How to Clone a Dinosaur Toy with ComposiMold

Katherine of Resin Obsession (http://resinobsession.com/) asked us to clone her dinosaur toy. She wanted to see how we do it, and she thought it would be a great way to show the power of ComposiMold to her customers.



So after she delivered the dinosaur to us, I got busy.



You never know the best way to make a mold. Even the best mold makers need to experiment to find out how they should set it up.



Where should you pour in your resin? Do you need to make a two part mold? Where should the parting lines be?



And that’s where ComposiMold comes in to play… it is reusable. I can experiment without worry, and without wasting materials.



So I did what I always do when starting a new mold making project…I experimented.



I placed the dinosaur into a cup and poured ComposiMold over it to see what happened…



I would like to say it worked perfectly and the mold is done and that’s the end of the story, but it’s not…well sort of…It did work just not the way it was supposed to.



The dinosaur didn’t float, but it didn’t stay on its feet. It flipped over onto its side…oops. Good thing I wasn’t using silicone rubber for my mold! First, I wouldn’t have known that it was flipped over because the silicone is opaque, second I would have wasted $30 on a messed up mold.



With ComposiMold,  I placed the mold in the refrigerator to cool off, started to pull out the dinosaur to do it again, when I realized that the mold turned out pretty good.



When it was solidified, I thought that the mold looked pretty good, so before remelting it, I poured a little more ComposiMold over the side to make it a little thicker, cut out the dinosaur and filled it with the epoxy just to see what it would be like…it was difficult to fill the small parts…I used a small wire to push the bubbles out of the hands and tail. So the mold worked. This blue dinosaur is actually a color changing dinosaur. When I add heat, it will turn clearer. (She’ll turn invisible!)



But since that wouldn’t make a good video I decided to do it again. Yes, I know. ComposiMold is cool…no wait, warm, warm when it’s melted. So I remelted the mold and did it again the “right” way so I can have it on video….

That great part is that I have not wasted any money or mold making material. I’ve experimented, learned the best way  to duplicate the action figure, and can do it again! Experiment #1 is a success.



First I coat the dinosaur with a thin layer of mold release, and then spray it with Bubble Buster to reduce the chances of bubbles sticking to the part.



To hold the dinosaur in place now that I know it will flip over, I have several options. I can glue it in place, do it as a two part mold, or the way that I chose….I poured a little ComposiMold into a cup and let that solidify first. Then I placed the dinosaur into the cup and poured a little more ComposiMold around its feet and torso and let that solidify. This ComposiMold held the dinosaur in place while we made the rest of the mold. Because we did not cool the first part of the mold or put a mold release in between the layers, the ComposiMold will melt together.



Another advantage of ComposiMold is that it is transparent. We can see where the dinosaur is within the mold. This lets us cut the parting line where we want it to be.



We could also have done this as a two part mold, but this seemed easier. Maybe we can do a two part mold next time… just to show the difference.



I assumed that the people who made this dinosaur originally put their parting lines in good spots, I decided to copy where they put them. But since I used a rubber mold making material, I need less of a parting line. I cut from the top so I could remove the part without damaging the feet and tiny hands.



I used Resin Obsessions Clear Casting Resin…This was my first time using that resin. It was thin for easy pouring and easily colored with different color dyes…also from Resin Obsessions.

I made several dinosaurs with this mold. Then, because I can, and ComposiMold is awesome like this, I remelted it to make a new mold. I made a rabbit to keep the town safe from the Dinosaurs!

Thank you for watching, and please let us know what we can do to help!



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In today's video we feature a mold made of a toy dump truck that we then turned into a Chocolate cake topper. The truck looked like a character from the movie Cars, but when searching online I couldn’t find it in any of the Cars characters lists. Do you know who/what we molded?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L8H4QItwjY   ComposiMold makes cake decorating so easy!

Please share this video and tell everyone you know about ComposiMold! Plus subscribe to see the next amazing blog post from ComposiMold!

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What is Plaster

Plaster is dry powders that are mixed with water to form a soft but brittle solid.There are many different uses for plaster.

It is used to create art and for coating walls and ceilings.  Investigators use plaster to make duplicates of footprint impressions or tire marks, dentists use plaster to make castings for dental work, and doctors use plaster for putting a cast over a broken bone. The most common use of plaster is for general repair and maintenance around the home including repairing dents and holes in walls and filling in holes before painting.

Gypsum plaster, or plaster of Paris, is produced by heating gypsum to about 300 °F. Artist use gypsum to simulate the appearance of wood, stone and metal, on movie a sets. This is the typical material used for art sculpture and mold making.

Lime plaster is a mixture of calcium hydroxide and sand or other filers.  Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes lime plaster to set by transforming the calcium hydroxide into limestone AKA calcium carbonate. To make lime plaster, limestone is heated to produce quicklime, which is calcium oxide. Water is then added to produce slaked lime, or calcium hydroxide. This is sold as a wet putty or a white powder. When exposed to the atmosphere, the slaked lime very slowly turns back into limestone through reaction with atmospheric carbon dioxide, causing the plaster to increase in strength.

Cement plaster is amixture of plaster, sand, cement, and water.  This is normally applied to masonry interiors and exteriors to achieve a smooth surface. Cement plaster was first introduced in America around 1909 and was often called by the generic name adamant plaster after a prominent manufacturer of the time. The advantages of cement plaster  are good strength, hardness, fast quick setting time, and durability (for outdoor use).

Plaster, plaster of Paris, or other versions such as hydrocal or ultracal, may be used as a casting material just like other materials such as soap, wax, concrete, or plastic resin. The benefits of using plaster is its relatively low cost, simple ingredients, and good castability. Depending of the version of plaster used, casting times range from 20 minutes to 24 hours. Like cement, the plaster castings become stronger over time and typically reach its strongest after about a month.

There are many types of mold making material that will work while using plaster as a casting material including latex, silicone, and ComposiMold. When casting with plaster, the finished product can be painted with most types of paint.

For More Information Visit:www.ComposiMold.com, www.Facebook.com/ComposiMold, www.YouTube.com/ComposiMold To Order ComposiMold Products Visit: www.store.composimold.com

What is Mold Making

Mold making is the process used to duplicate three dimensional models or objects. A model is any object that has depth, and an original model can be made from almost anything. If you were making your own object to mold, you might use clay, rock, or plastic. Through the use of a mold making material a negative, or a reverse, of a model part is made, the negative can then be used to cast a second part that is the same size and shape as the original part.

Simple parts such as relief sculptures can be duplicated by using a one part mold. The casting material is poured or pressed into the mold indentation. The casting material can range from clay, soap, chocolate, concrete, liquid plastic, play-dough, and metal castings.

You can make two part molds or even three or more part molds. Mold sizes can range from a few millimeters to many feet in size. Mold making is used in industry to make duplicates of a wide variety of creations ranging from car parts to Christmas ornaments. More complicated molds may include a variety of molded parts, rigid parts of the molds, inserts, a variety of resins and fillers, and a lot of setup and thought.

At home mold making is typically performed using a rubber mold making material that can be poured on or around the object to be duplicated. The mold can then be filled with casting materials of your choice. For example, many cake decorators or chocolate makers use molds to create unique shapes from their chocolates or use molds to shape fondant into special shapes. Home soap and candle makers duplicate unique shapes and designs. Hobbyist use molds to make components for their trains and to make improvements to the backdrops and sceneries.  Even fishermen enjoy molding their own unique fishing lures.

Mold making can be fun and useful. With patience and persistence, you can mold and cast just about anything. You can make unique gifts and fix broken parts. To learn more about molding, casting and the products associated with Mold Making visit http://composimold.com. 

For More Information Visit: www.ComposiMold.com, www.Facebook.com/ComposiMold, www.YouTube.com/ComposiMold To Order ComposiMold Products Visit: www.store.composimold.com

Fondant Dump Truck Cake Topper Made in a ComposiMold

Follow the steps below to learn how to make a traditional 2 Part Mold so you can duplicate all the sides of the object you are molding! We used a fondant type material called Mexican Paste as our casting material that came in a powder form. Simply add water and mix, cover and let stand over night, knead and then press into your mold. It hardens very well which makes it easy to de-mold from your ComposiMold!      (You could definitely use chocolate in this mold as well!)

Supplies:
ComposiMold-FC, 40oz.
Mexican Paste or Your Favorite Fondant
Veggie Oil Mold Release
Heat Safe Containers
Polymer Type Clay
Edible Food Paints to Embellish Your Casting

Instructions:


You can also use this same technique with pourable casting materials: (great for liquids like resins, plaster, wax, or chocolate)

Semi-hollow casting: Follow steps 1-7. At step 8, instead of pressing your casting material into your mold halves, you will pour or brush your casting material into the halves. You can then align your mold halves, tape them together and rotate the mold to coat all the interior walls of the mold.

Solid casting: Add a "sprue" in step 1. A sprue is a channel that you create in the mold to pour your liquid materials through. You can make this sprue with a piece of coiled clay stuck to the side of the original object. This shape will become part of your mold. When you get to step 8, you will align and tape your mold halves together, pour your liquid casting material down into this sprue and let cure. Once your casting material has solidifed you can demold it as instructed above and snap off any material that cured in the sprue. 

 For More Information visit: www.ComposiMold.com