Architectural Reproduction & Restoration
Architectural Reproduction and Restoration specialists use Polytek liquid mold rubbers to make site molds of aging/damaged ornate architectural elements (e.g., brackets, panels, cornice moulding, statuary). From these molds, reproductions of damaged elements can be cast in the controlled environment of a mold shop. These imperfect castings are resculpted to their original beauty so a rubber production mold can be made from this revised model. This production mold allows repeated casting of the new architectural element in concrete, glass fiber reinforced concrete, plaster, plastic, fiberglass, or other casting media as required for interior or exterior mounting.
Polytek®'s room-temperature curing polyurethane and silicone rubbers are popular mold materials for this application and are available in pourable, brushable and sprayable options.
Casting materials, including rigid polyurethane foams, flexible casting plastics and rigid casting plastic are also available from Polytek® for casting finished architectural elements.
Review popular product options below:
Polytek® polyurethane mold rubbers are most often used when casting reproductions in plaster and concrete. Limited resin casting can also be done with the appropriate release agent (e.g., Pol-Ease® 2300 Release Agent). Polyurethane molds are economical and long-lasting.
Select an option below for additional product details and buying information or browse all polyurethane mold rubbers.
POPULAR OPTIONS
| Product | Description |
|---|---|
A self-thickening rubber for making brush-on molds. Great for making molds on vertical or overhead surfaces. Thin, brush-on Polygel® molds require a supportive mold shell - review Mold Shell Materials below for product recommendations. |
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A sprayable rubber for making molds of large surface areas or vertical and overhead application. Can be used with a PlasPak Spray System or higher volume spray equipment. Thin, brush-on Polygel® molds require a supportive mold shell - review Mold Shell Materials below for product recommendations. |
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A medium hardness, pourable rubber for making block molds. Can be thickened with PolyFiber II or Fumed Silica to make brush-on molds. Thin, brush-on molds require a supportive mold shell - review Mold Shell Materials below for product recommendations. |
Polytek® silicone mold rubbers are preferred for foam casting and resin casting because release agent is generally not needed.
The silicone mold rubbers listed below are pourable, but can be easily thickened for brush-on application when desired. PlatSil® silicones can be thickened with PlatThix Liquid Thickener for brush-on application and TinSil® silicones can be thickened with TinThix Liquid Thickener.
Select an option below for additional product details and buying information or browse all silicone mold rubbers.
POPULAR OPTIONS
| Product | Description |
|---|---|
A medium hardness, platinum-cured silicone with a simple 1A:1B mix ratio and a demold time of 4 to 5 hours. |
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A tin-cured silicone rubber with a 1A:10B mix ratio (digital scale required to measure) and a demold time of 24 hours. Tin-cured silicones are slightly less expensive than platinum-cured silicones, but have a shorter library life and shrink slightly on cure. |
NOTE ON CURE INHIBITION: Sulfur/tin/amine-contaminated materials and tools will cause cure inhibition in platinum-cured silicone rubbers (e.g., PlatSil® 73-25), which means that the rubber that is in contact with the clay model or contaminated surface will remain gummy or uncured. Make sure to test cure the rubber on your surface before full-scale application. Use a polyurethane or tin-cured silicone rubber if you know that you’ll be working with any of these inhibitors.
Thin, brush-on or spray-on molds require a supportive mold shell. Mold shells can be made with a number of materials, including plaster, polyester resin and fiberglass and thickened polyurethane plastic. Polytek® offers strong, fast-setting polyurethane plastics that are widely used in mold shell construction.
Select an option below for additional product details and buying information.
POPULAR OPTIONS
| Product | Description |
|---|---|
A polyurethane casting plastic with a 5-minute working time. Thicken with PolyFiber II for brush-on application. |
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A polyurethane casting plastic with slightly longer working time (10 minutes) than Poly 1512X. Thicken with PolyFiber II for brush-on application. |
PolyFoam rigid polyurethane foams can be used to cast finished parts of varying densities. Silicone molds are typically sprayed with a fast-curing primer prior to casting the foam so that the part is pre-primed when removed from the mold.
Select an option below for additional product details and buying information:
| PRoduct | Description |
|---|---|
A rigid polyurethane casting foam with a free-rise density of 2.5 lb/ft³ and a molded density of 4-8 lb/ft³ |
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A rigid polyurethane casting foam with a free-rise density of 5 lb/ft³ and a molded density of 8-20 lb/ft³ |
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A rigid polyurethane casting foam with a free-rise density of 8 lb/ft³ and a molded density of 8-20 lb/ft³ |
Select the option below for additional product details and buying information:
| Product | Description |
|---|---|
A slightly flexible polyurethane plastic often used to produce decorative trim molding and millwork. Can be drilled, sanded and machined. |
Select the options below for additional product details and buying information or browse all polyurethane casting plastics.
| Product | Description |
|---|---|
A fast-setting polyurethane plastic with an easy 1A:1B mix ratio and a demold time of 15-30 minutes. Shrinks slightly on cure. |
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| Poly 15-3 Liquid Plastic | Poly 15-3 has the lowest exothermic temperature when curing which results in the least shrinkage on cure compared to other Polytek plastics. A faster-settng version is also available. |
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