missing piece from my newer version of this kit and cast it in resin. So now my question is, has anyone done any resin casting and how is it done? Any knowledge from experience is greatly appreciated.
Resin casting isnt too hard but may not be worth the trouble for a gear door.Check out my Bobber wip in the auto forum ,I cast my own hubs/rims ,asked for help on here and got zero replies.If the part is flat I would just scratch build from plastic stock , using the existing one to make a mirror image .The cost of materials and time was around $100 and 2 days at least ,not counting the time to make the masters or the mold box. I’ll help you if you decide to go for it, as it isnt too hard
Obviously I’m having a Homer Simpson moment - it didn’t even occur to me to just cut it out of styrene sheet, of which I have plenty laying around! Thanks for kicking me back to reality.
I do this frequently. it’s easy as pie!
You’ll first need to make a silicone mold from the part you wish to duplicate. There are a lot of suppliers, including MicroMark.com, and others. However it won’t be cheap to equip for casting, so first weigh the cost of supplies against the cost of acquiring another of the same T-Bolt kit, as this may be cheaper in the long run.
The steps to making a resin duplicate are straightforward, there are several good tutorials online, additionally I wrote an inexpensive book for the beginner on this subject (PM me if interested). Since the part you describe likely has detail on both sides, you’ll likely want a two-part mold. Basically you would make a small box form, lay in a bed of modeling clay, place the plastic part in this bed, pour in your liquid silicone, leave to dry (about 4 hours for MicroMark’s silicone. Now you have the first half of the mold. Now place that first silicone half face up, with the part still embedded in it, remove the clay, rebuild your box form around it, then pour your second half. You’ll need to build in a pour vent and a breather vent (so the resin can flow into the mold). Again if you have no luck finding sufficient free info on the web, my book explains everything, and with pictures!
D’oh!
Dude go to the Revell Monogram Website and order it for free. I have an original Monogram white box issue F-16. I ruined the canopy trying to tint it and they replaced it free of chearge in under a week.
Revell is pretty good about replacing parts. The last Revell model I built, I’m embarrassed by how many parts I ruined, cat ran off with, experimented on and they always replaced them.
Chris