Prince August Casting - anything critical I need to know?

[Norm]

I have just come across the Prince August site and was surprised (I should have known better) to see how much stuff is available and also being added to.

I have never made a casting before, so would like to get a starter set and some 25mm Napoleonics with a view to eventually doing two armies.

For those who have done it and accepting that I don't know what I don't know, are there any notable do's and don'ts that will help me get this right, especially at the purchase end. Thanks.

[Lowtardog]

Remembers doing it as a kid with their napoleonics a little metal pan melting lead over a gas stove 

[redzed]

go to ebay and get a huge pot of magnesium silicate  ebay link

alo get a pair of heat resistant gloves, £2-£3 pair are fine.

Get an old biscuit tin and fill it with 1" of sand, put your molds in there when pouring, anything bad happens the lead will stay in the tin.

The first few castings are always crap until the mould heats correctly.

This is a good site  Lace Wars in Tin

[Norm]

Thank you and thanks for that link, very helpful and I am surprised a little as to how the grade of metal really helps, I was hoping to melt down some old armies, but it looks like heads at least should be made from the high grade stuff.

[Emir of Askaristan]

Steve of Lace Wars is a nice bloke and his site is full of PA goodies.

Take your time, mind your self, mind the table (the biscuit tin is a good idea!) and if you screw it up don't worry, let the mold cool and melt down your mis cast and try again.

Best of luck, show us what you've done.

[jambo1]

Hope you post your work on here, I have looked at PA many times and been so tempted but never done anything about it.

[SteveBurt]

 You need to clamp the moulds with bits of hardboard on either side - but don't apply too much pressure or it distorts.
You need just enough to stop the metal getting out.
I found a tiny dusting of talc helps with mould release.
The first one is always rubbish and goes back in the pot.
If you do a batch, you may find the mould gets too hot after a while, and that doesn't work either.
redzed's advice about a biscuit tin and sand is good. Also, probably better to use a camping stove to heat the metal rather than your cooker.
I have quite a few Prince August figures, but in the end it's a lot of fuss for some not terribly good figures, and I don't think it actually saves you any money.

[Norm]

Thanks, I do have a camping stove and thought that might be a good plan so that I can use the garage. I am concerned about he 'is it worth the bother' aspect, simply because I think I will be working towards quite a lot of figures.

[Hammers]

Jesus, that was *years* ago... I can still see the charm in toy soldier wargaming, but not in the casting.

[Malamute]

Remembers doing it as a kid with their napoleonics a little metal pan melting lead over a gas stove 

If you enjoy the process of casting individual figures its ok, but for an army, that's a lot of time.


Yep, great fun around the  late 1970s - early 1980s. Happy days from my childhood, burning myself on the hot metal as I was anxious to get them out of the moulds before they had cooled.

Talking about it now I distinctly remember the smell of the rubber as the mould heated up. Make sure you wear a pair of heat resistant gloves too.

[Hammers]

Talking about it now I distinctly remember the smell of the rubber as the mould heated up. Make sure you wear a pair of heat resistant gloves too.

Gad, yes! A safety glasses. I nearly to a friends eye out with splattering hot lead!

[Mosstrooper]

I use old figures and scrap off cuts  , been casting for a few years now and have several hundred 40mm SYWish figures cast up - from my blog http://tonystoysoldiers.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/breaking-mould.html

[ichwillauch]

Long ago I had some prince August moulds for 40mm SYW. These moulds worked very well, so I bought some 25mm Fantasy moulds too. The 25mm never worked well and the results were very poor.

[westwaller]

Me and a mate did some of the Prince August fantasy stuff in the early 90s. Orc Berserkers iirc. Good fun, but the castings were extremely variable and it was rare to get three good casts from the mould. I seem to remember the hot lead actually would start to damage the moulds if you weren't careful.

[has.been]

Fun to start with, but armies???!!!
I have a box of moulds sitting in the garage and might , someday, cast a few more, but not an army.
For each & every figure you have to do the whole process:-
heat metal; pour; wait for it to cool; extract figure (if OK put to one side, but if not, start over again)
With so many nice figures on the market why bother?
If price is the big concern, buy second hand. E-bay, LAF & Ian Hind Miniatures, to name just 3 possible sources.
If you still want to cast, all the above advice is good & I would recommend casting the artillery cannons,
this is a big saving and miscasts are usable for battlefield debris/ clutter.