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If you mean the mold that's cut down the sides, yes I cut that after it was made. It's just done with an xacto knife. I made the cut wavy so the parts would interlock together.

This is the SDS sheet for the product: msdsdigital.com/system/files/ALUMILITE%20FLEX.pdf . It doesn't explicitly state one way or another. So I'm not sure. When I search for "is urethane elastomer food safe" I get this: "Polyurethane is resistant to mineral and vegetable oils, and aromatic hydrocarbons, making it a perfect choice for food grade applications."

If you mean "which one is better?", I guess it would depend on the mechanical needs of your part and how quickly you need to cast parts. I don't know what the hardest silicone is but urethane can be as hard as epoxy. Also, the urethane I have sets in 4 minutes, I've not seen a silicone product that was that quick (although I could be completely wrong, I've only limited experience casting).

I get them cut to size for me, either from the local hardware store or a glass shop.

Thanks, I don't like the wonky reflections you get from acetate.

Good point!

The background is 16 x 20 inches and it's Masonite (high density fiberboard) that's been painted with a few coats of white gesso.

I watched a video here on CZcams (which I can't seem to find now) that showed behind the scenes of an animation studio (I think it was Disney or WB) decades ago, and they said something like "the linework is transferred onto the cel with a special process" but they never showed what that was. It may have been some sort of laser copier, or maybe more closely related to the tech they used to use back in the 80's to make blueprints from drawings. I have no idea. I don't believe they drew each one. You can't get the thick and thin liveliness in the linework like Disney has with either a dip pen or tech pen. I think it would have to have been transferred somehow. I think for your purposes a tech pen would work better. You're likely to get the ink sucked out onto the acetate from a dip pen. I would recommend experimenting first. Acetate ink is getting harder to find (at least for me). Once I run out of my old stock I think I'll only be able to get it from Amazon, and it's $40 for 3/4 of an ounce. Edit: check out this video czcams.com/video/il8bP4ZS4Vc/video.htmlsi=lFpgunJDhTD92Zam I get the feeling the transfer process used proprietary technology that they didn't want to show.

Sorry, I stopped FDM printing those, the finish is poor and they take way too long to print. I'm working on a new cast resin version now, but I don't expect it to be ready any time soon.

Glad it helped!

That was done with a ruling pen.

Honestly, I don't remember if I did that for this one. Sometimes it's necessary if the paint is peeling up.

@@RichardThompsonCA Thank you for the responses. Very helpful! When you have applied the clear acrylic varnish in the past, you did so with an air brush too?

@@tharrenpoplion6065 Spraying the work with mat varnish as an "isolation layer" is something I picked up from the youtube channel baumgartner restorations. It does seem to work to help with paint peel. I also add a Golden hard acrylic (GAC200) to the mat varnish to give it a harder film. If the acrylic is too "rubbery" the frisket sticks too well. You could probably do this with a paint brush but the brush stroke texture could cause problems. I didn't have this problem when I started airbrushing in the 90's but we seemed to have more options back then for airbrush surfaces and airbrush paints. It seems airbrushing has gone out of fashion. I used to work on a surface called Frisk CS-10 and it was amazing. Sadly that company went out of business years ago. Now I'm left with either poor quality options or prohibitively expensive options.

I have no idea. A lot of people do it and seem to get away with it but maybe they just haven't been caught yet. I think the more problematic part would be the logo's and trade marks of the company making them. I know I read that recently the current owner of the amc brand sued someone to keep the copyright even though nobody has made these cars in decades. I guess they still get a royalty on amc toy cars and wanted to protect that. I don't do any POD and don't sell many shirts so I don't worry about it. I know most popular defunct trademarked names have been scooped up by hedge funds and such hoping to cash in on infringements. You might check with a lawyer.

@@RichardThompsonCA sure thing,... but,.... what if you draw a vehicle with no logo, no model, nothing. The only recognizable thing about it would be essentially the lines and overall design. In this case we good, right?

@@danilfilimonov4579 I can't offer any legal advice on this, I just don't know. But with over 50 million channels on YT, there must be a copyright lawyer on here.

@@RichardThompsonCA 👍, sorry, thanks, take care

@@danilfilimonov4579 No problem, if you do find an answer post it here. I'm genuinely curious, I'm sure others are too.

Great tip!

The vent hole is actually next to the injection port. I figured if I made the hole on the other side the silicone wouldn't go all the way around to fill the mold.

It's cyanoacrylate glue (crazy glue, super glue, etc.) whatevers cheapest, available at the hardware store.

@@RichardThompsonCA thanks

I'm working on glass, which has more thickness than acetate. If I inked on the front and painted on the back you'd get a bit of parallax from different angles and things would appear to not line up.

@@RichardThompsonCA oh that makes sense just wodnering because getting into creating old school cartoons trying to learn how to animate

I guess it depends on what type of compressor you have. If it's capable of hitting around 90 psi it should work fine. Some smaller airbrush compressors can only produce up to about 30 psi and wouldn't be enough for this. You don't usually need a high volume of air but you do need high pressure. I bought the air gun at a local hardware store, but you should be able to get it anywhere including amazon and ebay.

@@RichardThompsonCA thank you.

No, I've never worked in animation, making these cels is just a hobby for me.

@@RichardThompsonCA oh you sound just like the guy in the SpongeBob documentary and his name is also Richard Thompson

@@JaspertcrustyAnimator That's a crazy coincidence, I'll have to check that out.

Thanks! 👍

The naptha didn't cause the inhibition, it just didn't prevent it as I'd hoped. The resin is the problem, it doesn't play nicely with platinum silicone. I let a part sit in a window for 30 days, still had the inhibition. I've since dumped platinum for tin cure.