> Kr'rt wrote:
It's ToyMax
http://www.toymax.com/index.html
> First, there is a home casting machine that uses little metal pellets
This one is called the Metal Molder. I bought one myself last week and the
only mold set that was still in stock (some silly little cars with "working
wheels", wheee!)
There were three version of the same kit. The first one had a wizard, a flying
skull and two more molds. A later one (the one I found) had a flying skull, a
silly robot, a baseball mitt and boxing gloves.
http://www.toymax.com/toycentral/cc/metalmoulder.html
There was a third made specifically for 'girls' that was the same thing in
pink with molds for angels and flowers and such.
http://www.toymax.com/toycentral/cc/preciousmetals.html
The molds themselves are fairly detailed. Nothing spectacular, but they're
nice enough. The skull might make a good statue (or Blood Bowl trophy) the
robot is pretty lousy and the baseball mitt and boxing gloves are useless.
The operation is pretty simple. You clamp a mold into the holder, pour one
premeasured vial of metal into the 'pot' and turn it on. There are all sorts
of safety features so that you have no way to getting near the metal while
it's hot. So, you sit and wait for it to melt. Oddly, it melts 'in shape' so
you might leave it for 30 minutes and not see a change, until you shake it and
all the beads disappear into a puddle of goop. Then pull the handle and it
flips up and pours the metal into the mold. Wait until it cools (you can't
open it until it does) and take the piece out.
One minor flaw I have found is that you will usually get a lump of metal stuck
to the 'spout' between the pot mold. It's a bit difficult to remove and I've
been worried abotu breaking something whiel doing so.
The metal metlas at a relatively low temperature. (no idea how low, but it
does not affect the plastic if spilled) It is VERY brittle, but fairly strong.
As an aside, the vials are very useful for storing small parts, and you get a
bunch of them in the kit and extra packs.
As I mentioned before, I only found one mold set at Toys-R-Us. In fact,
I called all of them in the city (5) and got the same answer. Tons of the
boxed
sets, tons of extra metal, no molds. Kay-Bee Toys has just the boxed
sets but you might be able to find the wizard set there if you look hard
enough.
Whiel doing more research on the subject, I came across a web page that has
some more details:
http://www.penrite.com/john/thing/thing1.htm
It's mostly dedicated to another casting toy by the same company (baked goop
into bugs) but has a small section on the Metal Molder. Most importantly, it
gave the information that you can order mold packs directly from ToyMax at
800-222-9060.
I called them and got three more packs, Sharks, Samurai Warriors and Jet
Fighters. Each came with 2 molds and a few more vials of metal. ToyMax charged
me $12 each, plus shipping. Most anything you can find at the stores seems
discounted to $2.50 a piece.
Sharks: A hammerhead and 'regular' shark. Both had rather large mounting holes
for 'flying bases.' Detail was decent, but there was a real problem getting
the tips of the fins to cast. They're not on a mold edge, so the standard vent
won't work, so I'm trying to poke a hold al the way through (and hope it
doesn't just all spill out). These are certainly usable for underwater fantasy
armies or whatnot)
Samurai Warriors:
Very cheezy robotic-like fighters with swords. Also came with
mounting holes. (this time for plastic rings or clips, they're pushing the
'collect and wear' issue more than the gaming issue) Pretty much worthless.
Jet Fighters: Two decent jets. One is sort of modern looking the other is more
wedge
shaped. Not bad, I coudl see using these for low-tech forces in
DS2 or similar.
There are a few more packs that would probably be useful for game pieces:
Spaceships - corny, but they might be worth it
Jurrasic Park dinosaurs - one biped, one flying
Sea creatures - from the 'girl' version. A turtle and something else
I've also seen an 'ad' for a bunch of single mold packs. There looked like
some really good ones in there, including wizards, alien creatures, etc.
If anybody is interested, I'll take some photos of the castings I have. I'd
also be willing to send some to people, if you're looking for a few sharks or
jets or whatever. The extra metal kits cost $2.50 for 10 vials and I plan on
picking up a bunch to play around with. So it's only really costing me $.25
per figure to cast them. If anybody finds some of the above molds, I'd love to
get my hands on them as well (especially the sea creatures and dinosaurs)
> Second, there was a plastic army man injection molding kit, also by
...called the 'Super Injector.' Not (IMHO) useful in any way for gaming pieces
though.
http://www.toymax.com/toycentral/cc/superinjector.html
Tom
Excerpts from mail: 25-Oct-99 Metal Molder (was Re: Casti.. by Thomas
Pope@cs.cmu.edu
> This one is called the Metal Molder. I bought one myself last week
Do you think it would be possible to
-use other metal (solder?) in case the company stops producing the metal
-make your own molds?
Thanks!
> The metal metlas at a relatively low temperature. (no idea how
Sounds like whitemetal solder which melts at about 90C. You probably find they
turn to a puddle under a hair dryer or if left in a car in the summer.
> Tim Jones wrote:
Really? That's even lower temperature than I thought. I'd figured it was
melting at least above the boiling point of water.
I'll toss one into a cup of boiling water tonight and see what happens. If
they really melt that THAT low a temperature, they might not be good for
gaming (especially the hot car thing)
Tom
> Steven M Goode wrote:
I'm certian something can be used. Tim just suggested it might just be beads
of white metal solder, so it's certainly replaceble.
...for the record, they have already stopped producing the metal, and
everything else for that matter. They're just selling off backstock now.
That's one of the reasons I'm going to pick up a dozen or so metal set. That,
and the fact that I've got a use for all those empty vials afterwards.
> -make your own molds?
I've been thinking about that. I was going to buy a second machine and convert
parts of it into a form to make my own molds. The part that clamps the mold
together has vents (probably to cool quicker) and the molds are actually
mostly flat, with a bump where the figure goes. (thinner than normal, again
probably to speed cooling) Does that description make sense?
If not, here's an example:
http://www.penrite.com/john/thing/IconMetalGoodies.jpg
Anyway, I was going to cover up the vents and just pour RTV rubber into the
chamber (with the part embedded 1/2 in clay) and clamp the whole thing
together. So I'll end up with the standard-looking mold (two blocks of
rubber with a depression in each). It will fit the champer perfectly, and the
locating pins will be inthe right place as well. My only real concern is that
if there is any shrinkage at all in the rubber (I've never worked woith the
stuff before) it won't form a tight seal when clamped into the machine itself.
I have to place an order with MicroMark for the mold making stuff, then I'll
give it a try. If nothing else, it'll be a good learning experience.
Tom
Excerpts from wargaming: 25-Oct-99 Re: Metal Molder (was Re: C.. by
> Steven M Goode wrote:
I certainly will.
> Oh - btw - how much are the ovens?
$35.00 originally I think. They seem to be going for $10 on clearance.
Tom
> Steven M Goode wrote:
To actually do the basics of whitemetal casting, you only need some
silicone rubber (RTV-31 or equivalent, the red stuff - most of the
others
as used for resin casting are not sufficiently heat-resistant), a ladle
or old tablespoon, some talc (raid the bathroom cabinet....) and a bit of
suitable casting metal. A simple gravity-pour mould can be made with the
RTV (lego bricks are good for making a mould box to pour it in) and then held
together with rubber bands during casting. You can melt the metal over a gas
burner with care, and always wear eye protection and a pair of work
gloves. Be aware that working with RTV-31 is a nasty, messy and
time-consuming business, however..... and if you get it on something
before catalysing it, then it WON'T COME OFF!
In the UK, Alec Tiranti make complete starter kits for hand-casting at
around the £30 mark, with 1 lb of RTV, release agent, a small amount of
metal, ladle, mould clamps etc. Beware their prices for metal, however,
they're about five times what you can buy it for from an industrial supplier
like Neale's or Mountstar!
There are probably US suppliers that do the same kind of thing for the
hobbyist caster.
> The metal metlas at a relatively low temperature. (no idea
Tim Jones said
> Sounds like whitemetal solder which melts at about 90C.
Tim, if it gets up to 90C in your car in the summer, I'm curious to know where
you live. Or did you mean 90F?
For cheap molding lead,go to a metal reclaimation center. I get my lead(old
wheel weights) for $.25 a pound.
> Tim, if it gets up to 90C in your car in the summer, I'm
White metal solder melts at about 70-90 centigrade, which is
unlikely in a car (except possibly in high summer in a sealed box) but easily
raised by a heat gun or hair drier or very hot water.
It is great for miniatures for those little fiddly bits which won't hold with
cyano and are too small for epoxy (like the wing guns on the old FASA klingon
BOP). Makes a hard but brittle joint.
Available from model railways shops the world over. But it is very
expensive w/w and of a toxic nature so I'm not now so convinced
it could be used in a toy casting system.
-= tim jones =-
> Ground Zero Games wrote:
> Be aware that working with RTV-31 is a nasty, messy and
Especially if it gets on the cat! (Don't let your pets put their paws in
uncatalysed RTV-31 and don't then chase them through the house ....)
> Ground Zero Games wrote:
This is my eventual goal.
The reason I wanted to start with this silly little kit is two fold. First,
it's nice to work with a lower temperature metal to reduce (actually
eliminate) the chance of hurting myself. Second, there is NO WAY my wife will
let me near the stove with a ladle full of metal (leaded or not) in my hand.
So I'm pretty much stuck with a solution that keeps my (and all my nastly
little metal bits) in my workshop.
> Be aware that working with RTV-31 is a nasty, messy and time-consuming
> business, however..... and if you get it on something before
Sounds rather dreadful. I was actually thinking of using the
'putty-like' mold
making stuff. It sounds a bit more forgiving to beginners.
> In the UK, Alec Tiranti make complete starter kits for hand-casting at
MicroMark sells all the materials, and has a package deal with everything you
need to start. They sell either the liquid RTV or the putty stuff, as well as
ladles, metal, talc, etc...
http://www.micromark.com/
A much better option (once I get the money) is a place called Castings. In
addition to the above, they also sell electric hotpots (some that can even
melt the really high temp pewter) and a neat little mold making kit with a
clapmed wooden frame. This looks like the easiest (and most wife approved) way
to start, but it's also not cheap!
http://www.miniaturemolds.com/
Anyway, I'm going to mess around a bit with the Metal Molder, get my $10.00
worth at least! Then maybe I'll ask for a starter kit from Castings for
Xmas...
Tom
> On 25-Oct-99 at 22:15, Alderfek@aol.com (Alderfek@aol.com) wrote:
Ha, I have a stockpile of pewter that cost me nothing from GZG. Of course the
miniatures attached to this pewter were not free...
You can also buy lead bricks or pancakes for about the same amount at a local
plumbing or pipe supply center.
Mike
Inso far as the casting thing goes, why not get a heating pot for lead bullet
casting? They are electric, some have thermostats and are easily moved to
where ever you want to work on it at.
www.leeprecision.com/catalog look for their melters.
$32 US for the small model. $89 for the largest.
> Ground Zero Games wrote:
First,
> it's nice to work with a lower temperature metal to reduce (actually
Provided you take sensible precautions against either injury or fire, you can
use a small camping gas burner in the workshop. It'll easily generate
enough heat to melt a ladle full of low-temp casting metal. Just make
sure you apply a lot of common sense.....
Jon (GZG)
> Be aware that working with RTV-31 is a nasty, messy and
I'm not familiar with this - as long as it is sufficiently
heat-resistant
you'll be OK. One thing to stress is to NEVER let hot metal come into
contact with anything that still has any moisture in it - can you say
"explosive vapourisation"....?
Just wanted to let the list know that I saw over a dozen Metal Molder kits
at the local T-R-U. Didn't snag the molder itself, but did pick up a few
of the 110 gram refills, just to see what the excitement is about. And, yes,
I'll use protective wear, and have LOTS of ventilation. ;->=
For those curious, local is Lincoln, NE, USA. The point is, if one store has a
large stock, they'll often try to even things out by shipping to
others; anyone in the mid-USA looking for one and not finding shouldn't
give up hope altogether. At $10 for the main kit, and $2.50 for the refill, I
figure it's worth the exploration.
The_Beast