makin a master

[thoren]

can a completed pep piece be cut in half and filled with clay to make a sort of master for like vac forming?
i mean with a full Saturday i could assemble a complete helmet and sitll have some time left over, so if i were to cut it in half and squish clay on the inside then pull it out and smooth it down add little pieces where need and maybe some details would it work? cuz it sounds like itd be easier then trying to sculpt it right from a block of clay. and unfortunately my sculpting skills are a lil sub par eh heh ^^;



btw woot 50 posts

 

[23Magnum]

You know I was think about posting about this exactly thing today, but I was still pondering over how it might be done without having to reinforce the pep with resin or whatever. I think that with a soft enough clay this would be possible, then like you said smooth out the part by hand. I was going to actually try this out before I posted anything, but I'm going to try if first on something simpler and smaller scale than something like the helmet. Perhaps one of Robo's Weapons like the AR to start or something. I still have to get all my supplies first, but I think this is a very possible idea, especially for those of us that want to stay away from resin and fiberglass.

If either one of us succeeds, we should post a tutorial on how this might be done.

-Magnum

 

[23Magnum]

What about the details then? That's the reason I wanted to use clay, so details would be easier to add/fix into the sculpt. With plaster, won't you have use a dremel or some other detailing tools to do that then? I should also say I'm not planning to vac form this. I'm going to mold the sculpt that comes out of this.

 

[thoren]

to tell the truth i tried plaster. i didnt like the results very much it deformed to much and the details are hard to carve into it. and i probably could have used soemting better to strengthen the sides than imersing the helmet in a bucket of sand lol but still plaster contains even more water then clay prolly and does the clay ppl use for molding dry out? because u could always w8 for that then sharpen the edges with some clay tools when its " leather hard" and you could do the lil details and stuff about then also.

as for reinforcing the outside fiberglass and resin sounds like it would work but i think the molding ppl have the right idea with that plastipaste from smooth on. u paint it on and it becomes pretty hard making a rigid shell that would work if ur gonna try plaster but make sure u have alot of the stuff i tested the plaster in the one i put in the sand and it took like 2 1/2 buckets of plaster and the helmet was to small to fit anyone except my baby second cousin =/

i plan to try the clay method but it might be a good idea for me to make like a plaster core (so i can save cash on clay lol) and it may help absorb water and dry it faster.

do either of you have a vacuum table already made? im still working on mine and we arent gonna be home tommorow so i cant finish it till like some time next week. if one of you tests it plz let me know how it turns out maybe post some pics if u want

 

[AoBfrost]

Hot plastic will soften the card stock, and then melt the clay under neath.

 

[thoren]

you dont leave the paper on. and the clay melts? i didnt know that. maybe i will have to use plaster =/ or maybe some other form of clay that wont melt? i dont know if it would work either but what about ceramic clay? like the kind that they use to make pottery and whatnot. that shouldnt melt it normaly gets put in a kiln at 600-100 degrees Fahrenheit right? and if it would be to fragile still after the clay has simply dried out i could try taking it to my school and seeing if the ceramics teacher would let me fire it lol.

i basicaly want to use a pep model as a base so i dont have to do as much shaping, as for the details i realize im gonna have to smooth some out and put some back in and add on etc. etc. just need to know if anyones tried it and what are the quality results because im pretty sure itll work if done properly.

and thanks for the tip frost otherwise i woulda went right ahead and done it if u hadnt told me and then id have to make another helmet!

If any one know s what a good material to use would be besides the clay used for molding, because it melts =o (that would be interesting to see tho lol) just as an experiment :mrgreen: