Postage stamps - first cast

[Steve Busey]

Did my first casting this weekend. Did a couple postage stamp blanks, using Alfonso's tutorial as a starting point.

Did one like he did: used a black tube, and lined each stamp with the edge of the next one.

Then did one, just gluing them kinda randomly on a plain brass tube.

I'm real happy with the first one:


But on the second, I now understand more about the black tube and edge alignments. The problem is, the stamps become slightly translucent in the PR, so the brass tube shines through some stamps, and with the random overlap pattern, the lower stamps bleed through the upper ones. :frown:



Blue stamps lost a lot of detail in the PR too. I might experiment with a white painted tube to see if the overall blank is brighter. Hope this helps someone considering a stamp blank in the future!

 

[Florida Marine]

Hmm..timely.

Was going through some stuff my mom sent after my dad passed. There were a number of letters with some older stamps, and even a stamp from France from Felix Weldon the artist who made the Iwo Jima memorial and had conversed with my dad. Was planning on casting them.

First one looks great!

2nd one is what I would have ended up with if you hadn't posted this!

Sean

 

[pianomanpj]

Although I haven't cast stamps, I have read that you should seal them before casting. I believe Modge Podge is one recommended product. Good luck!

 

[Steve Busey]

Although I haven't cast stamps, I have read that you should seal them before casting. I believe Modge Podge is one recommended product. Good luck!

That's what I used as the glue. Maybe I should have painted an extra coat over the blank before casting? Or perhaps the modge podge is what caused some of the transparency?

 

[pianomanpj]

Although I haven't cast stamps, I have read that you should seal them before casting. I believe Modge Podge is one recommended product. Good luck!

That's what I used as the glue. Maybe I should have painted an extra coat over the blank before casting? Or perhaps the modge podge is what caused some of the transparency?

I believe you need to put a coat on top of the stamps once they're glued down. CA can also make some of the inks run, but I'm not sure about resin.