Casting question

[mhdishere]

I have a question for you folks who've done resin casting.

I'd like a moderate number (say six to twelve) of each of a couple types of passenger coaches to haul my LPB commuters to and from work. I found a couple prototypes in Carston's book on passenger cars. There're no commercial models available, and kit-bashing doesn't seem the way to go (seems it would be harder to bash than to scratch-build). Besides, I enjoy scratch-building.

So, to get my fleet I believe I have two options, I can build all the cars from styrene (and maybe by the time I'm done I'll get it right!), or I can build one as a master, make molds, and cast them in resin (as in the series in RMC). In terms of ease, time, and cost (especially cost) would casting offer serious advantages over building each one from scratch? I'd certainly buy the trucks, and probably a lot of the detail parts too no matter which way I went.

Thanks!

 

[neilmunck]

Casting would mean all the cars were consistent. This might mean consistently wrong but it is less noticable if they are all the same. I expect it would be a lot quicker too.

I would be easier in that I'm sure we all know that doing long, repetative modelling tasks gets iritating very fast (e.g. cutting out HO shingles) and I could see this having the same effect.

Casting would mean that you can make as many as you need for little extra time and cost so it would be easier in that respect.

I don't know about the cost though.

 

[Bill Stone]

I cannot directly answer the cost question, but am sure casting would be cheaper than buying cars to bash. Compared to buying lots of styrene, I don't know, but doubt if it would be a big factor either way.

I haven't seen any articles on resin casting passenger cars or cabooses --- that is cars with windows in them, as opposed to the comparative simplicity of box cars or refers which can relatively easily be molded in one piece. I suspect it would be easier in the long run to cast individual sides, ends, roofs and floors rather than create a VERY complex two-part mold that would leave the windows open. On a car with symetrical and identical sides, one mold would do for both sides, and (usually) one end mold could produce both ends. But except for simple coaches, most cars are not symetrical, so that means you'd have to produce a mold for each side. That could mean five molds to produce one car (and any number of identical cars). If all the cars on the train were of the same length and had the same roofs and ends, each additional car type would only need new molds for the sides, but none-the-less, we're talking about a lot of molds here.

Or you could take a composite approach. Cast the roofs, floors, and ends, (presumably all the same) but scratch build the sides in styrene.....

BillS