Alumilite Questions

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micharms

micharms

Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2004
Messages
681
Location
Port Elgin, Ontario, Canada.
I thought I was going to be able to buy Alumilite clear at a hobby shop I visited in Hamilton, Ontario. I was careful to phone before I made the 2 1/2 hour drive. I told them I wanted the clear not the water clear. They assured me that was what they had just received. Of course after driving down there to pick it up it was the water clear they had:mad:.

Now for the questions since I am probably going to order direct from the company and they will only ship via UPS to Canada. That usually involves fairly substantial brokerage fees but I'm not sure in this case.

1. Is the clear what I want to use to cast bottlestoppers blanks?

2. If I use their pigments can I produce opaque blanks?

3. When they advertise a 32 oz. kit is that 16 ozs. of A and 16 ozs. of B or is it 32 ozs. of each?

Thanks for the help.
Michael
 
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Either will work, the water clear just does not polish up as nice without an additional finish. I believe the 32 0z kit is 16 + 16. PM Curtis (MesquiteMan) HE is the Alumilite "go to guy". He will know all there is to know about it.
 
Thanks for the links. I can't get the plastic world one to take me to the casting resins. It keeps giving me an error about can't open because of too many redirects.

The prices from the other link seem really high. The 16 oz kit that sells on the Alumilite site for $13 is $21.95 from MBS.

If I had a way of figuring out what extra fees UPS will charge it might help with the decision.

I can get modelers choice in Hamilton to order it but they say it is about a 3-4 week timeline.

Michael
 
Sorry Michael if i did'nt came back to you sooner. Here are my calculations:

UPS charge $7 brookage for $20-$40 order

So 36oz clear from Alumilite = $25 + $12.48 ship + $7 brokage + $5.78 (GST-PST) Total $50.26

You better wait for Modeler's choice, this is where i get mine and i have a great service and they have a $7. flat rate shipping. I ordered the water clear the last time but i will ask them for the clear on my next order.
 
The best example is my last order

Alumilite white 28z from modeler's choice: $50.39 all included delivered to my house.

If ordered form Alumilite:
28ox white kit:$36 + $12.48 shipping + $7 brookage + $8.32 (taxes) = $63.80

Not worthed.
 
Alfred:
Thanks for the example. Where did you get the info about the UPS brokerage fee? Is it on their site? My only access to the Internet right now is using my iPad or an old eMac computer and neither have Flash Player. the iPad doesn't support Flash and I can't download a version of the player that will work on the older eMac. The UPS site requires Flash Player to view their info.

Right now if I apply the IAP discount to an order of 2 - 32 oz clear kits and 7 bottles of different colours of dye with shipping ($28.42 I think) the total comes to approximately $95 dollars + brokerage fee and taxes. Modelers Choice charges $30 for each kit but I don't know how much the dyes cost from them. When I was in the store today the guy seemed more interested in talking on the phone than helping me.

Michael
 
Searcj "ups brookage canada" in google and you will get directly to the ups charge chart.

A $95. order will cost you $19.45 brookage fee. And yes the brookage fee are also taxable :(
 
Alfred:
Thanks for the info and the link. Guess I'll try calling Modelers Choice and see what kind of price they give me. I'm just a little nervous about dealing with them after the experience this past week. I was very specific with them as to what I wanted and they still told me the wrong thing.

Michael
 
Well I'm hoping that one of the Canadian dealers can come through for me. The 48.37 fees to UPS for brokerage and shipping fees on a $81.50 order have turned me off. The IAP Bash discount just about covers the brokerage fees but I still have a problem with the kind of money that UPS makes on this kind of deal.

Michael
 
micharms said:
Alfred:
Thanks for the example. Where did you get the info about the UPS brokerage fee? Is it on their site? My only access to the Internet right now is using my iPad or an old eMac computer and neither have Flash Player. the iPad doesn't support Flash and I can't download a version of the player that will work on the older eMac. The UPS site requires Flash Player to view their info.

Right now if I apply the IAP discount to an order of 2 - 32 oz clear kits and 7 bottles of different colours of dye with shipping ($28.42 I think) the total comes to approximately $95 dollars + brokerage fee and taxes. Modelers Choice charges $30 for each kit but I don't know how much the dyes cost from them. When I was in the store today the guy seemed more interested in talking on the phone than helping me.

Michael
Click to expand...

What is this IAP discount of which you speak?
 
update for my fellow Canadians

Here is the latest info from my search. Modelers Choice will order the Alumilite Clear 32 oz for $29.99 and the dyes at $4.99 for the 1 oz size. They charge $7.00 no matter the size of the order. Then there is the tax. The downside to this is that they just received an order and won't be ordering for a couple of weeks.

Plastic World has the Alumilite Clear and dyes in stock. Their prices are practically identical to Modelers Choice except they want approximately $30.00 for shipping(no firm quote on the shipping). For me, it is about a 2 1/2 hour drive to Plastic World but I can have the materials as soon as I can get down there to pick them up.

Michael
 
Alumilite is offering a 20% discount on all online orders for the month of February. Perhaps that will help offset the shipping charges.

Also, FWIW...... I believe that Alumilite only offers UPS shipping..... even to those of us in the States. That tends to make it economically unfeasable to place small orders. I needed to place an order for a $5 pump dispenser and the shipping quote was around $13. Needless to say I'll wait until I need some other items or I'll need to find another source.
 
Here's the next question-anyone use the Alumilite silicone for making molds. I have an order in for mold max 40 but it has taken 2 business days and the company still hasn't told me how much they will charge me for shipping. That is after a voicemail and an email asking for the info. I got an email this morning from them saying that as soon as their shipping department gave them the quote I would get an email.Still haven't received that email so
i'm pretty frustrated. I can probably have the Alumilite silicone by the weekend. I'm not interested in using the caulking silicone to make the molds.

Michael
 
Okay, I got my Alumilite Clear yesterday :biggrin: and started reading the material supplied with it. It states that "curing may be inhibited if cast against a tin catalyzed silicone RTV." Since I am going to pour my molds using Mold Max 40 is this something I should be concerned about?

Thanks
Michael
 
Micheal I did a Google on the Mold Max 40 and it is a Tin Cure Silicone. I would be leary of using it, but trial and error may be the best teacher.

BTW....Plastic World is my choice supplier for Alumilite. I just wish they had prices listed on their web pages.

Dave
 
Thanks Dave. I know a lot of people use the Mold Max for building their molds but I'm not if any of them use Alumilite.

Plastic World came through for me although I think they are tired of my asking if it is Clear not Water Clear. A friend picked it up for me and saved me $30 shipping so that really helped. I was impressed with Modellers Choice when I asked about getting them to order it for me. The timelines didn't work but he did say that the next time he ordered he would add some Clear to the order so he had it in stock. They only charge $7 shipping for any size order.

Michael
 
fill the mold with water, pour water into mix cup, mark water level, dump water. fill slightly past 1/2 with part A, weigh, add same amount B. stir, stir, stir
 
The questions just keep on coming:confused:! I need to produce some stoppers that have a red and black swirl to them. With such a short open time to the Alumilite Clear can I just mix up 2 separate containers of it and then colour one red and the other black and then pour into my mold and use something to swirl them or do I need to try and time things until itnstarts to thicken? If I do that besides stirring gently to keep the bubbles to a minimum is there anything else to do? I have a pressure pot and will put the mold in there and pressurize but on the Alumilite site it says that younhave to do that before it starts to thicken in order to effectively crush the bubbles.

Michael
 
For those of you looking for Alumilite Clear in Canada, I found http://www.greathobbies.com also carries it. I haven't dealt with them in a great many years but I have ordered from them several times in the past with no issues at all. The website will not calculate shipping for the Alumilite so will have to contact them for shipping costs. Just thought I'd pass that on since they do list the 2 gallon set as being in-stock.
 
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