Sandbagger's Iron Man builds - Now in STEEL.

[BuildsByBaz]

OK, so I just went outside for 15 minutes to try a rough-cut foam cast. Buried the foam piece, made a small sand-cone leading into it, then poured in the melted aluminium. Seemed to work OK. I'll clean this one up on the sanding belt and see how it looks.

 

[BuildsByBaz]

It seems the lost-foam method is going to be the best for me.

I can throw away all the clay ones I made. I will use them for sizing first, then cut them all out of foam. This piece was 15 minutes on the sanding belt and it's come up a treat. 27 more to go.

 

[Corweena]

That Is a pretty darn good result. Have fun with the other 34 hahahaha

 

[BuildsByBaz]

Turns out you can saw and sand this insulation foam and get a great finish even before casting! Less work to do on the grinder after pouring!

 

[RYNO 666]

Yes Insulation foam is a dream to work with. I made my Halo reach pistol out of this material. Sharp disposable knives are your best friend. The sand cast are beautiful. I'm now wondering what else you can make this way.

Sent from my 0PJA2 using Tapatalk

 

[Meatwad]

Holy cow those came out nice. I can't wait to see it complete.

 

[PEPAKURA TURTLE]

wow...the epicness..unbelivable... they came out way beterthen I thought, but again, it's you whos making it so...I xpected that.

 

[Rooster]

Wow those are turning out nice. How much of a difference did polishing up the foam do for your grinder/polish time?

 

[BuildsByBaz]

Wow those are turning out nice. How much of a difference did polishing up the foam do for your grinder/polish time?

Thanks comrades.

Starting the pour with a clean sanded foam model shortened grind time from fifteen minutes a piece down to five.

 

[BuildsByBaz]

Posting up failures as well as success. Here's nearly two hours of carving, sanding and prep wasted as the casting process failed on both pieces.

I re-carved them tonight but it's a quarter to one in the morning now so I better leave it until tomorrow for casting.

I think I'll have to introduce a long sprue to provide enough pressure to push the molten aluminium right in.

This is the piece that I am really worried about casting. It took a lot of time to carve it to match the shape of my hand on the inside and the right look on the outside. If it fails.....

 

[BuildsByBaz]

Another failure. Much time spent carving the hand plate for an exact fit. Wasted.

The back of the hand was just a basic shaped plate, but the front, (palm) is a lot more complex so I'm glad I didn't blow that one. Might have a re-think on how I'm going to do this.

The sprue was certainly long enough this time, but I think because the plate is so broad and thin, the aluminium cooled before it reached the edges.

At least the two thumb pieces I did this afternoon worked. At this rate I'll be finished all the fingers in eight evenings if i can have a few hours each night. Midnight and I are pretty well acquainted anyway....

Rough grind. Will finish with files and sandpaper later.

 

[BuildsByBaz]

Well it's nearly 1am and I got a few pieces to work perfectly, (Index finger) so I'm going to bed happy. I changed the surface that I pour on to show more through the sand and I poured a LOT faster.

 

[PEPAKURA TURTLE]

good as always SB

 

[BuildsByBaz]

^^^ Thanks man.


I decided that the back plate for each hand could be belted out of thick sheet aluminium and made quite deep, so that the palm plate with all the detail carved into it can be cast as a flatter piece, making it easier to cast.

I traced my hand onto a bit of aluminium then freehand added the wrap-around parts. Using a piece of foam underneath, I belted the crap out of it with an engineers hammer to give it a curve, periodically checking for fit on my hand. Lots of filing and bashing but got there pretty quickly.

There's a few little adjustments to be made to get a perfect fit, but it worked a treat.

Got an index finger done today as well.

 

[Jobe Devian]

oh man, the heavy breathing.... so sexy. Seriously in awe of your work

 

[Alkatraz]

Those gauntlets look awesome, great work as always.
I was actually planning on using the lost foam casting method to cast the bones for my space marine hand extensions, so it's great to see that it works so well. Do you have any general rules or things to keep in mind while doing it, or any tips? I haven't tried it out yet, so my experience is next to none.

 

[BuildsByBaz]

Those gauntlets look awesome, great work as always.
I was actually planning on using the lost foam casting method to cast the bones for my space marine hand extensions, so it's great to see that it works so well. Do you have any general rules or things to keep in mind while doing it, or any tips? I haven't tried it out yet, so my experience is next to none.

SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY.

Lots of PPE, leather apron, long-sleeved welding gloves, protective boots, lots of space to move around, no clutter underfoot, full-face shield protection, well ventilated shed or do it outside. Water and molten metal DO NOT MIX. Skin blisters then heals, eyes do not. Practice your movements from the foundry to the pour with a cold and empty crucible before going live. Have all your tools in position ready to go, Pour quickly and accurately but DON'T RUSH.

 

[Alkatraz]

SAFETY SAFETY SAFETY.

Lots of PPE, leather apron, long-sleeved welding gloves, protective boots, lots of space to move around, no clutter underfoot, full-face shield protection, well ventilated shed or do it outside. Water and molten metal DO NOT MIX. Skin blisters then heals, eyes do not. Practice your movements from the foundry to the pour with a cold and empty crucible before going live. Have all your tools in position ready to go, Pour quickly and accurately but DON'T RUSH.

Awesome, thanks. I'll keep these in mind, and I'll need to buy a full face shield too.
I was curious, do you melt down any failed pours and recycle them? Or does the sand create issues with recycling them?

 

[PEPAKURA TURTLE]

how hard was it to sand the gauntlets?

 

[Skoopa92]

Could you metal cast a model out of EVA foam? instead of using insulation foam?