Banner 468

Facebook
RSS

Polyurethane Resin Casting And The Nerd Industry

-
Unknown

By Carol Wagner


Blockbusters have action scenes. An action sequence, shot and lit properly, can titillate an audience. An action sequence can even become the signature scene of a film, the moment that sticks in the minds of the audience. But those scenes need props in order to be made properly, and to make those props, polyurethane resin casting California is done.

The procedure of polyurethane resin casting is how some props get made. There are other uses for it, like making figurines. But by and large, it is the method through which props for productions are made.

Casting is relatively simple process. Mix two chemicals, mostly available in crafting shops or through similar websites, in a one to one ratio. Then pour the resulting mixture into a mould to shape. This must be done slowly as to avoid air bubbles. Once the mixture has been poured into the mould, all that left is to wait, usually about an hour or, depending on the chemicals used, less. Once the resin cures, that is, dries and sets, it can be pulled out of the mould. Now, a mould does not have an indefinite lifespan. Five pulls and most moulds start to fall apart. Now it can be sprayed down with a protective substance, but that only extends to lifespan to twelve or so pulls.

While it is simple enough that can be done anywhere by anyone given the easily obtainable materials and adequate space, any state or country or city with a sufficiently large entertainment industry is going to have a lot of resin casting. Props have to be made, after all. As such, some places are going to have more studios than others.

Artists are among those who employ the process. While not the most popular method of sculpting, bits and pieces of a larger project can be made with the process. More complex pieces may require multiple moulds.

For most productions, the resin casting is used to make the props. Blunted swords and commercially available toy guns painted black or dark gray often find their way into science fiction and fantasy. In a more grounded film, the props are real guns modified to not fire real bullets. But real guns can be heavy, so sometimes a replica has to be created, and resin casting is one of the ways it is done.

But the protection against weapons, or at least the facsimile thereof, are also used in productions as well. But looking like a knight in shining armor can be exhausting, given that said shining armor can weigh upwards of a hundred pounds. To keep backs from breaking, fake armor can be employed.

Collectibles can also be made through casting. Essentially a little sculpture, figurines of characters can be made via the process. The figurines are then sold as rare collectibles than some fans gobble up.

Special effects are well and good, but the practical materials used by the actors can have just as much of an effect as any computer generated imagery. A good builder can have the same impact on a production as any digital artist.




About the Author:



Leave a Reply