Wanted to cast my own set of hanafuda tiles with little sculptured scenes inside - made a bunch of molds using standard small mahjong tiles and made a few gooey messes with some casting resin, then a few bubbly messes, and finally some non-messes
Now that I have somewhat of a grip on the epoxy I whipped up a test fuda set in a simplistic abstract style - as I figure chances are slim it survives creation and this just becomes another step in the learning process - but should it manage to become I wanted to make it a functional set
Here is the set, before being embedded in tiles - all the needed banners, brights and tens are there, along with the lightning card, rain man, sake cup, curtain and moon so it should be fully playable for koi koi
The molds each got the top clear layer of resin the other day, now a second layer of resin and the first layer of the cards
The background layer for the cards will be added after that resin firms up (somewhere in the 5-12 hour range, perhaps with another resin layer first)
After that its more clear layers until most of the way to the top - cure them for a day and pop them out, then cast a set of backs - then join the fronts to the backs, polish the sides, call it a day
Joining backs and fronts rather than trying to do it in one piece seems to be the easiest way to make sure the tops and bottoms are perfect - the center join can be done quite invisibly and precisely - this was a quick test with a yellow back and opaque white front:
Some backs and clear fronts (early errs with bubbles for the clear):
And the first experiments (from very early on) some quick sculpts of a standard card and some general embed and pour testing - bubbles abound and the top edge is rough as can be from the top of the mold. Fugly things, but give a general idea of at least one direction I will go (figure I will make a few, as that tends to be what I do)
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Going with a few clear layers before the backgrounds, probably another 3 or 4 layers before I take these out of the mold and get to see if they worked out…
I am refraining from giving any specific tips at this point, as I am hardly in a position and as the multitudes of resin compounds out there all require their own special touch. The most helpful tip I can give is follow the instructions carefully - if they say thin layers they mean it - keep an eye on it over the first few hours to take care of any errant bubbles - and mix SLOW to avoid getting bubbles in the first place.
I also have a vacuum chamber, which can help degass things - but with care and thin layers you do not need one for this. I am using it here to degass a bit after I stir, just because I have it - but I am not putting the molds in there after pouring.
So far, so good - looks free of bubbles…
Another two layers of clear added, looks like the backgrounds are ready to go in with the next layer, late this evening or early in the morning, depending on when the last layer gets firm enough to keep the parts from sinking…
I have a fair number of ideas on how to get those background pieces in without trapping air, and the same number of ideas on how bubbles will get trapped - coating them with resin before laying them down is supposed to be key… Figure some careful slow laying down from one edge might do it
I do wonder if the vacuum chamber should be used at this point - but a bit too much of a greenhorn to know if that will ease my troubles or cause more bubbles…
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Added the next layer - all the backs are on for brights, banners and tens - chaff backgrounds will go in after another layer or two more are added to the blank tiles (since they have nothing embedded they are less full than the others at this stage)
Did the, insert an edge and let them slowly lay down - fingers crossed…. Still a day or two away from popping them out of the mold to see.
Chaff remaining:
