Wyoming GoldSculpting, Casting, Moldmaking & More!

How is a mold made for-say a plastic car model?

Any answer except “hire a skilled moldmaker” is welcome!
How does the moldmaker make the mold?
Is it a lost wax process? Is it cast? or machined?
(I can’t imagine machining a toy soldier or action figure)

I don’t know if this totally answers your question, but it’s definitely a neat site anyway:

http://manufacturing.stanford.edu/hetm.html

Gold Melting Furnace, Gold Casting Machine, Silver Casting Machine, gold tree, silver tree, wax tree

ball bearings, electrical wires, wax casting and automated machines …

Lost-Wax Casting: Old, New, and Inexpensive Methods $22.95 This book, by Dr. Fred R. Sias, is a basic introduction to lost-wax casting with emphasis on jewelry making. Designed to be used both as a textbook and as a reference book, it is directed primarily towards beginners. However, the experienced caster will find some useful ideas and new techniques. Heavy emphasis is placed upon understanding why things are done in a particular way, rather than simply…

Lapidary Journal Magazine Vol 56, No 12, March 2003: How to Marry Metals; Long Beaded Earrings; Facet a Brighter Opal, Try the Rising Sun; The Elusive Wire Bangle Project; Lost Wax Casting: What Kind of Machine is Right for You? …

The Moulder’s and Founder’s Pocket Guide: a Treatise on Moulding and Founding in Green-Sand, Dry-Sand, Loam, and Cement; the Moulding of Machine Frames, Mill-Gear, Hollow Ware, Ornaments, Trinkets, Bells and Statues, Description of Moulds for Iron, Bronze , Brass, and Other Metals: Plaster of Paris, Sulphur, Wax, and Other Articles Used in Casting; the Construction of Melting Furnaces, the Melting of and Founding of Metals, the Composition of Alloys and Their Nature, Etc …