iteration and recursion in design: http://www.theverymany.net
l-systems: http://www.chriscoyne.com/wordpress
l-systems in architecture: http://www.mh-portfolio.com/L_Systems/lsi.html
fractals in design: http://www.complexification.net/gallery/machines/invaderfractal
particles: http://www.complexification.net/gallery/machines/bubblechamber/index.php
automata: http://www.solaas.com.ar/dreamlines/
alife: http://blog.metaphorical.net/page-plankton
chaos in crafts: http://www.generatorx.no/tag/chaos

Indeed! My first attempt went quite well, although it was difficult to get the shape out of the mold without damaging it. I have to take it out before it is completely solid, because then it will be super hard to remove it. The key to the whole process is timing and precision. In my first test it took 2 hours from blending part A and B to putting the mixture in the mold, and another 2,5 hours before I could remove it from the mold. Then another 8 hours before it was completely solid. The second test took much longer, I put the mixture into the mold earlier to see if this would minimize the risk of air bubbles. I also did the test in another space with another heater. All this directly affects the duration and result.

A short step by step of the process:

1. Measure part A
2. Measure part B (1/2 of part A) and mix in white pigment
3. Blend part A+B and put on heater
4. Wait +- 2 hours
5. Grease up the molds with vaseline really carefully (otherwise the epoxy will stick to the mold)
6. Stir the material every now and then
7. Poor or push the paste into the hollow mold
8. Push the convex mold into the hollow one and put some pressure on it to keep them together
9. Wait for 2,5 hour +-
10. Carefully open the mold (with a lot of muscle power)
11. If the material is still too flexible, leave the shape in one part of the mold to harden a bit more
12. Take out the shape and let it rest for +- 8 to 15 hours
13. Fine tune the shape using sandpaper, hammers and a blowtorch :) afterwards, polish the epoxy to let it shine

After sanding the mold I was ready to make my first cast. I had never done this before in my life, so it was a brand new experience and one that I will not easily forget. I blended the parts A and B (10:1) and surprise! It became a super sticky and thick paste, impossible to poor into a very small hole leading to a very narrow hollow space inside my mold. I decided it would be best to just poor it in the hollow mold and push the convex one into it. Silicone came gushing out on all sides, it was a total mess *blush*

Failed experiment… had to clean the molds and my workspace and come up with a new plan of attack.

Waag Society posts on meshy here and here

We had no previous experience with any of the steps mentioned before, but bravely set out to do the task. We started out using Wings3D but soon switched to Blender to model the shape. While learning how Blender was working, we quickly realized this was not the way to go. Blender works very differently from CAD/CAM softwares, which are meant for this type of work. Blender has no “real-world measurements” but measures everything in Blender units. It requires you to work in a low resolution and do a sub-surf modifier later to smooth an object, etc. etc. It is not suitable for this task. Running out of time, we got help from Bas Withagen, who created a 3D model in Rhino3D for us. We are still looking for an open source equivalent for this task. We will proceed with milling the model tomorrow.