Casting Plastics Specifics...

[Incendium]

OK, being from the upside-down land of Australia, I have a few issues sourcing many of the materials

that you guys use, and refer to often in the forums (examples being "bondo" and smooth-on brand

products). Even though it's sometimes possible to find these (example: Smooth-on has a local

distributor), generally speaking the price is ridiculously high compared to what you guys would be paying

for them, so I thought I would seek out some local equivalents.



Firstly, unless I'm mistaken, "Bondo" filler is a 3M product... So searching the local auto shops (Autobarn

and Super Cheap Auto, etc), I found that each of them stocks a different brand product made by 3M. I'm

assuming this is all the same stuff but rebranded and in different packaging, so an example of a local

equivalent to Bondo would be something like "K&H" brand (made by 3M) "Kahfil 2-part lightweight body filler"?

Or would their flexible 2-part polyester filler for plastic components be a better option?



Second - with the resin-type materials...

1) If I am going the fibreglassing/resin/rondo method, I'm assuming I'd want a polyester resin for FG,

not an epoxy one?

2) If Im going to use an equivalent to say "Smooth-cast 300/320", does it make much of a difference if I use a

polyurethane-based product as opposed to a Urethane-based one? Or should I just try to match up the main

properties such as pot life, strength, viscosity, demould time and hardness? For example, an example equivalent

Australian product would be:



http://www.dalchem.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=246&Itemid=204



Or perhaps one of the other ".....cast" products listed on that site...?



Thanks for any information - Im sure it will come in handy not just for myself, but also perhaps other

overseas-based members that don't have access to the same brands



Inc

 

[golem95]

OK, being from the upside-down land of Australia, I have a few issues sourcing many of the materials

that you guys use, and refer to often in the forums (examples being "bondo" and smooth-on brand

products). Even though it's sometimes possible to find these (example: Smooth-on has a local

distributor), generally speaking the price is ridiculously high compared to what you guys would be paying

for them, so I thought I would seek out some local equivalents.



Firstly, unless I'm mistaken, "Bondo" filler is a 3M product... So searching the local auto shops (Autobarn

and Super Cheap Auto, etc), I found that each of them stocks a different brand product made by 3M. I'm

assuming this is all the same stuff but rebranded and in different packaging, so an example of a local

equivalent to Bondo would be something like "K&H" brand (made by 3M) "Kahfil 2-part lightweight body filler"?

Or would their flexible 2-part polyester filler for plastic components be a better option?



Second - with the resin-type materials...

1) If I am going the fibreglassing/resin/rondo method, I'm assuming I'd want a polyester resin for FG,

not an epoxy one?

2) If Im going to use an equivalent to say "Smooth-cast 300/320", does it make much of a difference if I use a

polyurethane-based product as opposed to a Urethane-based one? Or should I just try to match up the main

properties such as pot life, strength, viscosity, demould time and hardness? For example, an example equivalent

Australian product would be:



http://www.dalchem.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=246&Itemid=204



Or perhaps one of the other ".....cast" products listed on that site...?



Thanks for any information - Im sure it will come in handy not just for myself, but also perhaps other

overseas-based members that don't have access to the same brands



Inc

Seeing as you are in Australia you can get smooth-on products anyways as they have a distributor out there, just goto www.smoothon.com and click distributors, then click outside US

 

[Incendium]

Yeah, Rowe Trading is their distributor... I'm waiting on an email from them with pricelists etc actually... It's just that Ive heard

that the Smooth on products are expensive compared with a locally sourced equivalent... So mainly Im just asking for product specifics

so I can make educated comparisons. Thanks for the reply.



Inc

 

[mc halo3]

Yeah, Rowe Trading is their distributor... I'm waiting on an email from them with pricelists etc actually... It's just that Ive heard

that the Smooth on products are expensive compared with a locally sourced equivalent... So mainly Im just asking for product specifics

so I can make educated comparisons. Thanks for the reply.



Inc

You are in luck my friend, i am from australia and buy my molding stuff here: AMCsupplies . Its really cheap and has good value stuff, any questions wan be pm'ed to me my friend.



PS.Rowes trading prices are :

1 gallon of rebound 25 is 400 dollars.

1 gallon of smooth cast 320 is 278 dollars.

 

[golem95]

You are in luck my friend, i am from australia and buy my molding stuff here: AMCsupplies . Its really cheap and has good value stuff, any questions wan be pm'ed to me my friend.



PS.Rowes trading prices are :

1 gallon of rebound 25 is 400 dollars.

1 gallon of smooth cast 320 is 278 dollars.

actually smooth cast is 2 gallons cuz its one gallon part a and b

 

[Incendium]

Thanks again for the replies. I'd actually looked at the AMC website before the Dalchem link in my post

but I found their site a little hard to navigate and find product info on (which makes it a little hard

to make comparisons!).



As for price comparisons, it's not exactly easy when the two countries are using different measurement

systems (gallons vs. KG), though Im going to make the following assumption - 1L of casting material equals

approx. 1kg weight (it actually seems to be about 1.05ish)... And 1 Gallon = 3.8L... Thus 1Gal = 3.8kg

(approx.)... So;



Smooth-on 320 = $278 for 7.6kg ($36.58/kg),

AMC Easycast = $252 for 9.5kg ($26.53/kg),

Dalchem Modelcast = $262 for 10kg ($26.20/kg)...



So locally sourced stuff seems to be about $38/Gal cheaper than smooth-on (at least in the 2 examples found

so far...)



Inc

 

[Foxw]

Incendium: Yeah, So products are not the cheepest. Here it's about 30 bucks a pint (.40kgs) 100 a gallon (3.8L).



But i've tried alot of the alternatives and over the years i've realized why SO is the brand of choice for the movie industry. it's just not comparable. i've yet to run into another product that matchs up.



But if your going to try to compare, I would strongly suggest looking at the vital stats like pot life demold etc, but also ensure you reference any MSDS's for said products first. when they might compare in stats, they could also be highly toxic or some such after curing.

 

[Incendium]

Thanks for the info. If there's a marked quality difference, it might still be an idea for me to

go with the Smooth-on stuff... especially seeing as I have to spend around $250+ a gallon anyways :-(

I'm just waiting on the price list from the local distributor - hopefully theu will have smaller

quantities for sale and I can purchase it for <$100 at a time! Us Austalians seem to get ripped

off on so many things - even when our dollar is comparitively high (eg: now its anout 95c US), we still

seem to be paying like double for items (even when the items are manufactured closer to us than the

States!)



Inc

 

[S1l3nt V1p3r]

Regarding your question about Bondo and Resin, let me tell you what you should be looking for.



You should look for a general Automotive Body filler, that comes with a big can of body filler and a seperate small tube of catalyst. That is the general "Bondo" you want to use for props.



As for the Resin, you should look for Polyester-based Resin. it's cheaper than epoxy, but that doesn't mean it's not as good. It's suuuuper strong when you reinforce it with fiberglass. Same as the Body Filler, Resin comes in a can with a seperate small tube of catalyst (Hardener).



Hope this sheds some light. Good luck with your projects!



-Viper

 

[Incendium]

Excellent, thanks very much for the reply - clears up a lot of the details

that I was unsure of, and hadn't been able to find specifically mentioned



Inc