Creating your own 3D plastics for pinball machines

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By coincidence I was able to buy a STNG at a very interesting price. Because this is one of the better pinball machines , I didn't doubt a second, even though I already owned one. The machine was in excellent condition. The owner had it from 1994, as the machine was made in 1993 it hasn't been long operated commercially.. It is in excellent condition, the only weird thing was that the space ship in the left top corner was missing. The only solution I had was to make a new model for it, as I had an example out of my other pinball .

The material needed is liquid latex and expoxy , a small brush, some clay and plastic cups and plaster. Liquid latex and epoxy (polyutheran) are available in specialised shops or in shops for scale models. How to use it is always noted on the package. Latex needs about 24 hours to dry, exopy only 10 min.! That's why I prefer this polyurethan epoxy above polyester.

How to use it:

Here you see the model and the latex

Het existing model is placed on a piece of clay. Because the model isn't flat and has holes, we'll need to fill all of this with the clay.

the clay..

The model has been placed on the clay, the wing in the back hasn't been filled yet, the front wing has, that's how it should be.

Here you can see the whole model surrounded by clay.

Now we can put the latex on it.

Put the latex on the model and make sure it's covered totally. Everything has been placed inside a box, so the walls keep the latex (and later the plaster) from flowing away.

This is the model when the second layer of latex has been put on, after the first layer was dry. This should be enough, when the second layer is hard, we'll fill the box with plaster, so the flexible latex has more support.

Plaster is being poured in.

Here is the model and cast totally covered with plaster.

When the plaster is hard, we can remove the wooden box and the clay, and we find the original model ..

Wooden box and clay removed.

The model has been taken out and our cast is ready !!

NEXT PART .......................