*yawn*
Mornin, folks. Got the potential cover-pics shot and emailed off to the publisher last night. We had to reshoot with as plain a background as possible so they could composite in an appropriate background if they used it. Got some good pics uploaded:
http://s169.photobucket.com/albums/u239/LosLejanos/chrono%20cover-shoot/The outside pics in the first album were our first "this is what we can do" shots. Check out the pics in the sub-album for our second run at it after we got feedback from the publisher.
So this pressure-pot story.
As you (should) know, Ive made a couple of molds of the "iconic box" that seems to be everywhere in the SW movies. If you've watched Clint's vid's you know how I do it - affix the master to the bottom of the mold box, mix up the HSIII, pour it in, let it cure. Sometimes this results in air-bubbles of varying sizes. Well, the molds from the "iconic box" had them. LOTS of them. But they were tiny. I mean so tiny they didn't even show up during my normal non-pressurized casting. Well, I wanted to test out the pressure-pot and had the box molds handy. I mixed up my resin, poured it into the waiting molds, and discovered...
Well, first I discovered the bottom of the pot was concave. grrr. Bec has since provided me with the floor from a hot-bath canner that is small enough to fit into the pot and will give me a flat, even surface to hold molds.
Then I discovered the pot has to have air flowing to it constantly. I *thought* it would take the air and then HOLD PRESSURE once I cut off the air-supply. Perhaps I just don't have the lid fastened down quite right - experiments will follow. So as it was, I kept the compressor running and it held the pot steady at 30psi. Considering the compressor will supply 100psi and I had the valve on the compressor WIDE OPEN, this is a bad thing. It should have held the resin steady at 80psi cutting the air supply off! Or that's my understanding, anyway.
So I let the molds sit and cure for 15 minutes or so. Bled off air pressure on the pot and the air-tank both. Opened the pot up and removed the molds. Demolded.
The R2 head mold had either been put together crooked or the tilt had caused the two halves of the mold to slide apart. Either way, it came out imperfect - lopsided. BUT the resin *had* been pushed into the detail recesses as intended. So - learned I need a flat surface in the pot and verified my vent modifications to the master worked. Overall success there.
(continued)
