Making the Giant Pop Max 2 - Ver. 2 Mass Production Model

This is a further mass-production version based on the UV resin Pop Max #3, which was a mass-production prototype created from the wooden Pop Max No. 2 as a base, with modified facial details. It was great that the silicone material I used a long time ago to make the silicone mold for mass production still seemed usable.

The process of smoothing out the very last tiny steps using primer and liquid putty took a lot of time. The overall black color is Mr. Surfacer 1500 Black, which I use frequently. The whitish parts are bottled surfacer. I use this to prep the surface, but I stopped making fine corrections around the face and inside the mouth. All-UV-resin cures dramatically faster, which is nice, but it's easy to apply too much and then struggle with sanding. It's all about balance. When making the mold, I drew a line in the middle with a silver paint marker so I could see the center position where the silicone level should reach.

Before making the first half-mold, I built the base out of clay. I borrowed the clay from my son. I tried to use a silicone mold I found in a 100-yen shop wagon (two for 100 yen), but it looked way too floppy and hard to use, so I gave up.

For the frame, I ended up borrowing my son's Lego blocks, too. I remember when I made one long ago, I probably didn't have a son yet (only a daughter), had no Lego blocks, and couldn't afford to buy them. I used thick snack cardboard and the silicone leaked, right? Having a son is great. I'll wash the Legos nicely later. Nowadays, I can just tag along with a casual "Let's go buy some Lego!" Since the clay modeling here determines the quality of the mold, I made sure to do it carefully and keep it flat. I filled it up to the line I marked earlier. I used the back of a paintbrush to poke holes so the two mold halves would align. This actually isn't necessary with my current UV resin molding method, but I did it just in case and to help them fit together cleanly.

The hole was a little too deep, so the silicone didn't flow into it cleanly. Next time, a moderate depth is better. The surface is still messy, but from here I finished it up carefully using clay modeling spatulas.

The material is this: Mr. Silicone for modeling by Creos. The ratio with the curing agent is 4g to 100g. That's 4%. This is crucial information, and I'm so glad the instruction paper survived.

This is it. They still sell it.

As written on the paper, measure out 4g of the curing agent. Someone told me I could take this kitchen scale for my own use, so I keep it permanently at my desk. Super convenient. I put a paper cup on it, pressed "TARE" to reset it to 0g, and then added the material. Measuring 4g with a 1g increment scale has a fair bit of margin for error, but ballpark is fine.

From there, I add another 100g of silicone. I added it so the total weight would be 104g. This photo also includes a disposable chopstick, so it's a bit heavy. And the 10-year-old silicone is... sludge-like and high in viscosity. Maybe it's starting to cure a little. Still, I'm amazed it lasted 10 years without hardening. Given the current prices, investing in it now takes some courage. I mixed the material thoroughly, but it's already as thick as starch syrup. Stirring it inevitably introduced air bubbles, which felt sketchy, but it's better than failing to mix the curing agent properly. Also, 100g of silicone seems like a lot—looks like about twice as much as I need. But since it's my first time, I'll follow instructions. Just in case there's leftover, I prepared another random item using just clay to see if I can copy a different lure.

I poured the silicone mixed with the curing agent into the frame packed with clay and the lure master. Normally, it should be runny enough for the liquid to squeeze into any gaps without issue, but here too, the viscosity is so high that I'm worried whether it will flow cleanly into the details—especially inside the mouth. I poured it carefully to ensure the mouth and eye areas were filled without gaps. Just as I feared, bubbles are appearing. Normally, if the viscosity is low, bubbles float to the top and escape, but this time the viscosity is high, so even when they rise, they don't pop, which worries me. It looks like I'm making tofu.

I checked the hardening progress using the leftover silicone in the paper cup, and after about 3 hours, I moved on to the next step. It wasn't fully cured yet, but it was more than enough to work with. Once hardened, it really looks like kanten (agar) jelly. I removed the side block walls and carefully peeled away the clay. The positioning dowels were too long, so silicone hadn't flowed into them. I probably could have made it work if I poured more carefully, but I didn't care, so it got a bit sloppy... If your mold looks like this here, it's a failure. What do you think? While casually searching for how-to guides and thinking it was pretty straightforward, I watched tutorials on YouTube saying that applying a mold release agent to the clay makes it easier to peel apart. But I seem to remember reading that there's also a risk of the clay melting and flowing into the prototype. Which way is better?

For the other side, I applied a mold release agent to the cured silicone. Apparently, if you don't apply it, the cured silicone will bond with the second batch of liquid silicone. It's just like UV resin. But be careful not to get it on the mold itself. When I did this before, I accidentally got it on the mold too, and because the release agent is quite grainy or viscous, brush marks ended up sticking to the mold. You don't have to worry too much about the boundary between the silicone and the mold anyway since you'll end up trimming and matching the two halves later, so it's not a problem.

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The mold release agent is also Creos' Mr. Silicone Barrier. For some reason, Amazon doesn't seem to sell it. It might be better to visit a hobby shop. This is also something I used 10 years ago. The amount seems quite generous. The curing agent is in a small bottle—need to be careful not to mix up these two.

Once I finished applying the release agent, I poured the mixture of silicone and release agent one more time, just like before. Tofu time.

After killing some time playing games for 2 to 3 hours, it had hardened, so I removed the block frame. It's delicious-looking agar jelly.

With bated breath, *ta-da!* Ah, looks nice and clean. There are a few tiny air bubbles, though...

When I removed the mold from the other side, it looked great too. All finished!

There are sizable air pockets around the eye area. For some reason, on both sides of the mold. Either trapped air had trouble escaping, or air was just easy to get trapped there. I poured some silicone in there later to fix it.