>>6188944commercially, alumilite and oomoo are the major brands here in the states so I work with either. there are the individual stores that sell directly, but then I can't use cashback or coupon options. I'll accept alumilite and oomoo since I can get them at 30-50% off the retail price year round.
as far as undergating; why would I use it for these faces? They're not half pieces that are going to be seen 360 degrees. Undergating seems like a real roundabout way to make something simple more complicated.
gel cleaner is additional wasteful cost in this setting. I prefer eyeballing and blowing with my mouth.
I do use rubber bands, but it's the set up. the small edges are huge bubble magnets, like the nose, mouth, teeth, back slot. if you look at the house, even something that simple has developed bubbles on the front and back roof, and left wall. I didn't want any bubbles at all on the face or back so I prepoured with excess then closed the halves together, kinda like making sandwiches. The resin has a 3 minute work time and I wanted to minimize resin waste, so this allowed me to accurately pour and address any bubbles for 5 pieces each pour. less waste means that $15 bucks of resin will last me about 50+ faces.
I've gotten pretty price conscientious when it comes to casting since I'm also now airbrushing and buying like 2-4 of each megami device release. The little costs build up into things you could've put money into otherwise like custom metal parts, small jackets, etc.
I see flash as the least of my concerns, since I was going to take the pieces to sandpaper regardless to ensure each piece had smooth edges.
