Adventures In Press Molding pt. 2 - Enter the Instant Mold

This week I got dug in on a project that I am working on. I am modeling up a unit of Terminators for Jester my's doubles list. Since I am painting these guys are going to match Jester's Eldar troops I decided that they needed to look a bit Eldar-y themselves.

To this end I decided to use the end of a scatter laser for the head of their Thunderhammer. In order to get enough of these bits to use I decided to try my hand at some more press molding. Last time I used a two part silicone putty and had good results with it. This time I decided to try my hand at the new kid on the block - Instant Mold.

This stuff is known known by several different names - Instant Mold, Oyumaru, Polymorph, and Fantastic Plastic. The basic idea is that you get this stuff up to 175F and it becomes rubbery almost like playdough. You can then push your piece into the putty and when it cools you have a nice and solid mold. The best part is if you mess up or no longer need the mold you can heat it back up and re-use the mold.

This stuff is pretty easy to work with but takes a try or two to get the mold right, but that is fine since you can just reheat your mistakes and try again. Below is how I made my mold -

Get the Instant Mold up to 175

Coat your piece in Crisco

Press the piece into one side of the mold. Then put this piece in the fridge to cool it down. When you take it out cover it in crisco. Be sure to cut some grooves in the sides before you cool it so the two pieces will lock together.

Once you take the first piece out of the fridge and have covered it in Crisco press the second piece on top for form the two part mold.

After it has cooled press in a bit of green stuff, let it set up and bam - you have made your first cast.

WARNING! Do not use a green stuff oven with this stuff - I did and it got hot enough to melt the instant mold.

Here is the result after I pulled the green stuff out of it. It wasn't ruined or damaged, I just had to remake my mold.

All in all this stuff is worth having. It isn't too expensive (about $15 or so shipped) and you will get a lot of use out of it as it is reusable. It doesn't make the best molds in the world, but it is great for a one off that you aren't too concerned about the level of detail.