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]

<span style="color:#FF8C00">I can&#39;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&#39;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.</span>

[JoeyCoz]

[img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img] [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]
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&#39;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&#39;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&#39;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 [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif[/img]

[Sean Bradley]

A+ Excellent tutorial. Stickied. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/applause.gif[/img]


Welcome aboard Joey, way to make an entrance!

I&#39;ll move this to the correct forum when you reach your post count.

[Finnish_Spartan]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sean Bradley @ Apr 12 2008, 05:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>A+ Excellent tutorial. Stickied. [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/applause.gif[/img]
Welcome aboard Joey, way to make an entrance!

I&#39;ll move this to the correct forum when you reach your post count.</div>
Awesome! And it actually &#39;bends&#39;!


I think you could use this tutorial to mold other stuff too [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif[/img]
-Fin(n)ish

[wolf]

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

[CPU64]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tenacioust183 @ Apr 12 2008, 12:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>this could work for boots to give flexability in the heel ankle piece.</div>

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 [img]style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/wink.gif[/img]

[damasterchief]

wow nice!!!!

[Spartas Phalanx]

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