Silicone and Resin suppliers/brand help

By Orthien. 21/05/11, 02:04 am

Hey CNZ

I'm just getting started in looking to make some Resin casts for props and costumes however being NZ its a little harder to come by than the States.
I am looking for recommendations for both places to buy it and products to get. Stores in or close to Hamilton will be appreciated but if its a site I can order from that's fine to.

Mostly its the Silicone that has been hardest for me to track down at the moment.

Look forward to your advice.

By Mischa. 21/05/11, 02:54 am

http://www.topmark.co.nz/

You can find resin at most hardware stores, and in some craft stores

By neimhaille. 21/05/11, 07:13 am

You need to decide on your purposes for both :)

Platinum and Tin cured silicon are pretty much only available through TopMark. they are two part and pourable. You can even get skin safe two part silicon there. But email first as they have run out of a lot of stock due to lots of filming productions in progress. I will have to order some foam soon and I really need to test it first to figure out how much I need and what one I need.

Silicon also can be condensation cured, this is the stuff used in caulking around the house. I have a thread here on using it for making molds. Just go through my stats, I don't start too many new threads.

Resin comes in different flavours:

Polyester: available at all hardware stores and even small kits from hobby and Warehouse stores etc. I hate it. I really do. It's brittle and has a really really horrible smell- which is also not really safe so you need cast outdoors. But it is easy to find.
It's also a really unbalanced mix ratio which can be very hard to get right.
Pourable, able to be used with matting/cloth and filler also easily available at most hardware stores.
Cure time is several hours, about 10 is good.

Epoxy: I love it but allergic so it's not very good for me personally ;) It is a little harder to find than polyester. I got my first kit from Placemakers.
Thicker to pour that polester but still forms into fiddly molds. Can be mixed with filler and matting/cloth.
Mix ration is usually 1:4 so i use small plastic cups of the same size to measure.
Cure time is similar. unless you use filler and turn it into a paste then cure time is a few hours, work time about 10minutes.

Urethane: only from Topmark. Can be found as pourable, spreadable, foamable. from foams to rigid plastic.
Mix is usually 1:1 but depending on the speed of reaction this can mean you don't have it fully mixed before needing to cast.
It goes off really fast, like within minutes to maybe an hour? Then you leave it to fully cure but you have a piece ready very quickly.
Pretty brittle and as you can't use matting or filler with it you need to get inner support if our piece will see much wear.

Acrylic: available from a lot of hobby places and some Mitre 10 mega stores. really clear usually and good for jewels etc.
I haven't used it so I am not sure of mixing proportions. I think it is similar to polester.

Note all of these are exothermic reactions so they can get hot while curing. Very hot. Skin burning, set things on fire hot. So make sure you have a big expanse of concrete and water nearby. I have had a small fist sized piece smoke and bubble.

Thought I'd give you options :)

By **Duckeh**. 21/05/11, 08:13 am

Moved thread to a better subforum.

@neimhaille - How do you remember these things?! //hopeless. But seriously informative. I'm normally so confused when picking what I want, especially at a hardware store when it's a bit more difficult to talk to staff about the uses.

Gordon Harris is in most places and have a few resin + molding kits.

By hyolee123. 21/05/11, 08:29 am

This is really handy but can I ask a question 8D; does anyone know where to get aqua based resin? I've heard it's much safer than what's listed here 8D; and I kinda need something that isn't so daunting or scary for first time use.

And bondo...which is polyester based but more thicker and less brittle. They use it to repair dents in cars. 8D

This is all in the name or intense armour making 8D;

By Orthien. 21/05/11, 11:39 am

Thanks for the big reply Neim and thanks for the Topmark recommendation Mischa & Neim.

I had looked at them and their ability to provide more than one brand and in a wide variety of sizes looked quite good compared to the Fiberglass store here in town.

Had not decided on Platinum or Tin Silicone but I have a vague feeling that Tin was recommended somewhere I had been reading, I was however planning on using an Epoxy Resin.

Do you have a preference of Silicone from Topmarks lists? I have their price list in my email and as far as I can see the 3 best for molding are the Pinkysil, Platsil and Ultrasil Blue.

Finally any advice on working with clear Resins a few of my plans would make use of this on a mid size scale and Its probably the most worrying part since you can't just paint those.

By Highlander. 21/05/11, 04:26 pm

hyolee123 wrote:: And bondo...which is polyester based but more thicker and less brittle. They use it to repair dents in cars. 8D

Not too sure. But try retail car part shops like repco and butlers, supercheap, etc. Better yet try a automotive spray-painting or panelbeating supply store. Or a hardware store.

By Orthien. 21/05/11, 05:54 pm

You can defiantly get Bondo at a lot of places Highlanders is right basically any Car place and Bunning/Mitre 10 Mega should do it as well. You should also be able to get a Bondo Spot Putty that's good for smaller scratches and dents.

By Highlander. 22/05/11, 05:40 am

And thanks Mischa/Michaela.

And now to find out where to get thermoplastic. Like ABS, Nylon 6, Polypropylene, etc.

I seriously want to try rotomolding one day!

By hyolee123. 22/05/11, 09:30 am

Sweet. This is helpful in my endeavors towards my cosplay armour project.

By Orthien. 26/05/11, 10:09 am

Going to bump this just to re-ask, Does anyone who uses Topmarks products have a recommendation on which to use?

By Mischa. 26/05/11, 02:39 pm

To be honest I haven't (yet):3 - I've only done simple gem casting.

I think it would depend what you are going to make? A chunky pauldron? a delicate pendant?

(They are super helpful, so you could always phone/email for advice)

By Orthien. 26/05/11, 10:47 pm

Might just have to phone them then. Would mostly be mid sized things not a pendant but not pauldron ether, although eventually I would like to me making pauldrons and bigger.

By arjaytistic. 18/06/11, 09:02 pm

I am a complete noob when it comes to the non-sewing aspect of cosplay... I want to make the sunglass thing that Rider wears in Fate/Stay Night but out of a see-through purple plastic (so that it can be... well, seen-through)
I vaguely remember seeing somewhere that you can melt plastic onto a mold so I was thinking if I could get hold of this purple plastic I could melt it over a face mask to give it the shape with the wrap-around and room for the nose (as opposed to just having it circular).
I have absolutely no idea the difference between Resin and Epoxy and all that other stuff you mentioned, what material do you think would best suit this sort of molding? And what sort of tools would I use to cut the shape, and how easy would it be to melt? Is it something I could do in the backyard or would I need to find some sort of toolshed?
Apologies for my lack of knowledge of anything Embarassed

[Edit/update:] I just noticed Tails had a post just below this one about that awesome Tidus sword she had last year and it seems perspex would be the sort of see-through plastic I am looking for... but can it be moulded to fit like sunglassthingamies?

--arjay xx

By Highlander. 19/06/11, 11:21 am

A little reading reveals that perspex has a lower glass transition temperature than Polycarbonate. But it is often used with additives, resulting in a Tg of anywhere from 85 degrees to more than we are likely to play around with alone. It does not mention being able to bend it cold. So the process would be buy a small sheet, cut (saw) to shape, heat to over 85 degrees and bend. To bend uniformly would be the key, possibly around a mould (maybe even wood at that temp?), or around a metal bar or with specialist bending tools. Do use thick leather gloves and tongs, etc. This is just a amateur guess.

The alternative is polycarbonate, like is used in cheap glasses/safety glasses/sunglasses. Has a Tg of about 150 degrees? However reading suggests it can be bent cold. I personally would not have thought so. But either way do some reading, and talk to Bay Plastics, they know their products better than we do. They offer both I believe, and in colours, and will cut off small amounts and I think even cut/shape it for you, although at what cost?

http://www.bayplastic.co.nz/cut_to_size_plastic.htm

PS. Tg is when it starts to soften.

By LolliLane. 20/04/14, 06:09 am

I need to reawaken this thread. I am looking for silicone to create a helmet mold but cant find any for a reasonable price. Especially since topmark shut down... any recommendations?

By Highlander. 20/04/14, 07:23 am

This topic came up at SANCon last year. Nuplex has some of the plastics/resins. Try them first.

By neimhaille. 21/04/14, 05:32 am

Nuplex has much of the same stock but so does http://fibreglassshop.co.nz/ I got my last bucket of latex from them. Fast turnaround.

Try both as sometimes there is a rush from The Industry.

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