Thorssoli's MkVI Costume Buildup

[thorssoli]

Awsome.

Way off topic, what is the patch on your jump suit?

Those were my old coveralls from school. The patch on the left breast is the seal from the Maritime College. The right breast is the name Juan which I peeled off of an old work shirt in my rag bag. The shoulder has a "whatever" smiley face and a Naval Academy Prep School rocker. During my last summer sea term I added all sorts of patches to all of my coveralls. I spent a lot of time bored and sewing during my senior training cruise.

 

[NZTK]

Hey Thorssoli, awesome project so far, can't wait to see it all done,
I have a question for you about your moulding method though, I understand how you've gone about it, but Im not sure I understand the purpose of adding the cavities between the skin and the jacket? I know you're going to fill them with silicone but, is it just to ensure a better fit between the jacket and the rtv, do the filled cavities behave as keys? Or is it something else? I've never seen a mould made like that before.

 

[thorssoli]

Hey Thorssoli, awesome project so far, can't wait to see it all done,
I have a question for you about your moulding method though, I understand how you've gone about it, but Im not sure I understand the purpose of adding the cavities between the skin and the jacket? I know you're going to fill them with silicone but, is it just to ensure a better fit between the jacket and the rtv, do the filled cavities behave as keys? Or is it something else? I've never seen a mould made like that before.

Essentially you've guessed at all of the good reasons to do it this way. By shaping the cavity in clay, I can build a mother mold that will be smooth on the inside and set it up with keys that will help to hold the glove mold in place. I didn't really point them out in any of the pictures, but when I shaped the clay I added nubs to the portions near the four corners of the mold that will help hold the silicone in the mother mold while I'm pouring and spreading the resin in for the castings.

The other advantage of building the cavity in clay is that it helps to limit the amount of silicone that I use. If I were to make a normal box mold it would require a tremendous amount of material. Doing it this way I can keep costs down. It's also worth pointing out that I had to brush on a layer of silicone before building the clay cavity to pick up all of the details and fill any voids that would later trap bubbles.

For more information on this sort of technique, I strongly recommend you pick up a copy of The Prop Builder's Molding and Casting Handbook by Thurston James. That book has been infinitely helpful in getting me started in this hobby. The link goes to the Amazon.com listing.

I hope that helps.

 

[izzysenyrc]

Very nice... are you going to keep the child size verzion of that... I might buy it off you.

 

[Reclaimer]

Hey Thorssoli, awesome project so far, can wait to see it all done,
I have a question for you about your moulding method though, I understand how you've gone about it, but Im not sure I understand the purpose of adding the cavities between the skin and the jacket? I know you're going to fill them with silicone but, is it just to ensure a better fit between the jacket and the rtv, do the filled cavities behave as keys? Or is it something else? I've never seen a mould made like that before.

It's for registration to help keep the shape of the mold. He's changed the order of the steps to adapt it to the materials he's using. I've included a little pic. of what the inside of his mold will kinda look like.

 

[flying squirl]

my god they are some nice molds!!! cant wait to see this finished.

 

[NZTK]

Thanks for the reply. I thought it must be for keying, next question...why didnt you just do the whole thing as a poured cavity mould in one step? I feel like Im missing something here.

 

[thorssoli]

Thanks for the reply. I thought it must be for keying, next question...why didnt you just do the whole thing as a poured cavity mould in one step? I feel like Im missing something here.

That would've been a good way to go, but there is no angle that I could pour the back piece from that wouldn't trap bubbles. I could've done it this way with the front piece, but I was already brushing on detail coats, so I just kept going.

The ab plate (which I still keep forgetting to take pics of) was done as a simple one-piece jacket mold with a plain one-piece mother mold. The back and chest are the only ones I've used this technique with so far. If it works out alright though, I may end up using it a lot more. I've already got a whole host of lessons learned to apply to this process for the larger sizes of torso armor I have yet to make.

 

[SNIPER 118]

I like this a lot *gives thumbs-up*

ninja mod says, dont quote an etire post including images just to say
"cool project"

 

[thorssoli]

Very nice... are you going to keep the child size verzion of that... I might buy it off you.

I was planning on finishing it out and giving it to my nephew. That said, if there are enough people interested in a copy, I suppose I could be talked into making a mold and casting copies. I've painted it up, but I haven't installed the visor yet. The next time I'm in the shop I'll snap some pics to post.

 

[slavefive]

...most impressive

 

[Sean Bradley]

Your mold design is epic. I've made blanket molds similar to these, but nowhere near as impressive as this.

A++ Thanks for sharing this with us.

 

[NZTK]

but there is no angle that I could pour the back piece from that wouldn't trap bubbles.

I see, It's a cool technique...I think I'm going to steal it

 

[jimmyfu]

very nice. i'm just curious though as to how you'll exactly mold the torso? you are, after all, trying to make a shell, so would you just be slushing around plastic some more; just not slushing it as much as needed for a helmet?

 

[jdevries]

He'll probably do it like Adam made his one-sided casts of the AR: an 'open' mold, where the front has the rubber/silicone casing and where the back is, well, open.

But then again, he may surprise us and do a full mold and rotocast the whole deal.

 

[Adam]

feelings of inadequacy ensue.

 

[jimmyfu]

He'll probably do it like Adam made his one-sided casts of the AR: an 'open' mold, where the front has the rubber/silicone casing and where the back is, well, open.

But then again, he may surprise us and do a full mold and rotocast the whole deal.

I get the open mold, but did Adam achieve a shell with his torso? Or is it basically a solid block that he wears?

 

[thorssoli]

This isn't much of an update (I haven't been in my shop in over a week) but I figured you guys would like to see it anyway.

On a whim I decided to try cold casting one of my helmets in black-tinted aluminum. Here it is just out of the mold after a few minutes of buffing with a steel wool pad:

Here's a shot of some of the details on the back:

It'll come out a bit shinier once I've finished buffing it. The next one I make will have a bit more aluminum added to give it an even brighter metal finish.

Before anyone starts asking me what "cold casting" is, please take a moment to check out the following links:

http://www.sculpt.com/technotes/COLDCAST.htm

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1163631

 

[Vrogy]

This isn't much of an update (I haven't been in my shop in over a week) but I figured you guys would like to see it anyway.

On a whim I decided to try cold casting one of my helmets in black-tinted aluminum. Here it is just out of the mold after a few minutes of buffing with a steel wool pad:

Awesome-I look forward to videos of you kicking the helmet around like a soccer ball in order to weather it.

 

[flying squirl]

a cold cast mrk vi... someone help me out here i can find any words