Did a quick zinc casting of a small knight figure. This was a sand casting demo for some friends who are interested in the skill. I was surprised that the shaft of the mace came out, since it is only about 2mm in diameter.
The casting ended up with a poor surface finish. I haven’t worked out the main cause of this. It may be related to pouring temperature or venting.
For small things like this I think it would be interesting to try building a small electric furnace.