Capabilities
Every shop lists services. Fewer list the point at which a service stops being a good idea. Each section below ends with what we will turn down, because that is the part that saves you a wasted month.
A master that casts well is not the same object as a master that photographs well. Before silicone goes anywhere near it we go over the piece for undercuts that will lock, thin edges that will not fill, and surfaces where the parting line will show on every single pull for the rest of the run.
Where the geometry allows it we key the parts ourselves — registration cut into the mating faces rather than relying on pins added later. Where it does not, we say so and give you two options with the cost difference between them.
What we turn down: masters made from unsealed oil clay or plasticine. They inhibit cure on platinum-cure silicone and distort under the weight of the block. Cast the piece into a rigid material first, or ask us to do it.
Two mold types cover most of what comes through the door. Block molds — a solid silicone box split along a planned line — are the default for kit parts with clean geometry. Glove molds, a thin silicone skin backed by a rigid mother mold, go on pieces where a solid block would be unliftable or would tear on demold.
| Mold type | Typical part | Realistic pull count | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two-part block | Kit torsos, heads, weapons | 60–120 | Count falls fast with sharp detail and high-exotherm resin |
| Multi-part block | Complex limbs, capes | 40–80 | Every extra split face is another flash line to fettle |
| Glove with mother mold | Busts, large single pieces | 50–90 | Skin is recut against the same mother mold when it tires |
| Open-face | Bases, plaques, backs-flat parts | 150–250 | Cheapest per pull; only works where one face can be flat |
Pull counts above are what we have measured on our own racks, not what the silicone data sheet promises. We write the count on the block and tell you when it is spent.
What we turn down: molds taken from a master you do not have the rights to reproduce. We ask, and if the answer is unclear we do not cut.
Everything is cast under pressure — 40 to 50 psi, held through the full cure. Bubbles that are dissolved under pressure stay dissolved, which is the entire reason the pots exist. Gravity pouring is quicker and we do not offer it, because the parts that come out are the parts you would send back.
What we turn down: single pours over roughly two litres. Exotherm on a mass that size distorts the part and cooks the block. Above that, the piece needs splitting, and we will tell you where.
We run resin printers in a separate room from the casting floor, mostly for sprue jigs, packing formers and replacement masters when an original is damaged mid-run. If you send us a file rather than a physical master, expect us to print it, prepare it, and send you photographs of the printed piece for approval before it is molded.
We are not a print bureau, and we do not compete with the ones we send work to. If all you need is prints, we will give you two names locally.
Fettling is where most of the cost variation lives. A clean two-part block on a simple part takes seconds per pull. A five-part kit with lace detail on the parting line takes minutes per pull, every pull, and that is a labour number rather than a materials number.
What we turn down: painting or assembly. We hand over clean, bagged parts. Painters do better work than we would.
Runs are scheduled in pull blocks, not in days, because a pot cycle is a fixed length and nothing makes it shorter. A block of twenty pulls on a four-part kit is roughly a working day of pot time once fettling is counted.
| Run size | Masters with us by | Typical dispatch |
|---|---|---|
| 20–60 pulls | 4 weeks before release | 2 weeks from mold sign-off |
| 60–200 pulls | 8 weeks before release | 4–5 weeks from mold sign-off |
| 200–500 pulls | 11 weeks before release | 7–8 weeks, usually across two blocks |
Convention dates move demand into three predictable spikes a year. If your release lands on one of them, the honest advice is to add two weeks to whatever the table says.
The cheapest change to a master is the one made while it is still clay. If you are part-way through a piece and are not sure whether a cape, a chain or a floating pose is going to cast, send photographs. We answer that question for free and we would rather answer it in month one.