I've been sculpting my own ~28mm miniatures using GreenStuff. The only reason I have been sculpting them by hand is because as far as I know to send away your 3d print, it has to be of a very hard material to withstand the master mould process. ie, they use massive amounts of heat to melt the rubber discs for the master moulds etc. In other words I don't just want a 'one off', but instead have a printed object I can send somewhere to be mass produced. Any hints? I can sculpt a character much better in 3d than irl with tiny sculpting tools
So thats what I was thinking. Is that really how its done? You just have to have your initial 3d print (either from shapeways or another service) printed in a metal material? Thanks for the help
Well, I don't know anything about the process of casting from 3d Prints (or any other model for that matter) I was just making a suggestion - other people may have better ideas. For example, in the forums I know people have discussed making casts from plastics with varying degrees of success, some methods using burn-out, some with cold-moulding techniques. Maybe try a search. But I have no personal experience, sorry.
I think casting lapel pins in rubber is similar to what was mentioned above. Here is a somewhat interesting video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wofj_8BqjDs&feature=playe r_detailpage
Yeap! that seems like a very similar process to miniature making, by bulk. I have made casts at home with cold moulds using oomoo/smoothon products etc. But its not feasible for me to make all the mini copies that way. hehe I think you had a good idea with making a silver 'master' and sending that on. I have to research more on it. Sending an 85$+ (silver) item away, and its my only copy, would be kind of rough if it got 'lost'.
