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The Battles of Frenchtown, also known as the Battle of the River Raisin and the River Raisin Massacre, were a series of conflicts in Michigan during the War of 1812 between the United States and the British Army and Native American coalition. The British and Indian victory was the greatest-ever defeat for the U.S. American army and upset their campaign to recapture Detroit, which had fallen to their enemy earlier in the war.

The River Raisin National Battlefield Park (RRNBP) preserves, commemorates, and interprets these battles and their aftermath in Monroe and Wayne counties in southeastern Michigan. A new education center is currently under development, which will highlight the Native American heritage and influence on the history of the area. Amongst others, an indoor and outdoor artillery exhibit is being built, which will also include three cannons used by the British soldiers.

First-class product portfolio for state-of-the art modeling

Due to the prohibitive cost of reproducing period-correct bronze cannon tubes, RRNBP reached out to RAMPF Group, Inc. to manufacture models of the canon using a silicone mold and polyurethane resin. The company based in Wixom, MI, is renowned for its tooling expertise and first-class portfolio of board and liquid materials for state-of-the art modeling. For the cannon project it had the perfect products on hand – the tin silicone RAKU TOOL^® RS-9225 and the rigid polyurethane RAKU TOOL^® IE-3082.

• RAKU TOOL^® RS-9225: High-strength silicone resin with minimal shrinkage, easy mixing (10:1), and hand-batch processing at room temperature. Used for hobby and arts projects, rapid-prototyping rollers, and mold making.
• RAKU TOOL^® IE-3082: Mercury-free and low-viscosity polyurethane system with outstanding physical properties after room-temperature curing. Ideal for color-matching due to its neutral, semi-transparent appearance. Used for hand-batch processing and vacuum-assisted casting methods.

Minimum post processing for desired look

Nathan Jacobs, Sales Manager Tooling at RAMPF Group, Inc. – “When choosing the materials for this project, we had to consider the fact that we did not have the typical mold-making resources available to produce the cannons. Each pour had to be mixed by hand, so we needed a long work-time polyurethane that would pour easily and not need to be degassed. Furthermore, the large volumes required a low-exothermic resin system. RAKU TOOL^® IE-3082 is the perfect material for this. We also colored it black and applied a dry bronze powder to the surface of the mold to achieve a cast bronze appearance. This way, there was minimum post processing needed for the desired look.”