Home projects making molds and plastic toys

Being a kid with a large imagination I used to mess around with plastic soldiers and think nothing of it. I would swap men, tanks or other arsenal with friends. Life was simple with toy wars, I even had a friend that had cast his own lead soldiers. Which I thought was fascinating , because he could actually build his own army. The process wasn't that difficult just buy a mold and some pewter to cast from the model shop.
Skills were required to make soldiers, besides dealing with hot molten metal and pouring techniques was beyond me at the time.
I much prefer the home manufacture of plastics and silicone molds. there is no high temperature mold casting and as a amateur inventor I can make cool plastic housing for my little projects. Still experimenting I found it was much more enjoyable to make your own objects of desire then to buy gadgets from the shops. Complex shapes and ideas need different mold techniques.
Silicone is quite flexible and I could make a simple battery cover quite easily. I just use the original shape pour in the silicone (with catalyst that will solidify the silicone) leave it to solidify over night and you got your self a spare battery cover.

 molding techniques




My latest project was to make make a mold of a complex arm bracelet that would hold an Iphone. The bracelet should be flexible like rubber to slip on my arm and to have as a iphone cover. Sadly I got as far as having a plastic replica of a Pip-boy clock design, I want to use this as a template and not quite made another mold. The idea is to make a mold of the plastic replica and later pour in a flexible material to have a prototype. I am not sure if there is commercial use for Iphone wrist band, just thought it would be a cool hands free device Iphone device..

 The pip-boy special edition clock gave me the original idea for wrist band for the iphone. I am using it as a basic design. Took a mold from this clock. Now I have this replica in white which I need to make another copy but this time make it flexible to sit comfortably on my arm, and to figure out a way to put the Iphone on the display area. Perhaps if this works I might make a streamline design like a wrist band.



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