Help Cutting Piece Out or Apart

[jbfatcats]

Hey guys.

First I do want to say I have looked through the forums. I have found many answers to my questions. However I still have one I need help on.

I need to cut a bigger opening in my Buzz Lightyear helmet/mask. I didn't cut it before I resin and fiberglassed because i needed the support in that area. I'm having trouble cutting through all the layers.

Can someone suggest OR point me to a tutorial on the best tools.

I really appreciate it guys!

Jenny

 

[StevePerv]

A dremel is the best option I have for you there.

 

[jbfatcats]

Oh ok! I didn't even think of using that! I'll give that a try!

Thanks

 

[ventrue]

Try a cutting bit for your Dremel, #561 should do the trick.

 

[Reign]

They're right; that's generally what you want to use for that kind of thing.
The real reason I'm commenting is that I think it's incredible that you are making a Buzz Lightyear costume and I want to see it!

 

[tazzy]

oh yea buzz lightyear !? is there an pepakura for it!? man I would love to get my hand on those!! Its awesome

 

[jbfatcats]

Thanks Ventrue,

I'll pick up one of those bits this weekend. I'm not sure my set came with one. I did use the round grinder bit and it worked so, so well on taking off some of the little fibers around the edge. I'm really looking forward to getting the mouth and outer edge shaped down.

Thanks again!
Jenny

 

[matth101]

Did you use pep files?? Care to share the wealth?

 

[jbfatcats]

Reign and Tazzy,

I've actually made 2 more Buzz Lightyear's BEFORE I realize there was such a thing as Pepakura.

Buzz 1.0 was a total failure! I really didn't know what I was doing. I tried cardboard. It was so horrible I threw it out!

Buzz 2.0 I actually finished. I'll post a link below to a quick pic. It was OKAY. But I wasn't really happy. I just had to finish it because the Noah's birthday party was quickly coming up. (He turned 2 and we had a "2 Infinity and Beyond" party. Buzz brought his gifts. It was fun). I even took out a voice box from a Buzz and made one of the buttons work on the suit.

NOW I want to make an even better Buzz. When I found this site and Pepakura I knew I could do it. SO......that brings me to today.

I researched the real Disney Buzz suit and discovered that the leg and arm pieces and the cod piece is all made from a foam material covered in a plastic like coating. This is good so that Buzz can bend over more easily. I found that when dealing with little kids its good to be able to bend down low.

Like my Buzz 2.0 I'm using floor mats and heating those into shape. BUT for Buzz 3.0 I'm using a Plastic Dip material to coat the outside vs covering it with vinyl. Then I'm able to paint with a quality house paint and coat that with a craft sealer. I've tested it and it works really well.

For the chest piece I will be making it from cardstock. I DO however think I will be using a Smooth-On coating on the inside vs fiberglassing. I just don't really like fiberglass! From what I can tell the 320 plastic is just about as good and serves the same purpose as fiberglassing.

As far as a Pepakura file. I will post a link and explain what I've been doing in another post on this thread.

Here's the link to my Flickr Page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jbfatcat/5138101230/in/set-72157625409301512/

Scratch Built Buzz 2.0 (PRE Discovering Pepping)


Head in the works from a PEP file (see posts for info and links)

 

[jbfatcats]

Ok guys the Paper model I found is not really a true file designed for a human body. But I'm making it work. So far I've been able to create the arm and leg parts from scratch looking a Buzz toy. The mask/helmet is straight from the file. I'll explain below.

What I've done is cut my floor foam sheets from a cardboard pattern I made.

I'm using a heat gun to form and shape. Then use a glue gun to hold the parts together. Before I coat the pieces I've use a drimmel tool to round down the edges because it looks really nice.

THEN I am using Painters Caulking and Plastic Dip to finish and seal the foam. I had been do this before I found this site BUT it seems to be the way it's done for nice looking finished pieces.

Here's a few pics of some of the pieces in the works. Next is a little clean up and then I'll start on the finish paint and final clear coat.





Here's the Buzz 3.0 in the works. This came straight from the Pepakura file (link below). It took me 3 tries to get it the right size for my head. Just like the real Disney Buzz at the park I will be looking out of the mouth vs the eyes (which was the mistake of my scratch built Buzz 2.0).

I have a little more work to do with Body Filler to round off the head and chin. Then I need to find some sort of material to sculpt the nose, lips and eye lids from. I have some perfectly sized half round plastic domes to use for eyes and ear pieces. I just have to cut them down and glue on. Then it will be ready for padding, paint and a little piece of screen over the mouth area.



HERE IS THE SITE TO GET A PDO OR PDF file: http://elsocraft.blogspot.com/

A NOTE ON THE FILE: It is locked so you can't scale it. But I was able to use an over head projector to shine the pages onto cardboard sheets. It really is a guessing game! But you can make it work!

Thanks
Jenny

 

[jbfatcats]

Yes and No on the pep files. I used one NOT designed for a human and I had to scratch build some. I just posted a little information about where you can find the file.

Here's the link to the file: http://elsocraft.blogspot.com/

You have to be VERY creative to make it work. VERY! It's locked so you can't scale it. I figured out a way to make it work for me though by using an overhead projector to scale the pages to a sheet of cardboard. I will get images of that next week. It's trial and error! We do what we have to do though right.

Sounds like I should write up some detail instructions for everyone. I have plenty more to do on Buzz 3.0. I will TRY to video as much of it as I can to help everyone out.