In this part of the tutorial we cast the actual plastic miniature in the rubber mold we made. This is page four of the tutorial on how to cast a two part miniature rubber mold and make a miniature. If you came to this page directly from a search engine you can start at the beginning of this tutorial here.

This is the final part and you will shortly have a duplicate miniature. The plastic I use hardens very quickly and in about 20 minutes we will have our duplicate.

Put the two halves of the rubber mold together. Put a piece of cardboard on opposite sides then wrap a rubber band around it to hold it all together. The rubber band should hold it firm but not too tight. If it is too tight you could distort the mold and the miniature.

Place it on a flat surface with the base hole up and we are just about ready to pour the plastic to make the miniature.

Now let's mix the plastic. The plastic will harden in just a matter of a few minutes. It's not like the rubber which takes hours. Use three containers for this. Put one half of the mix in one container then put the other liquid in another container. Get the amounts about equal.

Then slowly pour them at the same time into the third container (the arrow shows the third container). And gently but thorougly mix. Don't spend more than a minute and try not to cause too many air bubbles.

Pour the plastic slowly and in a thin stream into your mold. Give it time to seep in and tap on the mold gently with your other hand to aid the flow. Pour it right to the top. If you overfill it that is ok. You can wipe away the excess or scrape away the excess with a piece of cardboard. Any plastic that remains can always be trimmed once it is dry.

Continue tapping on the mold and pouring plastic. You want to be sure all the little parts of the mold are filled in.

A neat trick to this is to use a syringe. This will help you inject the plastic right into the mold.

In a matter of minutes the plastic will change from clear to white and harden. Wait the recommended period of time before taking it out.

Gently separate the mold and take your new miniature out!

Yay, you have cast your first miniature. You can use this rubber mold over and over.

Inspect your miniature and use a sharp hobby knife to trim off any excess plastic. This excess is called flashing and it is a normal part of the casting process. Also be sure to remove any filled in plastic parts that were the breathing holes that you made with toothpicks. These excess pieces are called Sprues.

Congratulations you have cast your first miniature. Once you have trimmed it you can prime and paint it.

I cast a whole bunch of duplicates from this mold. I am going to be using these as dwarf miners in my Fantasy wall diorama project.

I have more miniature mold making stuff called Advanced Topics and troubleshooting.