Hi, after finishing my Reach Scout Helmet, I decided to do a Predator Mask.
Why? Well because...
1) My friend wanted me to do one for him
2) I wanted something outside the Halo Universe, and the Pred looked like a Bionicle Mask (I'm crazy about Bionicle
)
3) Since I'm doing something new, I might as well try another method. I really don't like dealing with the respirator stuff, so I try to find alternatives to the resin and fiberglass.
When I started this I was originally just gonna paper mache, but I remembered people talking about Great Stuff expanding foam. I heard good and bad things about it, so I thought to try it out.
The main problem people don't recommend this is because the pep build will collapse in on itself (think curving a sheet of paper with your hands and someone stuck a heavy piece of gum underneath it)so I did the mask in cardboard from soda boxes and hot-glued everything together.
One $3 can of the Great Stuff at Wal-mart and here I go.
(Warning: apparently there's an latex version of Great Stuff and from what I heard, it won't make your build sturdy but give it "the consistency of a Hostess Twinkie.")
This stuff WILL be sticky so wear gloves and all the safety need-haves. Not sure if it was the laminated sides of the cardboard, but it'd rather stick to me than the mask. Oh and I really underestimated how much the foam will expand lol. I put more than enough to cover the mask, darn my OCD I waited a day for it to cure and this is what I get, WOW
Everything looks fine, except the bottom part curved in more
This leaves me a lot of work to carve out. Some carving the eyes and the rest and I find 2 big air bubbles that the foam did not cover.
My thoughts:
Great Stuff expanding foam is rigid but it is hard to control and fix. I would probably only recommend this for weapons and such. I still got a lot to carve out and stuff. So that's my thoughts.
Why? Well because...
1) My friend wanted me to do one for him
2) I wanted something outside the Halo Universe, and the Pred looked like a Bionicle Mask (I'm crazy about Bionicle
)3) Since I'm doing something new, I might as well try another method. I really don't like dealing with the respirator stuff, so I try to find alternatives to the resin and fiberglass.
When I started this I was originally just gonna paper mache, but I remembered people talking about Great Stuff expanding foam. I heard good and bad things about it, so I thought to try it out.
The main problem people don't recommend this is because the pep build will collapse in on itself (think curving a sheet of paper with your hands and someone stuck a heavy piece of gum underneath it)so I did the mask in cardboard from soda boxes and hot-glued everything together.
One $3 can of the Great Stuff at Wal-mart and here I go.
(Warning: apparently there's an latex version of Great Stuff and from what I heard, it won't make your build sturdy but give it "the consistency of a Hostess Twinkie.")
This stuff WILL be sticky so wear gloves and all the safety need-haves. Not sure if it was the laminated sides of the cardboard, but it'd rather stick to me than the mask. Oh and I really underestimated how much the foam will expand lol. I put more than enough to cover the mask, darn my OCD
I waited a day for it to cure and this is what I get, WOW
Everything looks fine, except the bottom part curved in more
This leaves me a lot of work to carve out. Some carving the eyes and the rest and I find 2 big air bubbles that the foam did not cover.
My thoughts:
Great Stuff expanding foam is rigid but it is hard to control and fix. I would probably only recommend this for weapons and such. I still got a lot to carve out and stuff. So that's my thoughts.
