making your own blue guns?

[jsroye96]

John, I understand the red or blue guns can get quite expensive.what you can do is look up Airsolf.com look at the spring loaded pistols. You can get them from $5 up to $30. They are a hard plastic of a 1:1 ratio. look upder :airsolfofatl.com then click on spring. let me know what you think,Stephen

Thanks Stephen,

I will check into it.

[AZ09]

FWIW,

"Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty" is decent casting material.

Its a powder you mix with water, easy to use. and once it sets its durable.

Peace

ST~

[JoelR]

I've done quite a bit of resin casting and not to rain on your parade but that technique will be very hit and miss with using hard plastic (resin) as you are only likely to get one casting and the first cast isn't always a good one. Silicone really is the best thing to use for molds when casting resin you don't have to do a full block mold which will use alot of silicone you can do a matrix or skin mold, here is an example of how to do them here http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47324

If you definately can't afford silicone liquid latex can be used but it takes longer to make a mold as you need to wait for the layers to set up, though there are thicker versions around which will make the process quicker.

In the long run you are'nt going to save any money by casting unless your after quite a few multiples of each gun model as you need the blue gun or the real thing in the first place to make the mold. If you are wanting to do multiples silicone is definately the way to go as you will get more casts out of silicone than you will for liquid latex.

Hope this is of some help

Cheers,

Clair

Acidic Silicone, as found in home improvement stores, can also be used as a mold making material. I've found GE Silicone I in the clear formula to be the easiest to work with. I've been told that Silicone II also works but have not tried it. The key is to 'inject' water into the silicone solution to promote curing. It's a cheep substitute for two-part silicone and not as durable but you should be able to get a couple of uses out of a single mold. I don't remember the exact ratio, but I mix about 15 drops of glycerin and 5 drops of acrylic paint to about 4 oz of silicone. A 1/4 inch thick mold will completely cure overnight. If it's not curing fast enough, retry with more glycerin. The glycerin adds the curing agent and the paint is supposed to help you visually see that everything is mixed properly, but I have found that the paint helps in curing as well. Your piece to be molded should be completely protected as the acid in the silicone can do some funny things to metals - and I don't mean in a good way. The silicone can be thinned with Zippo lighter fluid (sorry, forget the actual fuel this is) at the cost of making the final mold more brittle.

[cem]

Acidic Silicone, as found in home improvement stores, can also be used as a mold making material. I've found GE Silicone I in the clear formula to be the easiest to work with. I've been told that Silicone II also works but have not tried it. The key is to 'inject' water into the silicone solution to promote curing. It's a cheep substitute for two-part silicone and not as durable but you should be able to get a couple of uses out of a single mold. I don't remember the exact ratio, but I mix about 15 drops of glycerin and 5 drops of acrylic paint to about 4 oz of silicone. A 1/4 inch thick mold will completely cure overnight. If it's not curing fast enough, retry with more glycerin. The glycerin adds the curing agent and the paint is supposed to help you visually see that everything is mixed properly, but I have found that the paint helps in curing as well. Your piece to be molded should be completely protected as the acid in the silicone can do some funny things to metals - and I don't mean in a good way. The silicone can be thinned with Zippo lighter fluid (sorry, forget the actual fuel this is) at the cost of making the final mold more brittle.

I've used this but it's a bit hit and miss in Australia whether it works or not so I gave up on it. You guys in America seem to have alot better selection than us.

[$$hobby]

if youre trying to do it on the cheap, then its the materials that will get you.

as others have pointed out, you will need to make a negative of the gun and then the positive.

there are alot of good ideas so far, but i personally havent priced anything.

you can look into plaster of paris for a mold making material. one drawback is that the mold can get heavy and bulky.

im not sure how much paper mache mix/ingredients cost, but it could be another way to make a mold.

if you live in a clay rich environment, it could be outside in your yard. or maybe even the clay sculpture people use?

iac, it will be fun to see what you come up with and how much $$$ you can save.

btw, where are you going to get the guns for the mold?

[jsroye96]

if youre trying to do it on the cheap, then its the materials that will get you.

as others have pointed out, you will need to make a negative of the gun and then the positive.

there are alot of good ideas so far, but i personally havent priced anything.

you can look into plaster of paris for a mold making material. one drawback is that the mold can get heavy and bulky.

im not sure how much paper mache mix/ingredients cost, but it could be another way to make a mold.

if you live in a clay rich environment, it could be outside in your yard. or maybe even the clay sculpture people use?

iac, it will be fun to see what you come up with and how much $$$ you can save.

btw, where are you going to get the guns for the mold?

I was thinking of using guns my friends and family let me borrow, so it is extremely important that the weapons I use are returned in the exact condition as I got them.

[$$hobby]

I was thinking of using guns my friends and family let me borrow, so it is extremely important that the weapons I use are returned in the exact condition as I got them.

i was thinking/hoping the same.

[cem]

if youre trying to do it on the cheap, then its the materials that will get you.

you can look into plaster of paris for a mold making material. one drawback is that the mold can get heavy and bulky.

im not sure how much paper mache mix/ingredients cost, but it could be another way to make a mold.

if you live in a clay rich environment, it could be outside in your yard. or maybe even the clay sculpture people use?

iac, it will be fun to see what you come up with and how much $$ you can save.

btw, where are you going to get the guns for the mold?

If your using other peoples guns to make the mold I wouldn't use plaster of paris or anything else hard because if you haven't made molds before it's very possible that you won't get the parting lines correct or undercut on a one piece mold and the gun will get locked in. It will be no fun to try and dig out a gun from a plaster mold and your likely to damage the gun trying to get it out. Usually the rule is for soft originals eg a plasticine sculpture use a hard mold (plaster) and for a hard original (gun) use a soft mold (silicone, latex) with a hard backing to save on costs (plaster, fibreglass).

The Smooth On website has video tutorials that will show you how to make all the different molds and I think there was examples of people making gun props for movies.

[UncleGeorge]

I cudden afford those blue guns either so I made some outta a piece of plastic decking material I got from Home Depot. Don't know what the material is called but you build decks with it. Comes in planks about a inch thick and 8 foot long or longer. About 20 bucks a plank for a 8 footer. But the material mills well with common woodworking tools. I used a table saw with regular ol' carbide blade, a router table with a bull nose router bit and a dremel tool with a roundy grinding/carving bit and some sandpaper. It cuts clean and sands nice and smooth. Best of all if you're using them for wet molding water dudden affect it. I put a piece of it in a jar of water overnight and it didden do anything, no swelling up. Oh yeah you need a digital caliper too if you want it to be dead on accurate in size.

I didden need the whole gun just the part that goes in the holster so my dummy might look a little wierd to you but it works perfectly and have made a lotta holsters for a Ruger LCP with them. Took me better part of a day to figure out how to make the first one, then I made eight more the next day. The handle on these are short cause the handle don't figure in when molding my little holster. Just made a piece of it so the dummy would lay at the right angle in the holster. The area carved away behind the trigger also doesn't matter as the holster only comes up to the back of the trigger guard. Both sides are carved. By the time I have molded nine of them the first is dry enuff to take out the dummy and keep on molding. I only make this one holster.

Edited August 3, 2009 by UncleGeorge

[hivemind]

John, I understand the red or blue guns can get quite expensive.what you can do is look up Airsolf.com look at the spring loaded pistols. You can get them from $5 up to $30. They are a hard plastic of a 1:1 ratio. look upder :airsolfofatl.com then click on spring. let me know what you think,Stephen

Yeah, seriously, I play airsoft as a hobby, and the sidearms are 1:1 scale with the real thing, if they're not exact they're damn near close enough for making leather holsters. I have airsoft versions of a Glock 17 and a Kimber 1911 single stack, and I can't tell the difference between them and the real thing without dropping a mag.

Look for the cheap spring pistols, not the high-end gas-powered ones. It'll be obvious from the price which you're looking at - the "springers" are well under $30 and the gas guns are well over $60. Most "springers" are $15 or so.

Here's a few places to look:

http://www.airsoftatlanta.com/category_s/1.htm

http://www.shortyusa.com/cart/index.html?U...;NL=&kiosk=

http://www.trinityairsoft.com/c-105-spring-pistols.aspx

http://www.airsoftpost.com/airsoft-guns-sp...57208e819af78ef