'No More Nails' for moulding and/or casting

[Silent Invader]

Has anyone tried using no more nails for mould making or casting?

I was doing some DIY and noticed that this adhesive will set quite hard and when removed from a mould (in this case, drill holes in loose plasterboard) it will hold its shape with, seemingly, resin-like qualities.

For small runs of muskets I've used greenstuff for push moulding and casting but they deteriorate after about 20 copies.  I'm now contemplating having a go with this stuff and was wondering if anyone else had tried it.  That said, I'm not sure what to use as a release agent.... I use baby oil for greenstuff and graphite powder for rubber so I'll probably give both a go.

For short runs it might be easier (and cheaper) to work with than rubber but more durable (and cheaper) than greenstuff.

Thoughts anyone?

[Major_Gilbear]

I wonder if you'd have better luck with a tube of white bathroom silicone?

As for the casting, you'll need a softer material if you want better detailing out of a flexible mould. I think that if you mix up some white Milliput, and then mix it further with some water to soften it further, that you'd get some good casts when you push the mixture into the mould.

I know for a fact that you can keep mixing Milliput with water until it has a paint-like consistency (it will still cure hard too, just takes a little bit longer depending on the amount of water - maybe a few more hours if you're just softening it to chewing-gum consistency), but I've never made a mould with either Silicone or No-Nails.

Still, it sounds like your problem is mould wear due to what you're casting with, so maybe just try the softened Milliput in the normal GS mould?

[Silent Invader]

Interesting comments and suggestions, thanks.

The mould wear with greenstuff is a result of having to flex the mould to get the cast out, and with the greenstuff parting at the layers. (I tend to make the gs moulds out of my already curing left over bits rather than as a solid one-off lump so I accept that my tight-fistedness is probably to blame!!)

Silicone (bathroom sealant) is something I hadn't thought of so thanks for that.  I shall give it a go.  Thanks for the tips on miliput as well as I didn't know it could be thinned with water.

Cheers! 

[dijit]

I've seen some a tutorial somewhere on the net about mould making using silcone sealant, can't remember where though now. Depending what you're casting with it such work fine, if a little messy.

[Svennn]

Silicone bathroom sealant air dries so if used in any thickness takes forever to set. The theory is sound but in practice it all falls down quite a bit, nothing worse than tearing a nice hard outer skin to find runny smelly silicone all over your hands and master when it splits - been there and done that.

Much better to bite the bullet and shell out the extra for a two part rtv IMHO.

[Lupus]

I've used no nails as a master and made moulds of it.  Its great for filling and basing some mini's as you can get it to fill holes because of the flexable nature.

[Lupus]

Yeah i can confess to using a hair dryer as well to help it dry quicker