Originally Posted by
bford903
With FTX Cast, you have to cure, and cure, and cure, and then cure some more. It will turn from a light-green shade to white with a hint of pink. Sometimes I would have to run 6-10 cycles in the cure chamber. Larger pieces are hit-or-miss but smaller pieces cast better after extended curing. I think the reason is FTX Green is relatively transparent so the piece cures inside and out, while the FTX Cast is more opaque leaving uncured resin inside the piece. Don't know, but that's my theory.
When you mix the Plasticast, make it as thick as possible. Not too thick where it sets early or won't pour, but as thick as you can make it. This will increase the strength.
I tried using air duster to blow out the ash residue before casting, but you need to make a separate sprue for the ash residue to escape or it just blows around in there. It helped with the bad surfaces a little, but I was nervous about blowing cold air on a hot mold. Plus, an escape-hole sprue requires extra metal which costs money.
I've gone back to using FTX Green and making rubber molds from the prints.