Smoothing Question, Paper Mache,

[paul gammer]

I have a mask made out of paper mache, can I sand it? I want the wrinkles off, and after sanding I would like to either cast it to make it out of rubber or plastic material, tell me all I need to know, I can't find any tutorials and my computer closes many pages automatically, I don't know why it just does it, it's weird and frustrating at the same time.

 

[Shaymin Sky]

not many people here like to work with paper mache because it is flimsy and easily destroyed in the long haul. so i would not sand it, but use it as a base for a few layers of resin and bondo. it might not work, but thats what i would do.

 

[bobbio555]

no, you can't sand the wrinkles out. what I would do is put some bondo on it, sand that, then mold and cast it.

 

[ACDCrockr209]

no, you can't sand the wrinkles out. what I would do is put some bondo on it, sand that, then mold and cast it.

True.



Paper mache is not a good thing to work with when it comes to making wearable armor. Try resining it or like how the two dudes said, "try using some bondo.". The paper mache peice could wrk as a base, but it might collapse on itself do to the weight of the bondo.



good luck with your piece and try not to use paper mache on your next peice.



-Pony

 

[Gearsofhalo]

yeah i wouldnt go the paper mache route either, its really not conducive to armor making, plus it is weak, and dull looking, but good luck, and i hope you make the best paper mache outfit ever, just to prove me wrong!

 

[pipboy4000]

try and get the paper stuck on smooth

 

[Drgnfyre4]

If you coat the paper mache with several thin coats of fiberglass resin, giving time between coats for the layer of resin to soak into the surface, you can strengthen it. Just remember to do it in several thin coats so each layer will give strength to the mache. Too much will be like wetting it and that will make it soggy and collapse. after you have hardened the outer surface, you can pour some casting resin and slush cast the backside to further harden and reinforce the piece and pretty much impregnate the entire paper mache with resin making a sandable and workable medium. You will still need to use bondo for the surface, but this should give you the results you need.

 

[paul gammer]

Sorry but here's something to prove you wrong, the mask is hard as hell, it is paper mache right, but it is very f***ing strong, to the point that it causes irratation on the skin if you strap it on too tight, I mainly paper mached it for two reasons:

-I f***ed up from the start by using disolvent glue

-To prevent warping

and now it is damn hard, I was thinking about casting it but I don't know how to cast it and what it would be like, I mean, it's a hollow mask, how am I casting that without getting stuff inside thus losing it in a block of silicone? what do I do? I don't want to resin it mainly cause I don't want to waste money on something I can do with paper mache and secondly cause it is dissolvent and I would cry to see my effort fall apart, I was also considering bondo.

 

[Jeff Torres]

Yes I have to agree with you paul, Papermache is very strong when done right (I add glue). My Suit is cardboard and papermache and holds up fine, I won't be rolling around in it but I can run and do all those MC Poses that I love so much

 

[paul gammer]

Yes I have to agree with you paul, Papermache is very strong when done right (I add glue). My Suit is cardboard and papermache and holds up fine, I won't be rolling around in it but I can run and do all those MC Poses that I love so much

Yeah that's right, when i've my mask on I can do whatever I want, I headbanged my through the every song of cockney rejects and also exploited and it deemed itself worthy of my efforts, it didn't even deform because it is very very flexible in the sense that it always goes back to place, the only problem I have is that it looks bad and that's it.

I want it bondoed though to make it really smooth and beatiful

 

[Dragonbone5]

I believe you can sand it, I don't really paper mache but my brother does, and he sands it.

 

[Hamsterstyle]

Paper mache is very very strong when done thick. Try drilling through thick paper mache and you will know what I mean.



I've sanded quite a bit of paper mache and I've done some bondo/resin over paper mache and here has been my experience.



The best mache i've found so far is 1 part glue(white or wood), 1 part corn starch and 2 parts water. I usually just eyeball this and mix it together without measuring and it turns out just fine.



Build up 3-4 layers(or more) of mache and sand it. Now, mache will be very messy when sanded, it wont form nice smooth surfaces, but you can get decent rough shapes. Then lay on a few layers of resin and then sand that, and add bondo where needed. I've had no problems combining resin/bondo and mache and you probably wont either.



You can do alot with paper and cloth mache. I wouldn't ever use it for making Halo armor though.



What kind of mask are you working on?



Edit: Before you throw a bunch of resin over your mask, I would recreate a small piece of it in mache and sand/resin it to get a feel for how it is going to behave, before you potentially ruin a piece you have already made.



I have a piece of mache'd art that I want to do a Smooth-on casting of, but I need to run some quick tests to see how well it will work before I waste time and money doing it wrong.