Creating Masters

[ScaleMotorcars]

A master can be made of anything that holds its shape. Clay, wood, plastic, metal, wax, soap, plaster, rubber, glass and the list goes on and on. The most important thing to remember is that the best masters are non porous. Plastics, metal, and wax are all good mediums to use, Wood, plaster, and clay not so good but its passable to take a mold off just about any surface. Don send me a link to a guy making a large mold and the master was a 250 year old alligator turtle.:eek:

While making masters its important to keep in mind how the part will be cast once its finished. Large undercuts and hollow voids need to be addressed in the original.

Take an engine block for example. Sure it can be cast in one solid chunk but that requires allot of material. Its best to leave a hollow void in the bottom where the crank would go and leave out any internal details. Also by adding (in-place) pistons to the top of the block it adds realism and also cuts down on materials. Items like the cam should either be cast in place or left out entirely. Casting in the hollow area for the cam greatly complicates the molding process. If the builder wants to add a cam then a small recess in the front and back of the block to locate the cam is OK and the builder can drill it out himself.

Also its becoming very popular in 1/8 to add bolt details by grinding off cast in bolts and replacing them with real metal one. Again like the cam its actually better to leave a small dimple in the master to locate the bolt and leave it off entirely. This way the builder can drill and tap in the real bolts during the build.

OK thats just a starter and a few examples. Im happy to help point out the little details, just let me know what your working on and we can go from there. :)

[Don Garrett]

Thanks Dan.

[ScaleMotorcars]

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