MOLDAPALOOZA! (Lots of pics!)

MOLDAPALOOZA! (Lots of pics!)

One thing thats been notably missing in the 'Molded Armor Discussion" is discussion of molds. There have been a few threads here and there to help aquaint people to making molds, and using them. Adam wrote a great little tutorial here: http://www.mjolnirarmor.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1498 And there are some very useful tutorials listed in the TUTORIAL LINKS thread here: http://www.mjolnirarmor.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=296

I've just recently completed LOTS of new molds, and thought I'd kick off an open discussion of Moldmaking for Halo armor and props by showing off my hard work and inviting questions about the materials and mold design.


This is a sampling of some of the molds that I have recently made. I typically make brushed on rubber molds, using polyurethane rubber with a thickening agent mixed in. After building up the molds, I make a heavy duty 'mother mold" or shell that is formed over the rubber that keeps the shape of the part. Some parts require making multiple pieces that fit together, while others are 'Open Faced' molds intended for brushing the resin in layers.

So, without getting all textbook on you... heres the pics.


Some molds in my shop.






A 2 piece sword handle mold for poured resin




Two piece Pistol mold for poured resin


The 'Jaw' section of my helmet. 1 piece mold w/ 2 piece shell

Wow that is amazing. You could build enough armor for an army with all those molds. Could you PM me with prices if your selling?

:eek :shock:

How did you make the mold, the skin color looks like clay but what is the orange in the mid and what did you use to make the finished mold product?

SB,

That's nice work...question. I myself work with silicone rubber and the jacket molds that I make for the rubber molds to keep their shape are usually fiberglass reinforced resin.

What are your 'Mother' molds made from? They look really clean and neat.

Again, very very nice work!

Stay safe,

Tim.

what did you use to actually mold? did you make a clay model and then mold that? and how did you make the hemlet? like how did you make it a shell and not a solid piece?

What's your failure/reject rate with your two piece helmet + brim mold?

One of the example helmets looks a little bent, but that might just be the early hour + the angle the picture's from w/ the lighting. Since ya hand made the molds + shells, they probably fit pretty close, but with the half sphere bump + divot locking mechanism I'd expect a little play from 'em.... But the holes that are drilled through 'em look like they're for a fastening system, am I right?

The pistol looks like a single piece of resin, which'd be good for durability and handling..... I'm surprised the sword hilt's a two piecer, but that's probably for ease of assembly and electronics. It probably doesn't have as much of an effect on the final piece's center of gravity as I think it might....

Everything looks awesome. I'm really tempted to buy a pistol or other non-helmet prop....

MC Chris said:

How did you make the mold, the skin color looks like clay but what is the orange in the mid and what did you use to make the finished mold product?

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thats a fiberglass resin/body filler mixed and its ez to paint into the moulds then you can back it with fiberglass

and sean nice clean moulds ;-)

i would love to have a detailed tut on how you did everything including materials, equipment and cost involved if one were to try and replicate what you did.

very nice Mister. Very clean.

i would also love to get prices if your selling.

rwells87 said:

i would also love to get prices if your selling.

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one things for sure, it aint gonna be cheap

wish i could make things like that, only thing is it too expensive to get the rubber, plaster and the brush on plastic

and to get a model to mold off of

Good discussion... ah it takes me back to an earlier time... ;-)

Let me try to answer the questions up to this point.

Link called the mother mold and casting material. It's a 1:1 mixture of Polyester Resin and Bondo Body Filler with fiberglass reinforcement. They're pretty indestructable when made like this.

The rubber I use is Polytek 74-30 Polyurethane Mold Rubber. You can read the instructions and properties here: http://www.polytek.com/products/74.pdf And are available here: http://www.polytek.com/store/merchant.mvc?..._Code=Poly74-30 I find this rubber to be much more durable and affordable than most silicone mold rubbers I have worked with.

I use the same Resin/Bondo mixture to make my brushed castings. For the 2 piece poured molds I made my test pulls with a 10:1 mixture of Polyester Resin and Body Filler, athough I will probably use a high impact pourable resin for the actual casts.

The various models here were made though different processes. The Helmet was made with fabricated Polystyrene sheet. For more about the process look here: http://www.mjolnirarmor.com/forums/viewtop...et&start=15
The sword handle was sculpted in clay, cast then detailed and molded again. More here: http://www.mjolnirarmor.com/forums/viewtop...sc&start=15
The M6C was cast by Link, and I re-detailed and altered it. http://www.mjolnirarmor.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=958

The success rate of these molds has been 100% to this point. The helmet brim is fantastic to work with, compared to how I used to have to assemble two seperate cast pieces to make the helmets. I dunno about the bend that FinAeros saw... because these castings are coming out 100% with no errors or warping. All I have to do when they're taken out of the mold is to do some sanding along the seam.

The half-sphere mold keys are rock solid. I've been using that method for for my molds for 10 years now. The holes you see are for assembling the two halves together without needing mold straps or clamps.

The sword hilt is two piece so that I can cast the interior of the handle as well, with the blade mounts and electronic compartments intact.

I'd love to have a detailed tut too!, but I haven't got the time right now. Besides I need to finish the Fabricating Spartan 2.0 Armor tutorial first. Then there will be more tutorials... for many things. :mrgreen:

one things for sure, it aint gonna be cheap

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That all depends on your budget. Do you have a job, or are you living off your allowance? I always make options available for people who can't afford to spend alot, and give away LOTS of information to those who want to do things themselves. I really believe in helping people who are as enthusiastic about this as I am, I'm not at this to make huge profits, I only expect to get back the money I invested.

that is so freaking cool i wish i had that much armor now back to my pepakura =\

could you vaccum form the rest? to make a large set, what would be the drawback of that?

No, I think you could.... I mean... I could... huh?

Not all of the detail would show up, but I don't see the harm in doing that with the suit. Theoretically speaking, of course. I have no experience with vacuum forming, so I'm probably not the best person to ask.

I have no immediate plans to manufacture the suit. Maybe someday, but not now...

SB,

Thanks for the heads up! I might wanna look into that...all i gotta do now is to find out if they carry those 'chems' in my neck of the woods.

Slightly OT, but here's my latest project that I just finished. I went with a clay sculpt, followed by a plaster mold which we then broke open [I have the video..], pulling the prototype mask from. That prototype was then cleaned up [to put it mildly] and then a silicone mold was created for both the front face piece and back.

http://mjolnirarmor.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=31645#31645

The fiberglassed reinforced resin jacket was the final touch.

Stay safe,

Tim.

send me a price for the helmetman thats cool

Awesome job. How do you make a mold??

Wow, I had no idea that you used a plaster mold to make that helmet...

You should be able to get mold rubber shipped to your location.

Polytek has a trail kit that they do for first time customers that is only like $30... should be enough to make a thin mold of a mask. You should give it a try, and make some copies of the Dr Doom mask!