Molding Underarmor Pieces On The Cheap

[JoeyCoz]

Hello all.

I have seen some really good unerarmor here in the forums, but the best ones that I have seen either require awesome sewing skills, or laying out some hard earned cash for some paintball armor, pressure suit, ect.

Heres my idea for creating some custom molded, flexible underarmor pieces, and the only skill required is to be able to cut and build a pepakura model. I did a small scale test and was very pleased with the result. (I will post some pics in a few days)

1.) Create a pepakura file for the underarmor part you want to mold (lower back, inner thigh, back of fingers,ect.)
[I'll need some help with this part]

2.)Build a negative model of the piece you want to mold. the important thing here is to have all of the glue tabs on the outside of your model, as you will be using the inside to cast your piece. For my test I used regular copy paper but I will test again with 60 lb cardstock

3.) Use high temp hot glue to fill your mold. For my test, I brushed the hot glue on until it was about 1/16" thick, then I used the glue gun to fill any deep pockets in the mold.

4.) Once the glue is completley cool, submerge the part in water untill the paper starts to break down. Then use a kitchen sponge to rub away the paper. This is why I only used regular 20 lb paper for my test. I am looking for other ways to separate the paper from the hot glue, but this worked fine after only 15 minutes of soaking on hot tapwater.

5.)Test fit the piece an trim the edges with scissors

6.) Paint with a couple coats of flat black paint and hot glue to your undersuit.

Thats the idea anyway. Let me know what you all think.

 

[ImaGonnaGetYou]

I can't believe it.

That is very well thought out, for your first post, too! I am definately going to try this!

As long as a 3ds guy comes around, this won't be a hard-to-reach goal. I say test it a bit more, though, with cardstock, and see how long it takes to break down.

Also, use 110 lb. cardstock, since it is the most common building material around here.

 

[JoeyCoz]

I have tried a larger scale version. First thing I did was design a generic pattern. I printed a 3/8" X 3/8" grid on 60 lb paper.
[attachment=3948:001_Graph_paper.jpg]

Then I folded it, accordian style, to create a series of ridges
[attachment=3949:002_Accordian_Fold.jpg]

Here's a pic of the finished mold.
[attachment=3950:003_Finished_Mold.jpg]

Next step wass the hot glue. I used a glue gun and a small brush for this test, but I would have gotten a better result if I had used the Hot Glue Method described in the stickies. With a gluegun, it was difficult to keep a consistant thickness, and also cerated a few small voids in my finished part.
[attachment=3951:004_Fill...ith_Glue.jpg]

After it cooled, I soaked the whole thing in hot tapwater for about 10 minutes. The water temp was about 120 deg. Two thoughts I had while waiting for the paper to breakdown:
1. If I were to raise the temp a bit the glue would become very flexible. Then I could take the part out of the water and form it round whatever body part it was made for, and let it cool. This would make the modeling/scaling/pepakura process simpler witout the need for complex curves, such as those you would have making an inner thigh part. (?wonder what temp the glue would start to get messy?)
2. If I let the mold soak for about a day, the paper may break down completley and would help clearing paper out of tiny crevices in the mold

Here's a pic of me removing the paper. I used the rough side of a "ScotchBrite Heavy Duty Cleaning Sponge" and a little bit of dish soap.
[attachment=3952:005_Removing_Paper.jpg]

Dried off, trimmed and ready for paint
[attachment=3953:006_Two_..._Paint_a.jpg]

[attachment=3954:007_Two_..._Paint_b.jpg]
You may not see it in the pics, but he paper doesn't come off completly. It leaves the surface with a very light texture which I think works better for underarmor.

Here is the finished result, ready to attach to your undersuit Keep in mind, this was a "quick and dirty" test. (45 min from idea to reality) There a a few areas where the glue was not thick enough, leaving small holes in the part, and the paint was rushed to get some pics to post, but overall I am very pleased with the results.
[attachment=3959:dl_009.jpg]
[attachment=3960:dl_010.jpg]
[attachment=3961:dl_011.jpg]
[attachment=3962:dl_012.jpg]

If you try this out, post some pics of your work. Good luck

 

[Sean Bradley]

A+ Excellent tutorial. Stickied.


Welcome aboard Joey, way to make an entrance!

I'll move this to the correct forum when you reach your post count.

 

[FinnishSpartan]

A+ Excellent tutorial. Stickied.
Welcome aboard Joey, way to make an entrance!

I'll move this to the correct forum when you reach your post count.

Awesome! And it actually 'bends'!


I think you could use this tutorial to mold other stuff too
-Finish

 

[wolf]

this could work for boots to give flexability in the heel ankle piece.

 

[CPU64]

this could work for boots to give flexability in the heel ankle piece.

You could also use silicone rubber instead of hot glue. cheaper, and easier to apply, and more durable than hot glue.

Oh and another thing, if you can find sticker backing paper, neither the hot glue or silicone rubber will stick to it, and it peels right off.

 

[LastSpartan]

Awesome tutorial buddy

 

[damasterchief]

wow nice!!!!

 

[Spartas Phalanx]

The guy never posted after this, what a shame he had a good idiea and a proof of concept.

 

[Vrogy]

Neat idea. Might be easier to use some sort of nonstick coating inside the pepakura instead of scrubbing the paper off. If the pepakura was resined first, you might be able to cast multiple pieces from it, too..

 

[ImaGonnaGetYou]

If the pepakura was resined first, you might be able to cast multiple pieces from it, too..

Oh my god!

...Brilliant!

*Grabs resin container*

 

[rvb4life]

OH MAI F#$%ING GOD! ITS GENIUS! AND ITS BY A NOOB! pinch me, im dreaming.

this is ABSOLUTLEY PERFECT!!!! its SO SIMPLE, and yet, i would have never thought about it!




Joey, you have earned your stripes here. What a warm welcome it is!

 

[Liamthedevastator]

Wow...it's so simple....yet so EPICLY AWESOME!!!

You could also use silicone rubber instead of hot glue. cheaper, and easier to apply, and more durable than hot glue.

Oh and another thing, if you can find sticker backing paper, neither the hot glue or silicone rubber will stick to it, and it peels right off.

What is this rubber you speak of?

 

[Dark Rogue]

I'm trying this out right now with a small test similar to yours. Also, trying it with some 110 lb cardstock..hopefully it'll work. Great idea!

 

[luketrocity]

Heres a good way to melt the glue me thinks:

"Hot glue skillet", saw it at walmart today.

I dont know how well it works, but it was a whopping 5 dollars

 

[JoeyCoz]

First of all, thanks for your positive replies and for welcoming me to the group. I found this site discussed in a papermodel forum somewhere, and have been lurking around the boards for a month or so checking things out. I have learned alot and its cool to be able to give something back to the group.
Anyway,

this could work for boots to give flexability in the heel ankle piece.

This stuff is bendable, but it won't strech or compress very much. The piece I made acts like a thin sheet of plastic, I don't know how well it would work over a ankle or knee joint, but try it out. Also the paint won't hold up to alot of bending. I used Rustoleum flat black on my test, but I,m going to repaint it with this product:
[/url]http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip

You could also use silicone rubber instead of hot glue. cheaper, and easier to apply, and more durable than hot glue.

Oh and another thing, if you can find sticker backing paper, neither the hot glue or silicone rubber will stick to it, and it peels right off.

I like the idea of using silicone, when I have time I'll try it out. I don't think silicone will hold paint very well, so I will try to find some that is black.

Neat idea. Might be easier to use some sort of nonstick coating inside the pepakura instead of scrubbing the paper off. If the pepakura was resined first, you might be able to cast multiple pieces from it, too..

Removing the paper is not very hard, but getting multiple casts without having to build multiple molds would be nice. I might even try resin & glass, then use some sort of release agent. Thanks for the tip Vrogy.

 

[lionheart912]

Very cool. Now we need someone to make pep files for underarmor.

 

[luketrocity]

I'm trying this out right now with a small test similar to yours. Also, trying it with some 110 lb cardstock..hopefully it'll work. Great idea!

Did this work? Update?!

 

[Dark Rogue]

Did this work? Update?!

It did work, but I can't find the actual piece for some reason =P I'm gonna try another test tonight so I can have some pics.

Something I DID notice is that the glue had a bit of a hard time holding its shape after cooling/wiping the paper off. I think it's mainly because I didn't put enough glue on though, but hopefully it should be sorted out by tonight when I try again.