Hi guys, as a complete newbie I would like to learn how to make molds (positive, negative cores, with sculptures on it as well etc.). Only found one tutorial so far, but would like to get more information on it. Any tips?
Thank you,
I honestly think that if you want to create proper casting molds in Nomad Sculpt, there’s no way around really learning the software in depth. Making functional molds — especially split molds that can be taken apart and reassembled for casting resin, silicone, or other materials — is a fairly complex process.
You need a solid understanding of sculpting workflows, boolean operations, clean topology, surface accuracy, alignment keys, and how to properly plan parting lines. It’s not just about shaping an object; it’s about engineering a mold that will actually work in the real world.
This isn’t unique to Nomad Sculpt. The same applies to essentially any sculpting software. Mold design is inherently technical and requires both software proficiency and an understanding of physical casting principles.
That’s also probably why there are so few tutorials specifically about making proper casting molds. It’s difficult to explain in a simple step-by-step way because each model requires a slightly different strategy, and small mistakes can completely break the functionality of the mold.
So if your goal is to create clean, separable molds that can be filled with resin or silicone and allow the cast piece to be removed safely, I’d recommend first focusing on mastering Nomad Sculpt’s tools and workflows. Once you’re fully comfortable with booleans, masking, symmetry, and precise cutting, the mold-making process becomes much more manageable.
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What specifically are you trying to make?
There are tons of people with mold making tutorials on YouTube that can help with learning some of the things Holger mentioned (The Crafsman and Punished Props have some great beginner tutorials on general mold making; Rybonator does stuff specifically about making dice molds but that will be more generally applicable). Usually, people model a positive, then make a mold of the positive in some other material (like silicone). Though, making molds directly is sometimes appropriate (e.g., I have seen people making 3D-printed injection molds).
I have used Nomad Sculpt in the process of making positives from which I made molds, as well as things like leather embossing stamps (kind of a mold).
The role of Nomad Sculpt in those is generally not specific to mold making, though. As Holger notes, you need to learn about modeling for 3D printing, in particular, the concept of making a model “manifold” and the techniques for accomplishing that.
Hi guys,
thanks for your help! Basically I’m trying to learn mold making for makeup appliances so I don’t have to work with chemicals like resin anymore.
I would prefer someone who would introduce me to the Nomad app or online courses/tutorials, but understand I have to learn the basics by myself anyway.
I will def check the youtube channels! Thanks for great tips.
I started with an earlier version of Erica Casab of Small Robot Studio’s beginner tutorial:
She has some other videos on specific topics/tools/techniques.
Holger, who responded above, has a vast number of videos explaining how to do different things in Nomad Sculpt: