Pepakura Could Monster Clay be used with Pepakura for molds, then reused?

[VoidRunner]

To expand on the title. I have a thought I'd like more experienced crafters' input on.

I'm planning to put together the Halo, Master Chief helmet using Pepakura, and as anyone who has worked with Pepakura knows, it doesn't turn out smooth straight away, it needs a lot of work and sanding to achieve the proper appearance, which is after reinforcing the build with plenty of resin and fibreglass.

So I've had a tub of Monster Clay hanging around for a while and I was thinking.

After the build has been fully reinforced, could the Monster Clay be used to smooth out the edges and add details, without going through the process of using bondo, rondo, car filler stuff with oh so much sanding to boot.
Then after creating a cast, just heating up the original to peel off the clay and use it again.

In my mind it should work. Monster Clay is made malleable by using heat so it can constantly be reshaped. Details can be etched into the clay, there is no sanding, and it can be reused. I have seen some posts already from others who have used Monster Clay for helmets, but it's not clear at which point the clay was added, either to the first pepakura build, or an initial casting.

There is probably something blindingly obvious I'm missing, maybe the clay can be contaminated by the resin, but I'm keen to hear your thoughts. Or do you think that sticking to fillers and sanding is best?

 

[Cadet]

If the pepakura model has been fully reinforced with fiberglass and resin, then yes. When most people are sculpting a mask, prosthetic, or helmet with Monster clay they always start with some sort of armature as the base, so that the entire sculpt is not Monster Clay. This saves on Clay and weight. In this case, instead of the armature being something like a face cast or bust, for example I have sculpt a lot of things on an Ultra Cal face cast of myself, the base armature is your reinforced pepakura model.

So, making the pep model, reinforicing, adding the details in Monster Clay, then making your Silicone Mold of it and using that to make a resin cast should work fine and you can then take the clay off your original pepakura helmet and reuse the clay later.

 

[VoidRunner]

If the pepakura model has been fully reinforced with fiberglass and resin, then yes. When most people are sculpting a mask, prosthetic, or helmet with Monster clay they always start with some sort of armature as the base, so that the entire sculpt is not Monster Clay. This saves on Clay and weight. In this case, instead of the armature being something like a face cast or bust, for example I have sculpt a lot of things on an Ultra Cal face cast of myself, the base armature is your reinforced pepakura model.

So, making the pep model, reinforicing, adding the details in Monster Clay, then making your Silicone Mold of it and using that to make a resin cast should work fine and you can then take the clay off your original pepakura helmet and reuse the clay later.

Thank you for your reply, it removes a lot of my doubts

Now I can't help but think could I also apply the same concept to the other armour parts, chestplate, bracers, etc. But might be a struggle to cast much larger pieces.