Hi! Small edit to the credits: while Dick Poelen did the 3D modeling of these characters, they're unofficial replicas of the minis from the board game Root. Character design should be attributed to Kyle Ferrin, the original artist of the characters.
A large part of my career was in automated manufacturing, and one of the first mantras was "it might be the best product in the world, but is not worth a dime if it isn't manufacturable". I continue to learn from your videos - much appreciated!
Robert, your channel has almost single handedly made it possible for me to move from selling my sculptures as one-off's to molding and casting them to sell multiples at festivals. Thanks so much for what you do. Just learned a new trick from you today. I never thought of fixing the little bubbles with the actual resin. GENIUS!
I have seen a few people reference your channel when talking about molds, and now I know exactly why. You are a true expert in your craft, a master. I have just subscribed and have become one of your new apprentices on this channel. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise. Saludos y bendiciones desde Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico!
I’m only just beginning making molds. (Have not done one yet) I feel comfortable getting going thanks to your channel. I love your attention to detail and the way you explain. My lady and I really enjoy watching you work. Thank you!
Amazing! I have been trying to figure out how to cast my 1” wooden carved fairies and how I can carve them for ease of casting. Now I get it. Brilliant chunkies too. I’m gonna try it again. Thanks so much!
One of the charms of old toys, trinkets, eraser figures, etc. are that they had to be sculpted to work in a mold, usually an injection mold. So they don’t look quite right… and that’s the charm. So I definitely love doing small, highly detailed figures, which I 3D print as is. But I also like doing the old style… where the mold dictates the shape to a degree. It gives a very sentimental feeling to the toy. ❤
Cutting a small vent into the mold will solve that issue quick as a bunny. I've cut vents into a mold after the fact on several occasions. Nice work as always 😊
Yes, cutting a vent works but I hate doing it! Every time I make a casting the cut vent reminds me I failed to vent the mold properly in the first place!
I'm so incredibly happy I found this channel, you've answered a lot of mold questions I've been scratching my head at for the past year, thank you for making this content Robert!!
I would love a video where you design a miniature from scratch to go through the process of how to design for casting. Anyway, I love this one, too. ^^
Tom Mason and the Mini Sculpting Super Show here on RUclips has tutorials on making minis from scratch. He's a professional sculptor that's worked with a lot of different companies over the years, including WizKids and Reaper. He has to take casting into consideration on almost all his projects because he knows they're going to be mass produced.
Thank you for this detailed video. I knew about undercuts and venting, but seeing the way you've described recognizing those problem areas and the ways to solve them is very nice.
Super tricky because of the embossed numbers. There’s just nowhere to place the inlet sprue. And if you put a vent at the logical top of the die you will have a tedious cleanup on each casting. In theory you could use injection just so the sprue and vent would be really thin. Or use the two-part smoosh mold technique.
I only find myself casting about once a year, and every time I do, I come to your channel to watch you problem solve and connect sprues. I've never found anyone else who does such good, replicable processes! thank you so much for this and all the others
Awesome video, so helpful! I create miniatures but had never given any thought to design with casting in mind, have been using two piece moulds with poor results, cannot wait to do some redesign and try the method you just showed us. Thank yo Robert, you have an awesome teaching style, it is very much appreciated 👍
I cast my own model tanks I scratch build so I learned a lot from this tutorial. I still have bubbles but now I know how to fix and repair them. Thanks for sharing this.
Over time the mold will come apart...I have a quite good technice for 2 parters...you just need the cheap polymer clay which never becames solid, and lego...a lots of lego (apart from the basic modelling sculpting tools you probably have. Flat out plaster, make your modell sink into it. work out that there is no undercuts, make a few bumps, but make them like pushing from one side (but try all not to have the same orientation), desing the place where you want to pour in the resin and build small half pipes out of clay from the figurines until the edge(what will be the top), and make it wide so you can have a nice cone for casting. Build a lego frame around the whole thing(while still be on top of the clay, so you need to push the lego frame into the clay, build it up so high that you will be over the figurine if you pour silicone. Make sure use a little clay to seal all the opening between the bricks, make sure that the casting pipes are reaching the lego frame. (For bonus point spray the whole thing with silicone spray. Pour the silicone and wait for hardening. Remove the clay, but do not open the frane....now put the clay back inot the pipes, because you need them and build them up so they will froma full pipe. Build the frame up so that you can pour silcione here as well. spray silcioen spray on tjhe figurines, try to dry up the excess with a earbud. Then try to spread talcum all over the silicon mold surface without touching the figurines. Cast silicone After it hardenes you can remove the frame and getting out the plaster and using that as a strating point the two half should come apart without using a sclapel, and you will end up with two parts which can only fit together in one certain way... Also you need some(a pair) flat wood/or hard material and good clamps/strong rubber bands, whatever. Assemble, and pour the resin (YES there is no way to perfectly fit the two sides, so there will be leak, keep it in mind)
Thank you. I love this video. You're easy to listen to. You must have been a teacher at some point... I sure learned a lot in this short little video.😊😊
Robert is the Bob Ross of reproductions. Thanks for all the info my friend I finally set up my first cut mold to do 4 pieces at a time. Super excited thanks again.
@@DisgruntledPigumon Thanks Pigumon but I have to confess that I love Bob Ross. You know who I love even more? Bill Alexander. He was Bob Ross‘s teacher and mentor. Bob basically learned and copied everything he did - to the point where Bill became very bitter by Bob’s greater fame and success. It’s a fascinating story and I get a huge kick out of watching them both.
Toy prototype sculptor... and subscribed. I was already interested because I do weapon casting for figures as a hobby. So this video and channel was right up my alley, but having done toy prototyping for a living? I am ready to learn.
Another great video. Thanks Robert. I'm curious, under what circumstance would you advise separating a figure like that from it's base and casting in two pieces? Or maybe hinging a piece to avoid holes / simplify a mold?
I've never seen your videos before but this is fantastic! I'm hoping to start casting some mini figures soon. One question; what's the tank for that you place the moulds in when its setting? I cant find it in your equipment list, is it temparature controlled?
Very informative video! I was wondering if you could give me some advice. I'm currently trying to mold a 4 legged dog that has a base, in a 2 part mold. I can remove the first half, but the other half wraps around the legs of the miniature and I have a hard time releasing it without destroying the mold. I have a picture but I'm not able to post it..could you shed some light on what I'm doing wrong?
Very cool. I'm getting into a board game Axis and Allies with massive customization unit scale is 1/72. Question how would I go about making a mold for large Scale production of units.. say make 20 to 50 at once without destroying the mold for reuse. Thank you
The technique you would use depends on the size of the chain and the shape of the links. It’s usually easier to cast a tight chain because then you can just treat it like casting any thin, straight object - except for the holes. Your parting lines have to cut through the holes. If a chain is not tight your only option is to cast the links separately and assemble them. Which is hugely tedious.
That tool that you use for melting/sculpting the wax - could you also use that to "sculpt" (grooves, texture, and so on) in foam for terrain building? What is the tool called? Really appreciated this episode! Gave a lot of insights for me understand what I should be looking for when casting - thank you!
Unless I remember incorrect the tool is used for Pyrography, drawing / burning into wood. I know there is a older video where he talks exactly about what type it is, Robert says that one is the best he has found for this adaptation. But for terrain building it would work. But for larger shaping you are probably better of making a hand held foam cutter (similar toll but with a metal loop on so you can carve the foam). This one would probably be best suited for details, but not sure there is a need for that type of tool for making details of that size as you already have things to do it. And if not the foam cutting tools metal wire ring can be shaped to fit that need. Hope it helps. =)
Yes the placement of vents is a precise art. You should place a vent anywhere air might get trapped as the resin fills the mold. Therefore at the very top of the bumps in the cavity. The trick is to position the part in space so that there are the fewest possible vents and that the cavity will fill naturally without any place for air to get trapped. So the placement of vents is 100% rhyme and reason.
Hey Robert was jut wondering - what are the little blue tubes you use for vents? I’m trying to track them down or something similar in New Zealand, amazing once again thank you for all the work you do
Hi! Small edit to the credits: while Dick Poelen did the 3D modeling of these characters, they're unofficial replicas of the minis from the board game Root. Character design should be attributed to Kyle Ferrin, the original artist of the characters.
Thanks for the clarification. Here is a link to a Kyle Ferrin’s website: lightgreyartlab.com/kyle-ferrin
The more relevant question is... where can we buy these minis!!!? =D I'd love to print some for myself.
@@BEdmonson85 Google Dick Poelen. He has the up on myminifactory.com
the bubble on the ear of that second mouse kinda gives it some nice personality, he has more battle scars than the other ones.
A large part of my career was in automated manufacturing, and one of the first mantras was "it might be the best product in the world, but is not worth a dime if it isn't manufacturable".
I continue to learn from your videos - much appreciated!
Robert, your channel has almost single handedly made it possible for me to move from selling my sculptures as one-off's to molding and casting them to sell multiples at festivals. Thanks so much for what you do. Just learned a new trick from you today. I never thought of fixing the little bubbles with the actual resin. GENIUS!
Glad you find my videos helpful!
Fantastic!!! Thanks for covering miniatures
There's just something wonderful about watching a master artisan at work
More to come, miniatures are a big world!
@@RobertTolone Excelent, we will wait patiently for more on the topic. Keep up the great work
Robert’s amazing to learn from, isn’t he Trent? Your stuff is awesome too.
Hi Trent, I just subbed your channel. Great stuff!
I have seen a few people reference your channel when talking about molds, and now I know exactly why. You are a true expert in your craft, a master. I have just subscribed and have become one of your new apprentices on this channel. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and expertise. Saludos y bendiciones desde Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico!
I wish you were my Grandpa
😭😭😭🙏
I’m only just beginning making molds. (Have not done one yet) I feel comfortable getting going thanks to your channel. I love your attention to detail and the way you explain. My lady and I really enjoy watching you work. Thank you!
Living Legend. I appreciate you sharing your wisdom with so much patience and room for us to learn.
Thank you💐
Amazing! I have been trying to figure out how to cast my 1” wooden carved fairies and how I can carve them for ease of casting. Now I get it. Brilliant chunkies too. I’m gonna try it again. Thanks so much!
One of the charms of old toys, trinkets, eraser figures, etc. are that they had to be sculpted to work in a mold, usually an injection mold. So they don’t look quite right… and that’s the charm.
So I definitely love doing small, highly detailed figures, which I 3D print as is. But I also like doing the old style… where the mold dictates the shape to a degree.
It gives a very sentimental feeling to the toy. ❤
Cutting a small vent into the mold will solve that issue quick as a bunny. I've cut vents into a mold after the fact on several occasions. Nice work as always 😊
Yes, cutting a vent works but I hate doing it! Every time I make a casting the cut vent reminds me I failed to vent the mold properly in the first place!
I'm so incredibly happy I found this channel, you've answered a lot of mold questions I've been scratching my head at for the past year, thank you for making this content Robert!!
Glad you found my channel. Thanks for watching!
So much wisdom in a single video. Thanks for sharing.
I never thought I would say this, "shove in the chunkys" is a GREAT idea that had not even occurred to me before your video!
Works like a champ, just don’t mix rubber types! Many rubbers don’t play nice with each other.
Robert, I hope you know just how much we appreciate you.
Coming here thanks to SteadyCraftin and looking forwards to watcing more of your videos, this was great!
so, in short, you just need a 3d software to fix all the problems from an already done sculpt, or do it the old way with wax, you are a genius
I would love a video where you design a miniature from scratch to go through the process of how to design for casting. Anyway, I love this one, too. ^^
Tom Mason and the Mini Sculpting Super Show here on RUclips has tutorials on making minis from scratch. He's a professional sculptor that's worked with a lot of different companies over the years, including WizKids and Reaper. He has to take casting into consideration on almost all his projects because he knows they're going to be mass produced.
2 years old but ive just discovered this! thanking you! helped me a lot ~
Thank you for this detailed video. I knew about undercuts and venting, but seeing the way you've described recognizing those problem areas and the ways to solve them is very nice.
You’re an absolute artist. Thanks for being such a good teacher.
I appreciate it Rory. Thanks!
Functional dice (polyhedral set of 7) next please! Would like to see how you would vent those.
Super tricky because of the embossed numbers. There’s just nowhere to place the inlet sprue. And if you put a vent at the logical top of the die you will have a tedious cleanup on each casting. In theory you could use injection just so the sprue and vent would be really thin. Or use the two-part smoosh mold technique.
Thank you, Mr. Tolone. Your videos and lessons are as amazing as your molds.
Thanks Eric!
I never subscribed to a channel faster, amazing fountain of entertainment and knowledge for a veteran in the hobby biz.
Really like that this video covered it all up from making molds to casting and seeing the results. Thanks as always!
The RUclips algorithm has blessed me with this amazing video
Thanks for watching!
"invisible....thats what we want to see" lol.. Awesome video!
I only find myself casting about once a year, and every time I do, I come to your channel to watch you problem solve and connect sprues. I've never found anyone else who does such good, replicable processes! thank you so much for this and all the others
Glad you find the videos useful Tony!
Awesome video, so helpful! I create miniatures but had never given any thought to design with casting in mind, have been using two piece moulds with poor results, cannot wait to do some redesign and try the method you just showed us. Thank yo Robert, you have an awesome teaching style, it is very much appreciated 👍
I'm here because of the Crafsman aka Steady Craftin's video. You have a great channel with a tremendous amount of info! Thanks for sharing.
Same
absolutely brilliant explanations of what you’re doing and WHY
Glad you found it useful, thanks!
"Look at these parting lines"
*literally invisible*
XD
Sir, you’re video introduced me to whole new ideas. Thank you
I cast my own model tanks I scratch build so I learned a lot from this tutorial. I still have bubbles but now I know how to fix and repair them. Thanks for sharing this.
Glad it helped John!
Over time the mold will come apart...I have a quite good technice for 2 parters...you just need the cheap polymer clay which never becames solid, and lego...a lots of lego (apart from the basic modelling sculpting tools you probably have. Flat out plaster, make your modell sink into it. work out that there is no undercuts, make a few bumps, but make them like pushing from one side (but try all not to have the same orientation), desing the place where you want to pour in the resin and build small half pipes out of clay from the figurines until the edge(what will be the top), and make it wide so you can have a nice cone for casting.
Build a lego frame around the whole thing(while still be on top of the clay, so you need to push the lego frame into the clay, build it up so high that you will be over the figurine if you pour silicone. Make sure use a little clay to seal all the opening between the bricks, make sure that the casting pipes are reaching the lego frame. (For bonus point spray the whole thing with silicone spray.
Pour the silicone and wait for hardening. Remove the clay, but do not open the frane....now put the clay back inot the pipes, because you need them and build them up so they will froma full pipe. Build the frame up so that you can pour silcione here as well. spray silcioen spray on tjhe figurines, try to dry up the excess with a earbud. Then try to spread talcum all over the silicon mold surface without touching the figurines. Cast silicone
After it hardenes you can remove the frame and getting out the plaster and using that as a strating point the two half should come apart without using a sclapel, and you will end up with two parts which can only fit together in one certain way...
Also you need some(a pair) flat wood/or hard material and good clamps/strong rubber bands, whatever. Assemble, and pour the resin (YES there is no way to perfectly fit the two sides, so there will be leak, keep it in mind)
Thank you. I love this video. You're easy to listen to. You must have been a teacher at some point... I sure learned a lot in this short little video.😊😊
Consistently awesome since I first seen you over a year ago!
I've found surgical retractors to be useful when cutting large molds. I regularly use some cheap stainless weitlaner type self retaining retractors.
Robert is the Bob Ross of reproductions. Thanks for all the info my friend I finally set up my first cut mold to do 4 pieces at a time. Super excited thanks again.
Bob Ross did easy work. It’s like calling him the McDonald’s drive-through employee of reproductions. Robert is a 1000x better than Bob Ross.
@@DisgruntledPigumon Thanks Pigumon but I have to confess that I love Bob Ross. You know who I love even more? Bill Alexander. He was Bob Ross‘s teacher and mentor. Bob basically learned and copied everything he did - to the point where Bill became very bitter by Bob’s greater fame and success. It’s a fascinating story and I get a huge kick out of watching them both.
Wow those are some great miniatures. I know nothing about this process but was fun to watch.
Love the mouse ear with chip in it
You Sir are master of the craft. Amazing job as always
You sir deserve a billion Subscribers.
A billion would be nice of course, but I might have to settle for a couple hundred million.
Great video as usual .. thank you
This dude plays Root
And is VERY serious about it.
Wow. This gives me hope. But the next thing I want to cast are tiny wheel covers. 😣
Some great characters. Remind me of the Redwall books by Brian Jacques
Always impressive, sir.
Finally found a place in my city that sells resins, and I'm dying to try casting some stuff.
Definitely give it a go!
very insightful and educational. thanks.
Steady hand of a master crafter
Toy prototype sculptor... and subscribed. I was already interested because I do weapon casting for figures as a hobby. So this video and channel was right up my alley, but having done toy prototyping for a living? I am ready to learn.
hit the like button rob?? NO!! ill smash it!!! great video!!!!
Thanks!
I WILL do this one day... Great video.
Love your channel! If you want to do a collaboration I’ll make some parts for you. That would be a lot of fun.
@@RobertTolone that sounds great, let's talk more about it
Great stuff and really helpful thank you Robert 👍
Love seeing this. Question. If you were in fact doing a run of 100/ea. How many molds would you create?
10 of each character. That is more for casting speed than it is about mold wear. I would expect to get 15 or 20 good copies out of each mold.
Can I ask why the molds don’t last longer? Do they loose detail or is it because the splits grow until the mould is no longer a single price?
I'm so glad you finally found someone for this! Looking forward to more. Minis like this which are multipart might be next on the list?
People find me; spread the word I’m looking to cast miniatures for games like Warhammer, etc.
@@RobertTolone shared it on the 'eavier metal fb group (main group for creativity in the hobby)
@@ikkiiiieee Thanks for sharing!
Honestly the boubles on the mous ears are a perfect accident
It looks exactly like cartoon ears
printed these this week! nice timing
Another great video. Thanks Robert. I'm curious, under what circumstance would you advise separating a figure like that from it's base and casting in two pieces? Or maybe hinging a piece to avoid holes / simplify a mold?
I would do that any time it makes the casting process simpler. It’s often helpful to take a character apart and cast it in pieces.
@@RobertTolone Have you done/will you do a video on how to do that with sculpts like this? Especially the hinging option? I've not seen that before.
@@sonipitts Not sure what you mean by hinging a piece.
@@RobertTolone Whatever Allen was talking about in his original content. I don't know what he was referring to, that's why I'm curious. :-)
CHUNKIES! brilliant! the small things you learn.
aww these guys are adorable!
Oooh this was so helpful! Thank you!
Thank you so much for these videos. I'm getting close to completing my first set of castable models. Bubbles got me nervous.
Bubbles make me crazy!
another masterpiece! Thank You!!!
tHANKS FOR THESE VIDEOS! Where can I buy those wax heating tools, wax rods and sticky wax?
The waxer is a Foredom Wax Carving Pen. The waxes are from www.freemanwax.com
I love watching your channel
Very helpful!! :) Thank you for taking the time to share!! :)
Thank you for the great videos! Do you have a video where you explain how, when and where to add vents?
Awesome Video, what kind of Cast Material would you recommend for big figures up to 25cm tall?
Awesome work. Lovely molds 👌
Thanks for the tutorials!! Do you paint miniatures as well? I would love to see that!
I paint all my sculptures but my channel is focused on molding and casting. Maybe one day I’ll expand my horizons.
Hello. Congratulations for your work. What kind of resin do you use ? Thank you
Love your work! Do you custom make molds to sale? I have two simple shapes.
I've never seen your videos before but this is fantastic! I'm hoping to start casting some mini figures soon. One question; what's the tank for that you place the moulds in when its setting? I cant find it in your equipment list, is it temparature controlled?
very nice, thanks for all, could you make little flexible fluorescents miniatures?
Are there flexible fluorescent resins available?
@@RobertTolone mixing resin and glow pigment
Very informative video! I was wondering if you could give me some advice. I'm currently trying to mold a 4 legged dog that has a base, in a 2 part mold. I can remove the first half, but the other half wraps around the legs of the miniature and I have a hard time releasing it without destroying the mold. I have a picture but I'm not able to post it..could you shed some light on what I'm doing wrong?
i got lucky and came to your channel. very cool stuff
Hey great video, but I would love to know, how you cut the bids mold. I can´t get my head aroud the bow. Greetings
Am I the only one who gets oddly excited whenever this man uses the "chunkies"?
I’m happy to report that there is a great deal of chunkie dunking in the upcoming videos.
Amazing channel. Just stumbled on it.
Welcome! Glad you like the videos.
Thank You!!! Great videos!
Very cool.
I'm getting into a board game Axis and Allies with massive customization unit scale is 1/72.
Question how would I go about making a mold for large Scale production of units.. say make 20 to 50 at once without destroying the mold for reuse.
Thank you
Love the videos I would love to see how you would make molds to recast warhammer model parts
Any specific part you have in mind?
Amazing as always, i was wondering if there is any method for casting chains
I would also love to know this!
The technique you would use depends on the size of the chain and the shape of the links. It’s usually easier to cast a tight chain because then you can just treat it like casting any thin, straight object - except for the holes. Your parting lines have to cut through the holes. If a chain is not tight your only option is to cast the links separately and assemble them. Which is hugely tedious.
very nicely done. you are a master at your craft!
Super cool thank you for sharing
I've just found my new Bob Ross!
Wooo! I learn a lot, Thank you!!
That tool that you use for melting/sculpting the wax - could you also use that to "sculpt" (grooves, texture, and so on) in foam for terrain building? What is the tool called?
Really appreciated this episode! Gave a lot of insights for me understand what I should be looking for when casting - thank you!
Unless I remember incorrect the tool is used for Pyrography, drawing / burning into wood. I know there is a older video where he talks exactly about what type it is, Robert says that one is the best he has found for this adaptation. But for terrain building it would work. But for larger shaping you are probably better of making a hand held foam cutter (similar toll but with a metal loop on so you can carve the foam). This one would probably be best suited for details, but not sure there is a need for that type of tool for making details of that size as you already have things to do it. And if not the foam cutting tools metal wire ring can be shaped to fit that need. Hope it helps. =)
It is a Foredom Wax Carving pen.
Do you think it’s possible to print tin molds? 😀 Would be cool twist to revisit my childhood with tin soldiers designed by myself
I would love to be able to get miniatures like this
Did you mark the bottom of the wood disc, to remind where to make the cuts?
Is there any particular rhyme or reason for where the air vents go on a piece and how many you should have?
Yes the placement of vents is a precise art. You should place a vent anywhere air might get trapped as the resin fills the mold. Therefore at the very top of the bumps in the cavity. The trick is to position the part in space so that there are the fewest possible vents and that the cavity will fill naturally without any place for air to get trapped. So the placement of vents is 100% rhyme and reason.
Him: "Look at that parting line. Admire it!"
Me: *actually died laughing
thank you for the tips!! could you solve those " bubbles" with a slower set resin?
Possibly. Most of the time I can get rid of the bubbles by using good techniques after a couple of tries.
Hey Robert was jut wondering - what are the little blue tubes you use for vents? I’m trying to track them down or something similar in New Zealand, amazing once again thank you for all the work you do
They called wax wires, or sprue wax, and are commonly used by jewelry makers. Check out jewelry casting supply companies in your region.
@@RobertTolone thank you Robert appreciate the help
Amazing detail
Thank you for making this
What is that heat gun tool/material and materials you are using for vents?