simple molding question

[damasterchief]

anyways i was at fredmyers the other day and i was looking for stuff to help me costume like resin (but they dont have resin or fiber glass!!!)

anyways i saw the caulking stuff and i found the silicone stuff and it said all the thigs it is mainly used for and it said molding...

so i was wondering has anyone tryed this like a a hand plate put it in there and put some caulkign silicone im just really wondering...

 

[Walter Spase]

anyways i was at fredmyers the other day and i was looking for stuff to help me costume like resin (but they dont have resin or fiber glass!!!)

anyways i saw the caulking stuff and i found the silicone stuff and it said all the thigs it is mainly used for and it said molding...

so i was wondering has anyone tryed this like a a hand plate put it in there and put some caulkign silicone im just really wondering...

You could try it... you would most likely want some sort of a mold release, as the caulking you typically find even in silicone is designed to adhere to surfaces, where as molding silicon is designed to take the shape of the surface without actually adhering to it. Also, caulk silicone is usually a bit thicker than mold silicone without some sort of thickening agent mixed in, they do that so the caulk wont run much when applied to a vertical surface.

Technically though, caulk silicone and the silicone we use to mold are both polymers based on the same basic material properties. Caulk is pre-mixed, mold silicone typically isn't.

P.S. you wont want any caulking that is paintable...

P.S.S. its not cost effective to try this for a whole suit, but as an experiment... why not.

 

[damasterchief]

kk

 

[Reclaimer]

It'll work fine if you sculpt your handplates from clay. Make sure to use unsulpherated clay or else the silicone won't cure properly.

 

[NZTK]

Bathroom caulk is moisture cured, some people use a little bit of acrylic paint to help it kick. Personally I wouldn't use it. Why risk ruining your work with a product designed for sealing shower doors, for the sake of a few dollars? Do you value your work that poorly?

 

[LastSpartan]

He could test it on a handplate. Or even Halo 2 models (Easy and fast to assemble)

 

[NZTK]

Im not saying it wont work, I know it works. I've seen it done on quite large pieces. My point is I wouldn't do it. For the all the hassle, you're just going to end up with a very temporary mould with a super low tear strength. Just think, if it worked well and was worth the hassle, sculptors would do it all the time and nobody would buy RTV rubbers, yet they don't, and the RTV companies are still around making better and better products.

 

[rvb18]

im thinking of using it like a bondo that wont chip off as much.

 

[NZTK]

Its glue. Its not really going to work like bondo. It will probably look like the master chief fell into a tar pit. Good luck though.

 

[Reclaimer]

He's only doing handplates. The tear strength is low but the shape isn't too complicated and I doubt he'll be casting more than a few pulls. Maybe damasterchief can try the chaulk it on a simple clay shape a see if he's satisfied with the results. It's cheap enough to try as an experiment and if you don't like it then use the pricier stuff.

 

[damasterchief]

yea id probaly only do it on the handplates and some other not so important peices i might even try vac forming

 

[SGT V]

Back in my college theatre days we would use it to cast small props and it worked fine as a temporary mold. The thickness allowed us to use it without a mother mold, it was fast and cheap. Done correctly it could work for handplates but I would not so anything much larger.

 

[death]

Ok, if its caulking stuff, when it said molding it probably didn't mean molding like you are thinking. You know how in some houses, part way up the wall, against the cieling, or on the baseboards there is that strip of detail? When it is installed, they use caulking to seal the gap between it and the wall.