How to make a Green Lantern ring- including a glowing version!

Step 5: Resin casting

Now the fun part- casting!

First lightly dust the inside of the mold with baby powder (talcum powder) and blow off any excess. This will reduce surface tension in the mold and you'll get a cleaner casting. No mold release is required with silicone molds.

Now put some flat sheets on the sides of the mold and put a rubber band around the mold to help hold the mold halves together. It doesn't have to be super tight- you don't want to deform the mold.

Next mix your resin according to the manufacturer's instructions. I use Alumilite regular urethane casting resin. This stuff sets up fast- you have a pouring time of about 90 seconds and after 5 minutes it's completely cured.

Pour the resin slowly into the larger hole- the resin will flow down into the bottom of the mold and then rise up from the bottom, forcing air out of the mold through the vent hole. As you pour give the mold a couple of firm taps down on a table to help release any trapped air. The resin will soon begin to cure and after a few minutes you can remove your ring from the mold. Wait until the resin is fully cured before cutting the sprues off so you don't deform the ring. After the sprues are cut off you can lightly sand the resin casting and paint the ring. Make sure to check that the ring fits first! If it's a bit too tight you can ream out the inside of the ring with a Dremel tool.

Painting is covered later but it is also possible to mix opaque green dye in with the resin during casting to eliminate the need for painting, which makes for a less pretty but far more durable finish.

After casting my resin ring I decided to cast a transparent ring using a clear casting resin with some transparent green dye mixed in. The casting procedure is exactly the same but the clear resin I used takes 24 hours to cure. I've used both clear polyester casting resin as well as two part epoxy casting resin and both have worked well. Clear urethane resin is also available but it can be more difficult to work with as some types of clear urethane require a special type of silicone be used for the mold and/or vacuuming the resin to reduce air bubbles.

All resins are slightly different so make sure to follow the manufacturer's directions reagarding the brand of resin you use. The ring I made used less than 1/4 ounce of resin in each casting so you can make a lot of rings from a small supply of resin.

More info about resins/where to buy it:

For opaque resin castings I use the Alumilite Regular urethane casting resin- it makes great castings that are really durable. The 28oz. kit will make more rings than you can shake a stick at. Alumilite also makes a green dye in one ounce bottles so you can color your resin and avoid the hassle of painting.

For clear casting resin there are three options; epoxy resin, polyester resin and urethane resin.
A company called Cast'n Craft makes both epoxy resin and polyester resin in small kits as well as transparent green dye. Cast'n Craft is sold at places like Michael's and Hobby Lobby. Epoxy resin is a little trickier to mix than polyester resin but it doesn't smell as bad- it does take a lot longer to cure than polyester resin. Alumilite makes a clear urethane resin but they recommend vacuuming to reduce bubbles during casting- urethane resin would ultimately produce the best quality casting but I have yet to try it without vacuuming so I can't really recommend at this time unless you have access to a vacuum chamber.

Comments

[melcrowne]

I wanted to mold a clear epoxy sheet to put in front of my kiddos television in the playroom. The tv is 55" x 62" and I have build a wooden casing for the tops and sides. I just want a clear plastic type material in front so they do not damage the tv. I looked into plexi and such but was not impressed. Would this be an option? If so would I build a mold out of wood?

[rgsmith]

This comes a little late to be of help to you, but anyone interested in attempting to make a plastic sheet or pane should find the the instructions and photos for making a pane of "Break Away" glass (like the props used in movies) of interest. Go to this page and scroll down to the "Step By Step Video Sequences" and look for "Making a Breakaway Glass Pane"  As a sheet of acrylic is used for the bottom of the form (to ensure a clear surface), you'd likely be better off just using the acrylic. :) The "break away" property comes from the special casting resin sold by Smooth-On.

[yellowcatt]

I think you would have problems getting both sides of home cast resin perfectly flat.
You would probably be better buying a sheet of cast acrylic cut to the size you require. This should be a bit bigger than the screen to allow for fixings.

There are many places where you can buy cast acrylic
I have bought materials from http://www.westwardplastics.co.uk/index.php and found them to be reasonable, I was in Bristol and collected in person to avoid delivery charges and they let me take some useful sized bits of plastic from their scrap bin.

[Honus]

The other problem with trying to cast something that large is air bubbles in the casting. You would need to cast the entire thing in a vacuum chamber and it would never be as clear as Acrylic sheet.

[senchele]

Hey! I think this is great! I was wondering if you ever tried carving a ring out of Super Sculpey? You could do most of the detail before baking it, and then do a little finish work before making a mold. Something to try!!

[Honus]

I've never tried that but I say give it a go and see how it turns out!

[turl92]

Hi, I'm using the Castin' Craft Easy Craft stuff, but I've tried it twice already and both times, the rings have come out sticky and bendable. I tried mixing it for several minutes, but it still is coming out sticky. Do you have any idea why that may be? :[

[rubystarburst]

It could be that you're not mixing equal parts of resin to hardener. Also, make sure you let it sit long enough in your mold to harden. If you're adding color, you may be adding to much dye which will make the ring sticky for a while.  Generally, most resin casts will come out sticky and bendable and that's where time and patience with us crafters needs to be a virtue.  But first, check to make sure that you indeed do have a 1 to 1 mixture when you're casting, that's prolly the issue.

[turl92]

Yay it's good now! After like four days it's finally good, thanks guys, and sorry for wasting your time. x]

[rubystarburst]

No worries. You're not wasting anyone's time. That's what everyone's here for. You have to start somewhere. :)

[Honus]

Glad it worked out OK!

[Honus]

Maybe it's not getting warm enough?

[turl92]

I have a cast in right now that's been in for about 24 hours, should I try to cure it with a hair dryer, or should I start all over?

[Honus]

It can't hurt to try the hair dryer. I've found that most epoxy resins are very sensitive to mixing ratios and most won't cure below 50 degrees.

[turl92]

The hair dryer actually just made it softer... x[
Should I just try different resin then? :p

[rubystarburst]

Hai! Just noticed you're still having some trouble. Don't worry about the new resin yet. I use castin' craft and mine have come out solid after curing time, so don't worry about that. Make sure you're following the mixing directions, again it's 1 to 1 and use the two cup method to make sure it's thoroughly mixed and you'll be fine. It's all explained in the directions that come with the package.

[Honus]

You might try some of the Alumilite clear casting resin-
http://www.alumilite.com/ProdDetail.cfm?Category=Casting%20Resins&Name=Alumilite%20Clear

[spectre216]

where do i find wax, and is anykind alright or is there a specific kind for making rings.

[Honus]

The sources for all the materials are listed in step 1.

[guitareviston]

if you are going to paint the ring couldnt you use any color ring wax?

[Honus]

The problem is that the wax isn't durable at all.

[guitareviston]

so it would be best to use the green?

[Honus]

Sorry- I totally misunderstood! The reason for using the green wax is that it's usually the best for carving. Purple wax is also OK but most of the other color waxes are either too soft and pliable or too brittle.

[guitareviston]

lol alright thanx