how im making my armor, Will this work?

[rowan]

hey again everyone, I'm back at school which means i can get to work on my armor asap. (once I've started my portfolio and finished my design brief)
i was going to mold the armor with silicon rubber, but to get it from my school it would cost $100 per 1/2 a litre.
so my D&T teacher suggested using brush on latex, i remember reading about it somewhere on the forums but i couldn't find it again, would this work?
heres the process that ill be making my armor:
create a full body mold so i can mold the clay onto it and get my size right.
mold the armor onto it using clay
cut around the armor and into the body mold, thus i can get the armor off without damaging the clay.
then ill start layering the latex onto the clay.
(i think my teacher said something about putting it in plaster before i make the resin mold?)
then i can pour the mold with resin.

any suggestion would be much appreciated.

 

[Zaso117]

I'm not the best with molding, but I had to post anyhow to credit you with the coolest haircut i've seen

 

[FinnishSpartan]

I'm not the best with molding, but I had to post anyhow to credit you with the coolest haircut i've seen

Im completely thrown off track but if you ae going to put a plaster layer before actually making the mold... it would lose all the detail if you would mold the plaster...


If i got this correct i just wanted to let you know....



-Finish

 

[rowan]

nope, the latex goes on the clay, then i put plaster over the latex.
i think its to hold the shape of the mold so it wont warp while its drying.

 

[rvb18]

thats called a jacket bud

 

[AoBfrost]

4 liters per gallon, 100 dollars for 1/2 a liter, 800 dollars per gallon?

Your better off buying from the direct company, you can get a gallon for 250-400 dollars.

 

[Skidmorpheus]

Sounds like it is similar to the method Adam used from smooth-on.
Check the vids!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCIO_2J1gF0...feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysJQmS7UHXk

 

[FinnishSpartan]

Sounds like it is similar to the method Adam used from smooth-on.
Check the vids!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCIO_2J1gF0...feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysJQmS7UHXk

The difference is... What he is asking about is latex... and the one on the video is silicone rubber (Btw... i posted these videos ... I dont know if someone did it before me.)
It could make a huge difference.. but i dont know...

-Finish

 

[Skidmorpheus]

The difference is... What he is asking about is latex... and the one on the video is silicone rubber (Btw... i posted these videos ... I dont know if someone did it before me.)
It could make a huge difference.. but i dont know...

-Finish

Maybe he was confused when he said latex and meant silicone. I also thought the price is similar so he might like to go with this method instead.

 

[thorssoli]

I agree with Frost. You're probably talking in Australian dollars, but your price for silicone is still a few notches above insane. Check out www.smoothon.com for an idea of how this stuff should be priced and then go shopping from there. I get all of my moldmaking materials from a local supplier. I haven't compared their prices to others yet, but the fact that they have knowledgeable people on staff who can answer my questions and prevent me from waiting for shipping makes them very worthwile.

Brush-on latex is significantly cheaper, but you'll need to use a mold release on the part before you build the mold and then use a release each time you use the mold after that. The latex will deteriorate faster than silicone and does not have the archival properties of silicone (latex rots and gains distortion with age, silicone does not). Building the mold will also take longer since you have to paint on several layers of latex and wait for it to dry between each layer. A silicone mold can be built in a day or two without much strain. The same mold in latex will take a week or two.

You're right about the plaster though. You're going to need a jacket or "mother mold" made of some rigid material in order to keep the final part from being warped if it cures while the latex mold is deformed at all. This goes for silicone as well. I use fiberglass for my mother molds, but if you do decide to use plaster make sure you reinforce it with burlap (or just make the entire mother mold out of plaster infused bandages used for old-school casts of broken limbs) or it will be brittle and easily broken. This is especially true of large parts like the chest armor that will have very long spans that it will have to stretch across.

If you have the time to do some reading (and you really ought to start with reading rather a very expensive bit of trial and error) you need a copy of the Prop Maker's Molding and Casting Handbook by Thurston James. I bought it a few years ago and still refer to it regularly. There is no better reference for a starting point in this hobby.

 

[AoBfrost]

Why go through all the trouble of making pepakura armor, then layering clay over it? Why not just use the clay and sculpt off of that? It's much faster and easier than folding tons of tabs and then having to sculpt ontop of it, just go straight to sculpting with a hunk of clay.

 

[rowan]

Maybe he was confused when he said latex and meant silicone. I also thought the price is similar so he might like to go with this method instead.

Nope, my teacher suggested latex. I wanted to use silicon, but unless i can find it cheeper thats probally not going to happen.

Why go through all the trouble of making pepakura armor, then layering clay over it? Why not just use the clay and sculpt off of that? It's much faster and easier than folding tons of tabs and then having to sculpt ontop of it, just go straight to sculpting with a hunk of clay.

Im making clay armor, not pep.


Does anyone have a link to a site that sells silicon in aus? I have looked at the local hardware and model store but no luck.
Are there any videos of people using a latex mold, it would be a great help.

 

[flying squirl]

i don't know of any vids but its pretty much the same deal but thinner. in my experience you get good results by lashing on about 1-2 layers of weak latex to pick up details, then lash on about 3-6 layers of good thick stuff. then there's this filler stuff which i can remember for the life of me. it looks a little like small stones but its very light and you can squash it flat with your fingers. anyhu, add a bita this to the last 2-3 layers and then make up your jacket. I'm pretty sure you can add other stuffs to thicken it up like sand and such but if anyone knows the name of the other stuff it'd be better cuz its much lighter and helps it to get thicker faster. hope that helps

oh and latex stinks something fierce of ammonia so you will definitely need to do this in a garage or shed.

 

[rowan]

someone said the latex would take longer to apply (because of the drying time and extra layers) is this correct?
and if so, how much longer? i have untill november to make the entire suit. with about 10 hours per week working on the armor.

 

[flying squirl]

yea, it does. kinda like poster paint thickness compaired to trying time wise. but a good draught and a lil heater will have it dry prity quick. it will take a good bit longer but ide say youd be grand if you need it for november (ide go for october myself cuza haloween but thats just me).

 

[AoBfrost]

Oh I'm sorry, I responded to the wrong thread earlier, someone else was trying pep to molded, sorry!

 

[rowan]

yea, it does. kinda like poster paint thickness compaired to trying time wise. but a good draught and a lil heater will have it dry prity quick. it will take a good bit longer but ide say youd be grand if you need it for november (ide go for october myself cuza haloween but thats just me).

by "grand" i presume you ment think ill be finished?
in an aussie, so not much 'haloween' stuff over here, ill probally just have a 360 lan or something.
flying_squirl, it sounds like you used latex before? if so, how did it turn out? any pics?

 

[flying squirl]

haha, yea sorry, forgot that isnt a common saying else where, yea, ide say youd have it done. theres not much halloween stuff here ether, just the odd party in a club ot two but thats never stopped me. yup, used it a few times, mainly when i was makin something i didnt want to waist silicone on but i did a few interesting things like masks n chess sets. ill have a look for a pic or two when i get home.