Darth Vader Medalion Casting

By ROFLalways in Workshop Molds & Casting

1,341

I wanted to make a medaillon for a friends mom cause she really LOVES Star Wars
and especially Dart Vader.

Step 1: Getting the Rough Shape

For my Darth Vader medallion ( to get a necklacepiece) I used a piece of isolationfoam from my attic.

I used a hotwirefoamcutter to get the rough shape
and an X-actoknive to smooth the edges.

Step 2: DETAILS DETAILS DETAILS

I used a stencils I found on the internet
and drawn it on a piece of paper which I then glued on the piece of foam.

To get the details from the stencils to be shown on the foam I just traced the lines with a pencil.

After tracing every line of the stencil
I took the paper away and carved some parts deeper with a sharp knive.
So I could create some depth and texture.

Step 3: Investment

I wanted to see if putting my piece of foam in some plaster and casting it that way if it would work.

I mainly did this because I wasn't sure if I used sand that all details would be shown that nicely...

I casted it with my homemade foundry (I don't have any pictures of that because I forgot)
but it is just made from an old steel pot with a pipe for extra airsupply with a hairdryer
and as fuel I used charcoal.

Step 4: RESULT

As you can see casting with foam and investment doesn't work.

I think it's because I forgot to put airvents in the plaster and while the foam wa burning away the hot gasses didn't have room to expand and that's why it didn't completely cast that well.

At the time when I made the investments I made 2 others but I am affraid that when I would bust them out of the plaster they would get destroyed.
So I am going to try and burn the foam as best as I can, and try casting them.

the other two I made is a bust of Saurons helmet and a falconhead (because my totem in the Scouting is Falcon)

I hope you guys enjoyed my instructable and my explanation why I failed.
Sorry if my english wasn't that good (it's not my native tongue)

Participated in the
Spectacular Failures Contest

Be the First to Share

Recommendations

Stretchy Elastic Stitched Neck Choker and Bracelets by Penolopy Bulnick in 3D Printing

29 2.1K

Bearing From Aluminum Beverage Cans by BevCanTech in Metalworking

12 3.2K

3D Printed Monstera Leaf Clutch by kura_kura in 3D Printing

52 3.4K

Circular Table Re-Design (Three to Single Leg) by Timbermancrafts in Woodworking

18 3.5K

First Time Author
Project-Based Learning Contest
Woodworking Contest

9 Comments

EcoExpatMike

7 years ago

Yes, I think you need to "preheat" your mold with the foam inside so it all melts and burns out. Then you could coat the inside with a releasing agent...

MechGuyver

7 years ago

Your issue may have also been from using plaster as your mold material. I tried this in the past with low melting temperature pewter alloys and had similar issues. Plaster has an initial cure just from drying out but when heat is applied it can give of additional moisture and do a secondary cure. This then causes all sorts of problems as the moisture escapes. The solution was to apply heat before pouring to force the full cure in advance of pouring in your molten metal. This is going from memory though so you might want to look into this yourself. If I remember correctly, it requires applying heat for a long time (several days).