"Companies have learned that the best thing is a devoted group of fans who love their products" I wish GW can understand this soon :')

I think people who want "full" videos every two weeks can choose to watch them that way as long as you have them marked in parts. For myself, I love seeing a video every week!

Yes, I know it's already 2 years old, but thank you for that video. It's good to see that there are other crazy guys out there, who are casting whole miniature kits. A lot of useful hints and inputs for improving my techniques. And I simple love the humorouse way you explain the stuff. Greetings from Austria!

A few other reasons to cast something like this miniature: 1) For customizing. A lot of people want to swap out heads, weapons, arms, etc on miniatures in order to make a specific look that might not be obtainable any other way, other than sculpting your own figure. Rather than cutting up a purchased miniature, they'll just cast for parts. 2) To fix broken parts. Similar to the first reason, but these minis often fall off in the floor, get stepped on, or have weak spots to begin with, so casting a second figure allows you to replace an arm or broken pulse rifle, etc. 3) Army building. If you buy 5 minis, and then cast all five at once, five times, you suddenly have a nice troop of figures. Though you can buy minis at local shops or online, there is such a thing as stores having limited stock on-hand. By the time you buy the minis, wait for the restock, pay for the shipping, etc, it's a pain in the ass. At least with casting things yourself, you don't have to sit by passively waiting around for the pandemic mail to arrive. Patience is a virtue, but a lot of people got to get on with getting on. lol Me, I can wait. I do like to customize things though, so recasting is a fun way to help out with that.

One point I'd like to make about re-casting... you can make your own edits! I bet you could easily put two wax triangles on that space marine's helmet and give him cat ears. In fact, I'd love to see you "kit-bash" or edit a mini and make a clean reproduction of it!

Well I sculpt my own miniatures, and it absolutely makes economic sense for me to mold and cast my own miniatures even if it is just for my own use. And I wouldn't be able to do it even half as good as I can if not for your instructive videos Robert. So don't be discouraged by the nay sayers, it comes with the territory of having a successful KZfaq channel. More power to you! Please keep making these videos!

Cost is one thing but, it’s the education is priceless.

Thank you, Mr. Tolone!

One thing that people need to remember is that sometimes, this is the only way to get out-of-print miniatures. There are some oop metal minis that currently go for over a hundred dollars for one miniature. This is the case when I'd make a copy for playing with and keeping the metal one safe so it doesnt get damaged. Thank you for a great video! Keep up the great content!

Shaking scene is golden! 🤣

Great video as always. It’s worth pointing out that sometimes companies stop making certain lines of figures from time to time. It’s great to be able to reproduce your favourite pieces when they’re no longer available.

Hey everybody!!! Bob is doing this, all of this as a “TEACHING CHANNEL”. Did anyone get something out of this mold making and casting? If just one person learns something he didn’t know before Bob showed us this “Splash Mold” technique than it was worth his time and effort. I never heard of a “SPLASH MOLD” so yes I guess I’m the one! Who else learned something from this technique? Come on tell Bob what you think.

Do you ever use a piece of silicone coated cloth on the top to reenforce the hinge? I make jewellery and find my moulds tend to separate after multiple uses and was thinking of this as an option.

It never gets old watching you open up a mold and revealing the casting.

For homemade and kitbashed miniatures molds like these are gold! Thanks for the video!

we love u rob! dont u mind the haters bro! keep showing me some casting techniques!

Your craft is outstanding. Love the vids

this helped me to cast broken parts of my figures, thanks

To reiterate my praise on the other video, your tutorials on mold making are immense. I'm currently making silicone molds and casting out of print miniatures/parts and I would never be able to do so without your educational content. Thank you again.

It also does make sense to mold pieces like this if it's from a line that's been discontinued.

50000! Congratulations!

thanks for another great video

In Mexico it do makes sense recasting, here is more expensive buying a lot of pieces than trying to reproduce some of them, I do with other pieces of these wargames like tiles, walls, etc. And yeah it's really fun and you learn a lot. Thank you for your master classes, you're really solid gold.

Man these videos are a treat, instant sub!

I enjoyed the rant 😁

well I was today years old when I learnt you could cast a mini in a non messy way ^^" those 2 videos are really helping, I am myself recasting discontinued products to use them and this will come in handy ^^

Love your videos Robert. I know the consensus is probably in favour of shorter videos but I really like it when you show the full process without speeding everything up. I’d love to have seen more footage of you cutting that mould for instance. I always learn something new from watching you so the more the merrier in my opinion.

I play Warhammer 40K and as you're talking about the recasting the mini saying reaper's not going to care about that I.. well.. I just wish you could hear how hard I'm laughing Lmao

I am rolling my eyes because you have to point out the cost vs buy! Some people just have to make bad comments! You are also teaching us how to recast things that can't be bought in bulk, like rare or expensive things! Thank you for the hard work. You are giving us all your knowledge so money is saved by us learning what mistakes not to make from your years of trial and error.

Those shop towels underwent an interesting metamorphosis somewhere in the middle of this week...

what a gem of a chanel

Simple, 45 minute sparkling well edited documentaries every day, i don't see what's the source of confusion really.

this is a great entry video for artists that want to reproduce their own art for much more than 10 times

this was an absolute success. i have wasted so much silicone trying to do this it's not even funny. I wish i were this skilled

The value in your casting is teaching an example that applies to other scenarios. Thanks for that. In case you don't already do that today. If you update part 1 with an embedded link to part 2 that works well. Especially for those who find part one years down the road.

Just make each project its own playlist, I think. People on youtube really underuse playlists, it's a simple, effective solution that should make folks who want to watch each project in one sitting happy.

Loved the rant 🖤

Loved the rant at the end

I'm here to learn to cast my own creations. And that Reaper figure looks like a Space Marine to me.

Sweet Mother of God! Hot to hit second like? That guide is exactly what i needed now.

Robert, you are the best mould maker on KZfaq. Thank you so much for this fantastic tutorial.

Thank you for he vid, love the content.

I always learn something new. I hope you keep it up for a long time to come! I voted for videos every 2 weeks because I don't want you to get burned out churning them out every week!

You have just gained another follower. Keep rocking, old man! Such a nice work and charisma! Greetings from far south South America!

I loved your rant. The more time i can spend with my hobbies, the happier i am. It doesnt matter how much or how fast you can get something done. Its all about spending time doing what we enjoy. I just found your channel a week or two ago and i love what you do. I think you do a great job at inspiring others to be creative but also help others find inner piece within them selves doing something quiet and creative. So THANK YOU for all you do.

Great video!

Thank you so much for this video Robert, I really learned a lot! One thing I'd love to see is a "History Of..." sort of video - showcasing how molding practices and materials have changed over time (like transitioning from lead/tin mixes to pewter to plastic and resin) and the evolution of the technologies and casting methods involved over the years. I feel like your direct experience would be really valuable in this case, as there aren't a lot of primary sources! Cheers, and good casting!

Recasting Reaper for sure is not an issue with their bones like, even metal, because of the cost. The only real threat is to collectors edition companies, even then, the recasters in China and Russia have already taken over that market in a huge way.

Invaluable piece of information, thanks! This is gold!!

I just want to say thank you. I appreciate your inspiration, philosophy, and tutorials. I have learned so much from you and your channel. Thank you!

Honestly this type of thing is excellent for getting extra parts for kitbashing. As a plus, I like the look of that mini enough that I kinda wanna go pick him up. Cool little robot!

Awesome thanks for this, really interesting process! As someone who also does things that make no economic sense, I hear you :D

As long as you have fun.. I sure enjoy watching you do what you do

I’ve been waiting for mold making instruction on how to cast these things. I want to make characters for my grandkids to put together and they love to pop the pieces off and build them. I was totally in the dark about how to get the resin into all the parts. Thanks. I love love love your videos.

Awesome!

So fun to see you make the miniature mold and cast it. I'm a beginner at miniature work. Thank you very much for your video.

when parts from a certain Workshop that makes a few kinds of Games, some figures can be $10 a pop from a set or more, its a great idea

Another awesome video!

I need to recast a model I cannot find anymore. So, these videos are wonderful. Same thing for other objects that cannot be replaced. So sometimes recasting is NEEDED, along side of fun. So I thank you fellow hobbyist, I understand the need for this lovely hobby. Unfortunately I have no pressure pot 😕.

I would see this as a good way to recast gundam kits and other high end kits, instead of buying another one.....as they can get quite pricey, especially for a kitbash fan. Awesome videos.

You could always do a monthly ‘Omnibus’ edit of all the projects that you have completed each month? I’d still watch that, even If I’d watched the constituent parts. Loving the channel Robert, see you next week. 😎👍

yeah this was definitely useful vid. I need to make molds for some space marine bits that I cant buy more because of the price of the original was already astronomical.

I watch your channel to make my own action figures molds. And this video is very useful. O:)

I use Games Workshop preview pictures and replicate them to the best of my ability in 3D modeling software. Print out a copy for myself and paint it to the shelf. The original kits cost upwards of 30 bucks for a single model, some heroes with huge platforms/beasts will cost over 100. It might take me two months to replicate one (thought the last figure "only" took 3 days). Even at minimum wage I'm not turning in a profit by replicating them. But 1) It's fun, and it's practice. With every model you have a new set of problems to solve, and since I've only been doing this for two years, I'm still learning the software and the ins and outs of modeling. I take a new set of learned skills off from each model I make. 2) It does save me money. The 3D printer will churn out a model for 5 bucks, as opposed to the 100 bucks the kit costs. 3) No, it's not costing GW, because I was never going to buy the kits at the price point they offer the models at. At best I'd try to find them used on eBay. No loss of sales can be proven at any point. All things you pointed out at the end of the video (well it does sound like resin casting would actually be even more expensive at every point, unless you take a really expensive kit to replicate). But it's always fun to watch hobbyists and professionals at their craft.

Gosh, I love your videos!

another great video man! definitely enjoy seeing one a week, it's something i look forward to for sure.

It really helps make use of spare parts, I'm not gonna be paying who knows how much money to get classic Cadian shock troops bits when I can just cast the legs and torso then use up all my spares

learned something new again!

It is NEVER cost effective to DIY something that is sold at retail. Sometimes you can do better, do different, or just enjoy that you did it yourself, but it definitely is not cheaper than a mass produced product!

Love the rant at the end. 🤣 If you ever decide to create a mold makers kit with your name on it, I will be first in line. Lol Keep up the great videos!

Excellent video! And one huge plus to this particular tutorial, I'm a sculptor, and should I sculpt my own design miniatures, I now know how to produce copies in resin to sell. And this unusual technique was great!. Also, maybe someone would want to customize a figure and then mold those for variety. Thanks for all that you do. Super useful for someone like me, and others.

love these vids, love molding and used to use supplies from Prince august and mold with heat resist silicon for years, wish i thought of leaving a hinge in there! although RTV silicon is not as flexible, low melt metals were fun to use, if only my kitchen was as well supplied as your workshop :) i would have been turning out complete armies. company called GW should learn their fans are what makes them like you said

This channel is fabulous. You rock.

Thank you for teaching us your skills.

Thanks Robert for doing a miniature to cast. I cast many for my own enjoyment and creative exploration. Trouble is there isn’t too many videos or info online because of the stigma around recasting miniatures. I’ve had to piece it together trough trial and error, but feel free to do more on miniatures. Regardless, I’ll watch anything you create. Cheers.

Theirs a lot of old minatures that are basically priced as collectables now instead of bulk miniatures. One tiny kit, far smaller then this mini cost 30$. Makes sense to just cast it and then sell back the offical metal mini.

Ive been mostly trying to recast part just so i can use all the extra bits in a kit, 1 orc body with 2 sets of heads and arms makes me want to make 4 different combinations and sure i can buy another kit but then i end up with even more extra loose bits

Great video. Lots of fun.

Your channel is amazing ❤❤❤❤❤

This is great, I want to learn. 😇🙏

Im building a waterloo diorama and its difficult to get some of the units as some sets are discontinued, so this method is very valuable to me also i can pick and choose which poses i want to use , thank you !!

I think of your channel as an educational one. It is akin to being an apprentice to a master, learning under his hands. I wish you did videos on working with pewter and spincasting, and the making and design of such molds. I don't know if you have expertise in that field, however, or equipment to do so.

Make your video's the way that is the easy for you and thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge . An old friend would always tell me " There is more than one way to kill a cat without kissing it to death " .Which means there can be many ways of doing things 🤔

I see 3 main ways to give longer videos to the full process crowd off the top of my head. in decrecing order of complexity: Uploading a video combining the two parts in succesion, creating a playlist and adding at the end every new video in order or naming the videos in a more obvious way to the algorithm (so KZfaq would automatically recomend part 2 after seeng part one) ie "mini kit part 1: molding the bad boy" and "mini kit part 2: casting time"

Im still learning new things thank you

One company does care about recasting, no matter how small. Games Workshop. That is a company that tried to copyright the term "Space Marine" despite the term predating the company by about 30 years. IP is something they are a bit nuts about. Your videos are great, and it really makes me want to go out and sculpt some minies for myself and use your methods to reproduce them. Thank you.

good video

Amazing

I am sorry that some people can really just go out of their way to be like that I have been doing this for fun for such a long time, I don't copy but I do still make little figures and just the feeling you get of making something like that is something else thank you so much for the help you give, you and your work are a gems

Thank you so much for the videos, i enjoy your enthusiasm and approach!

Great! The other reason is if you want to do a copy of a rare model kit no more available on the market. Thanks Robert! :-)

Great Video! That flashing was crazy, but the cleanup was really good. Even for a cleanout cast this little guy turned out really well. I think you could spin those little bits of debris in him as war marks if you were to paint it.

Thanks for the lessons, that is what you do. Fail fast and fail often your solutions to these challenges are well presented. Cheers!

thank you for sharing your skill

One thing I could suggest about the video release conundrum is that you could have "types" of projects; ones that make good multi-part videos and ones that are more consumable as single videos. Something like this recasting project would be fine as a single video, but something that is much more involved or in-depth might be better served in 3-4 chunkies (with a release schedule to match; weekly vids for multi-parters and maybe biweekly for bigger solo vids). You can even announce/tease videos by saying "Our next project will be a three-parter; it's going to be pretty involved... " and so on. Just my two cents on the matter; I'll watch regardless of what format you decide to use. Keep 'em coming!

maybe you've discussed this previously, but i'd like a video about how to best store a mold and its shelf life being stored, and a video on how much shrinkage you can expect when the part has cured.

LOVE IT! I'm gonna try this method with some of my old articulated figures I sculpted (as their molds have gone dry and ripped during my last casting), just to see how effectively I can gang up all 6 parts into one mold! Love the channel as always.

I gotta try this with my Kotobukiya white tiger

Cool

It depends what your casting; if say you have a box of three 28mm minatures that cost $60. That math will rapidly work ount in your favor as the mold will be good for many pulls; especially with mold release. While the amount of resin used is minimal. If your were to take the parts off the sprue and gate them yourself; you could much more effienct in your use of silicone. For instance the mold box here is lot wider and taller than it needs to be; and than extra volume is wasting silicone. For 28mm minatures a 1/4 inch past of silicone around the parts is enough to keep the mold from deforming.