Static Creature

silicone casting update

Added 2022-02-28 09:18:44 +0000 UTC

just a small update on this. I started casting the silicone for the hands as a test. I immediately ran into a problem - the silicone wasn't curing in big patches across the surface. I tried a second time to test it and had the same result. Doing some research, I found that the resin the molds are made from contains sulfur, which inhibits curing in platinum silicone, so that is extremely not ideal for casting a whole silicone suit in such molds.
While there is a product that can coat the molds to prevent the cure inhibition, there's no way to get it in NZ. I'm currently trying out excess UV baking of the molds and soaking them in alcohol, which is meant to help get rid of the sulfur. Yet to try another cast of them with this done.
After leaving the sticky casts for a few days, I discovered they did actually cure eventually, just very slowly. So even if I can't fully prevent the cure inhibition in the molds, I can still get a cured piece out of them with some time. So this is good news though not really ideal, cure inhibition still means the surface doesn't come out perfectly in the parts that don't cure within the molds.