Thin Mask Mold

[skullcandy365]

Im in need of a little bit of help. Ive searched around and couldnt find an answer anywhere. I have a mask thats pretty thin and I want to make it into a mold so I can make a few copies of it and I cant figure out the best way to make the mold/cast. Usually it wouldbe easy but its very thin and Im not completely sure of how that'd work with the mold making process. Any help and or tips would be great. I'll get some pics of the mask up later if that'd help any. Thanks alot.

 

[Nintendude]

Depending on the thickness of the mask you can add clay to the back of it and make a two parts mold by brushing on a few layers of rebound 25 on the front and back and then sepetare the front and back of the mold to make a two pice not entirely sure how to go about it if you only want to make a mold of the front only though. Hopefully someone with a little more experience will know what to do I am still in the learning process but I do know a little about molding.

 

[AceHigh]

If you want to make front only, build up clay behind the model. Then make a mold of the front using silicone. When the mold is cured, you cast pieces by slushcasting or by using a gel coat of resin and reinforce with fibreglass.



This thread is sort of the method I describe, except he doesn't slushcast the pieces as his back side isn't curved.

 

[Jay123way]

If you want to make front only, build up clay behind the model. Then make a mold of the front using silicone. When the mold is cured, you cast pieces by slushcasting or by using a gel coat of resin and reinforce with fibreglass.



This thread is sort of the method I describe, except he doesn't slushcast the pieces as his back side isn't curved.

sounds like this way would be the easiest for you, but it depends on the detail of the mask.

 

[skullcandy365]

Its not too detailed. Its just the front half of an iron man build. Its very thin as you can probably see in the pics Im adding. It doesnt really matter what the back looks like as Im making the mold so I can make a few masks for display stands. I just dont want to make it too thick, I want it to still look more like a mask then a whole helmet. Eventually Im going to be making an entire helmet but for now just working on a smaller project.



Anyone else have more suggestions now that the detail and all can be seen?

 

[skullcandy365]

Depending on the thickness of the mask you can add clay to the back of it and make a two parts mold by brushing on a few layers of rebound 25 on the front and back and then sepetare the front and back of the mold to make a two pice not entirely sure how to go about it if you only want to make a mold of the front only though. Hopefully someone with a little more experience will know what to do I am still in the learning process but I do know a little about molding.

I dont want to ruin the original mask so with adding the clay to the back would I put the rebound 25 on before the clay or after? Also once I've made a 2-piece mold would I need to leave a hole so I'd be able to pour in my materials?

If you want to make front only, build up clay behind the model. Then make a mold of the front using silicone. When the mold is cured, you cast pieces by slushcasting or by using a gel coat of resin and reinforce with fibreglass.



This thread is sort of the method I describe, except he doesn't slushcast the pieces as his back side isn't curved.

By building up the clay would it damage the orignal mask Im using to create the mold/cast? Im newer at actually creating the mold and casting as well if you couldnt guess lol. Im going to look up slushcasting as if its what Im thinking it is that might be exactly what I need.



That link is very useful but the casting he made was of a piece without a large curve like in the mask pictured (the one im using). I dont want to make it too thick and doing it that way would make the casting about half as thick as a human head. I guess I could cut/trim into the casting to make it not so thick.

 

[Maverick 17]

I've never made a cast before either, but I'm thinking the clay was for support of the mask, like if you were using a flimsy mask or a flexible one. I'm thinking with something like that mask you could just make a mold of the front and not even bother closing it, and brush in your material in layers if possible, and make your copies that way. I don't know if thats an acceptable way, but I'm pretty sure I've seen it done somewhere. But with that mask, it looks to be made of plastic. I would guess that it would be sturdy enough on its own to make a mold, but if you want to be safe, putting clay behind it for support shouldn't hurt it. Worst I can see it doing is you may get clay in some hard-to-reach places and have to either leave it there or clean it out with considerable effort. If you use the kind that dries out, that may cause problems, but just regular clay that won't dry out till its baked or whatever should give it the support and still be pliable and therefore removable when done. Hope this was at least of some help. I'm sure a more expert person will be along shortly to correct me.