White Metal Casting Tips
from Prince August
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| White Metal Casting Techniques You need a Prince August starter kit or any Prince august mould and the tools from kit 2000, a domestic gas or electric cooker, a match, pliers, small knife or file. * Cover the work area with a piece of paper. * Handle the hot metal carefully. * If you don’t Clean up after yourself, you might not be allowed back into the Kitchen! * Metal spilled on a cooker can be removed when cold, marks can be polished off with steel wool. * Extreme care must be taken when using your heat source. White metal casting is in essence a simple and uncomplicated process. There will, however, be occasions when special attention will have to be paid in order to achieve optimum detail on your castings. Small section areas such as rifles and swords are particularly tempermental, as are the large volume, body sections that encourage shrinkage in the cooling process of the alloy. Following the instructions carefully will avoid the majority of pitfalls and increase your understanding and enjoyment of the hobby. 1. Dust the inside of the cold mould surface lightly and evenly with the release powder. This powder has a two-fold effect in both providing a microscopic gap through which the air can escape from the mould while pouring the metal and to protect the mould. 2. The two halves of the mould are now fitted together and supported between the boards. Take care to ensure that the two mould halves fit flush together, bend into shape if necessary. The mould halves are then secured using two clamps. Excessive force while clamping will only result in the inability of the air to escape ahead of the metal. 3. The alloy should have been previously heated in the ladle to the correct temperature. It is preferable that a small hotplate is used for this job rather than a naked flame. The correct casting temperature can be estimated with the help of a used match. Place the match into the metal, light smoke indicates correct temperature, excessive smoke indicates too high. 4. Pour the metal quickly, but carefully into prepared mould. Fill to the top of the ingate as this has been designed to alleviate shrinkage in the cast figures. Lightly tap the mould immediately to ensure correct distribution of the metal to the extremities of the mould. Leave to cool. Under no circumstances should the mould be cooled with water. 5. When the mould is sufficiently cool, dis-assemble the mould in the reverse process as above. Bend the mould if necessary to release the figure. 6. Remove the ingate and any flashing with pliers and a small file. Your cast figure is now ready to paint. Do not worry if you fail to cast a perfect figure every time as they can be re-melted and used again. |
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