Tessetoys : Guide

How to produce a figure using Silicone rubber and Resin Plaster Below is a guide on how I go about making my Hearthead and Metlex figures. I use a one piece mold, as the figure is pretty simple and has a flat edge on both pieces, so it can be easily pulled from the mold, but for more detailed figures you can use a two piece mold, which I will have a guide for coming very soon.

In the image above you can see all the ingredients I use. From left to right: Foil for lining the mold. The cut MDF used to put together the mold box. A ruler and scalpel, always handy. Photo mount for lightly attaching the foil to the box interior. Sellotape or masking tape. Flexil - S and catalyst which is the Silicone used to make the mold.

Above is the Silicone I use for my molds. There are loads and loads of different types of Silicone and of course loads of different manafacturers, but this one Ive used three times, and it works really well. I always purchase the Flexil-S with the Turquoise or sometimes its called Aqua catalyst. This catalyst causes the Silicone to set a lot quicker (in 2-4 hours) than the standard blue catalyst which takes 24 hours. I buy the Flexil-S from www.modelshop.co.uk

Here is what Im going to Mold. I have made a set of 6 body pieces and one Heptagon shaped head which is being used on my new Metlex One figure. All of these pieces are previously molded parts, they are all cast in Resin Plaster, then Ive sprayed them with a few light coats of primer to give them a nice smooth finish and even out any irregularities. When I made the very first Tiny Hearthead mold, the master figure was made out of wood and then primed etc, but you can use Super sculpey or clay etc.

This is the mold box from above. I worked out what volume the tub of Silicone would fill as I was going to use all the silicone and catalyst in one go I thought Id just make one big mold rather than two seperate molds for the head and the bodies. So in theory the silicone should completely fill this mold when its completely poured in.

Here is a closeup of one of the body pieces. You can see the primer hasnt left a completely flat surface, but it never does, and I personally like the tiny amount of texture it leaves on the figure, and it always works well when molded. Also as the Silicone is cool setting, it doesnt warm or heat up, you could prime or 'coat' your figure in anything as it wont cause it to heat up or blister.

I then lined the inside of the MDF mold with foil, I prefer to do it this way as it gives a easy release to the silicone when you goto take the box apart, its not porous at all, so the silicone has nothing to attach itself to. You can of course make your mould out of LEGO, this is what I normally do but I didnt have enough for this size box. Using the LEGO is super simple and the best way to go about it, you can buy bags of bricks on EBAY.

Here is the mold all put together, I put a thin layer of card on the bottom, as it provided a super flat surface to stand the pieces on, Foil has a tendancy to wrinkle when attached using the photo mount and doesnt leave a nice flat surface. I also used some masking tape around the inside edges to seal off any gaps there may have been, of course with LEGO you dont need to do any of this as it self seals, all you need is a nice flat surface to stand the LEGO mold on.

Here are a couple of photos showing the pieces stood in the mold. Dont pack them together to tight, always leave a good gap .

I always like to use a pouring jug to mix the silicone in, it makes it a ton easier to pour accurately rather than mixing it in the pot it comes in.

Pour the silicone into the jug and add all of the catalyst (if you are using it all in one go) you could do half/half if you wanted to use a smaller amount.

Mix the catalyst into the silicone until it completely blends in, and you end up with a light blue colour.
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Pour it in nice and slowly in a thin stream. I recommend pouring in one corner and letting it gradually fill the mold, dont pour it in really fast or it will cause problems.

Once you have poured it all in give it a few light taps on the sides to release any bubbles of air you may have captured in there. Silicone is pretty good for not holding that many bubbles, so it doesnt cause that much trouble. Now leave it for 4 hours to set.

Here it is 4 hours later, the white marks on the top are just a few slight areas of the base silicone which didnt get completely mixed with the catalyst.

Now carefully peel off all surrounding walls, foil and tape and you end up with a big block of silicone, now its time to take off the bottom piece and reveal the mold.

And here is the mould with the pieces removed. You may notice some 'frilly' pieces around the edges this is where a tiny super thin of silicone has crept underneath the pieces used in the mold. The best way to stop this is when placing the pieces in the mold, put a thin layer of clay around the bottom edge of the piece and then push it onto the bottom of the mold, then scrape of any excess that might have pushed out. This gives a perfect seal to the bottom and wont let any Silicone in. Im going to do this on my next mold.
Now it's time to cast the figure

This is what I use to make my figures, its Resin Plaster by Gedeo, I purchase it from a local shop, but it should be available in a ton of craft shops or online. Its like plaster of paris, but sets a lot tougher, it can chip if dropped from a height, but still takes a lot of abuse. The plaster itself is mixed with a 1 / 3 ratio, so for everyone set amount of water, you must add 3 amounts of plaster.

Here is a quick pic of my makeshift factory that I use when Im in the gallery. You can see my previous molds using Silicone on the left.

I use a kinder egg shell as above to measure out my portions. For this new mold, it will be about 2.5 scoops of water to 7.5 scoops of resin plaster.

Sprinkle the resin plaster over the water, then it leave to stand for one minute.

After 1 minute, mix it for another minute and you are ready to pour. If you have the mixture correct, it shouldnt be to runny, it should be the consistency of tomato soup.

I then pour the plaster into the mould, but dont completely fill up the body sections. Air is the enemy of somebody making molds, as it can cause chaos and ruin the finished figure. I use the thin end of a paintbrush and run it around in the mold, going down into the feet sections and making sure there aren't any bubbles trapped down in there, then I top them up. Also after 5 minutes just as the plaster begins to set and gets a bit thicker, I give it another mix with the brush handle as it gets out all the tiny bubbles of air out. Then, after it sets even more I get a little tiny squeegee and run it across the top of the mould to make it smooth (as above).

Leave the plaster to set for 30-40 minutes, after its completely set you can wiggle the pieces out of the mold and you have your figures!. I then let them dry overnight, and just lightly sand off the top side of the head (the area that was facing upwards in the mold) piece and they are now ready to be primed up or drawn on. This entire process, from cutting the MDF for the mold to making the final first batch of figures took me about 7 hours. I hope this guide inspires some of you to make your own figures.