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Thanks. I actually improved the clarity a little bit after I last edited the post, because I was reminded that toothpaste is mildly abrasive.
Today I pulled off the new silicone mold. Overall it came out smoother. There are still blemishes, but nothing as large as before, and there are no layer lines, so parts cast with this should require less cleanup and trimming. Not that it'll help much; any sanding will bring the native clarity down to match the existing lens, so my goal is a mold that doesn't require sanding the lens surface at all, at least until I can get something that will improve on what I've got with the existing lens.
A new wrinkle is that the second mold lifted some flakes of primer off the master; I stupidly forgot I'd need to seal the thing. Since these are experiments, I decided to go ahead and cast a second lens in the new mold without making a mother mold.
I also attempted my previously-described experiment with the highlighter dye. The dye sometimes forms globules and swirls because it's got a fair amount of water in it, and water also likes to fog up some resins, so my experimental parts are unlikely to be perfectly clear.
Wasn't sure how much resin I'd need to pour the entire Yaley mold, so I mixed extra. Turns out I didn't need much. I ended up with enough leftover resin with highlighter dye that I could pretty much pour a second Treadwell Lens in the original silicone mold. So a UV reactive Treadwell lens is going to be a thing now.
I'm trying to decide what color of blue Treadwell should be. The native plastic of the relevant part of the Trident projector is a somewhat desaturated blue (lighter than the filament I'm using, which is Inland Egyptian Blue PLA):
![[Image: normal_20160528_160208_zpsnwrekfaw.jpg]](http://www.rebeldroids.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/normal_20160528_160208_zpsnwrekfaw.jpg)
This photo seems like it's the best guide. It feels like they roughly color-matched the blue of the lens holders, maybe a touch darker/less saturation. The base also appears slightly two-toned, inboard from the treads:
![[Image: normal_TredWell_photo_2.JPG]](http://www.rebeldroids.net/gallery/albums/userpics/10002/normal_TredWell_photo_2.JPG)
From what I can do in an image editor using the photo and a color sample thing on Sherwin-Williams site, the droid feels like something between SW 6530 (Revel Blue) and (SW 6531 Indigo). If anyone that has the original part wants to color match that to paint samples or pantone colors or some such, that could be useful. The Camera > Image file > Monitor chain is notoriously unreliable.
Today I pulled off the new silicone mold. Overall it came out smoother. There are still blemishes, but nothing as large as before, and there are no layer lines, so parts cast with this should require less cleanup and trimming. Not that it'll help much; any sanding will bring the native clarity down to match the existing lens, so my goal is a mold that doesn't require sanding the lens surface at all, at least until I can get something that will improve on what I've got with the existing lens.
A new wrinkle is that the second mold lifted some flakes of primer off the master; I stupidly forgot I'd need to seal the thing. Since these are experiments, I decided to go ahead and cast a second lens in the new mold without making a mother mold.
I also attempted my previously-described experiment with the highlighter dye. The dye sometimes forms globules and swirls because it's got a fair amount of water in it, and water also likes to fog up some resins, so my experimental parts are unlikely to be perfectly clear.
Wasn't sure how much resin I'd need to pour the entire Yaley mold, so I mixed extra. Turns out I didn't need much. I ended up with enough leftover resin with highlighter dye that I could pretty much pour a second Treadwell Lens in the original silicone mold. So a UV reactive Treadwell lens is going to be a thing now.
I'm trying to decide what color of blue Treadwell should be. The native plastic of the relevant part of the Trident projector is a somewhat desaturated blue (lighter than the filament I'm using, which is Inland Egyptian Blue PLA):
This photo seems like it's the best guide. It feels like they roughly color-matched the blue of the lens holders, maybe a touch darker/less saturation. The base also appears slightly two-toned, inboard from the treads:
From what I can do in an image editor using the photo and a color sample thing on Sherwin-Williams site, the droid feels like something between SW 6530 (Revel Blue) and (SW 6531 Indigo). If anyone that has the original part wants to color match that to paint samples or pantone colors or some such, that could be useful. The Camera > Image file > Monitor chain is notoriously unreliable.