Blazer R13
New Member
WOW THAT IS AWSOME WORK DUDE!!!
Thorssoli's MkVI Costume Buildup
- Thread starter thorssoli
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Daeouse4361
Jr Member
Amazing Work! I'm going to go burn my pep'ed armor bits. . .
It's been far too long since I've updated this thread. There's been a lot of delays in this project, many of which are hard to detail. Suffice it to say, life has been interfering with the important business of finishing this project. Enough about the delays though. It turns out I can only post four pics per update with the new forum settings, so here comes multiple posts...
When last I updated, I had just finished the jacket molds for the main chest and back pieces. Once the rubber had cured, the next step was to move the clay dam half an inch or so from the edge of the silicone flange and pour some urethane casting resin to form the edge of the mothermold. Then I made cardboard walls to form the mating edges of the separate mothermold sections. At this point, it looked like so:
It's important to remember to brush some sort of release agent onto the cardboard at this stage. I did not remember and ended up spending far too much time scraping cardboard off of the mothermold edges later on. Oops.
The next step was to mix up some mothermold paste and start spreading it on:
These are pics of the chest mold, but I was working on the back mold simultaneously. After the first solid afternoon of work, here's how they looked:
At this point, everything was going swimmingly. Little did I know that it would be five days before I got back to the shop. When I did get back to it, things came along pretty quick. I peeled, cut, and scraped away the cardboard on the edges of the mothermold sections. Then I greased them up with a mold release paste so the middle pieces wouldn't become permanently bonded to the outside pieces. Then it was time to start spreading more paste.
The mothermolds for both the chest and back were made in four sections. Here's the back with three out of the four sections built up (the unfinished part is the section at the back of the neck):
When last I updated, I had just finished the jacket molds for the main chest and back pieces. Once the rubber had cured, the next step was to move the clay dam half an inch or so from the edge of the silicone flange and pour some urethane casting resin to form the edge of the mothermold. Then I made cardboard walls to form the mating edges of the separate mothermold sections. At this point, it looked like so:
It's important to remember to brush some sort of release agent onto the cardboard at this stage. I did not remember and ended up spending far too much time scraping cardboard off of the mothermold edges later on. Oops.
The next step was to mix up some mothermold paste and start spreading it on:
These are pics of the chest mold, but I was working on the back mold simultaneously. After the first solid afternoon of work, here's how they looked:
At this point, everything was going swimmingly. Little did I know that it would be five days before I got back to the shop. When I did get back to it, things came along pretty quick. I peeled, cut, and scraped away the cardboard on the edges of the mothermold sections. Then I greased them up with a mold release paste so the middle pieces wouldn't become permanently bonded to the outside pieces. Then it was time to start spreading more paste.
The mothermolds for both the chest and back were made in four sections. Here's the back with three out of the four sections built up (the unfinished part is the section at the back of the neck):
Once I'd built all four sections, it was time for a break while the plastic cured. The next day, all there was to do was pry them apart and pull the mothermolds off of the jacket mold. Here I am holding up three of the four sections of the mothermold for the back:
Then it was time to CAREFULLY peel the jacket mold off of the master:
Here's another action shot of me coaxing the master out of the jacket mold:
Despite all of my care and gentle handling, some tiny bits of the prototype remained in the mold. I picked these out as delicately as I could using a tongue depressor:
Then it was time to CAREFULLY peel the jacket mold off of the master:
Here's another action shot of me coaxing the master out of the jacket mold:
Despite all of my care and gentle handling, some tiny bits of the prototype remained in the mold. I picked these out as delicately as I could using a tongue depressor:
If you're doing this at home, be sure to follow all of the tongue depressor manufacturer's safety guidelines:
With the jacket mold rid of debris, it was time to reassemble the mother mold, then fit the jacket mold back into it, then get ready to rotocast a copy of the armor. Here's the mold all together again:
My plan is to make and inside to this mold as well, but since I had it this far along I figured I should see how hard it is to rotocast a copy of each of the pieces. The answer is: damn hard. Each of the large molds weighs in at around 35 pounds, so they're a bit much to handle. Still, I managed to pour a cast. Here's the chest and back molds while I was working on them:
And here's the first copy of the chest (black) next to the prototype (light red):
The first pull wasn't terrible. Still, there are some thin spots I'm not happy with and a lot of thick spots where I wish there weren't. I'm thinking I still need to go ahead and build the inside portions of the molds so I can just pour the resin and walk away. That'll have to be part of a future update though.
With the jacket mold rid of debris, it was time to reassemble the mother mold, then fit the jacket mold back into it, then get ready to rotocast a copy of the armor. Here's the mold all together again:
My plan is to make and inside to this mold as well, but since I had it this far along I figured I should see how hard it is to rotocast a copy of each of the pieces. The answer is: damn hard. Each of the large molds weighs in at around 35 pounds, so they're a bit much to handle. Still, I managed to pour a cast. Here's the chest and back molds while I was working on them:
And here's the first copy of the chest (black) next to the prototype (light red):
The first pull wasn't terrible. Still, there are some thin spots I'm not happy with and a lot of thick spots where I wish there weren't. I'm thinking I still need to go ahead and build the inside portions of the molds so I can just pour the resin and walk away. That'll have to be part of a future update though.
In other news, I made molds for the shoulder boxes. In this case, I decided to make the mothermolds first, then the rubber jacket molds second. The first step was to build a clay bed for the masters to sit in, then cover over them with clay of a uniform thickness:
With the clay built up, the last touch is to add what will become pour spouts in the tops of the mothermold:
Then I layer over the whole thing with a thickened-up batch of casting resin to make sure I'll have a nice, smooth surface underneath:
Once the resin has cured, it's time to start spreading on the mothermold paste:
With the clay built up, the last touch is to add what will become pour spouts in the tops of the mothermold:
Then I layer over the whole thing with a thickened-up batch of casting resin to make sure I'll have a nice, smooth surface underneath:
Once the resin has cured, it's time to start spreading on the mothermold paste:
After building up adequate thickness, the mothermold is left to cure. Once it hardens, the next step is to pry it off of the prototype and remove the clay. Then re-check that the master is still in the same place with a strong bed of clay under it:
Once the prototype is cleaned up and ready to mold again, clamp the mothermold in place over it (be sure to use oodles and gobs of clamps):
Then mix and pour the silicone into the void where the clay used to be:
Make sure you don't mix too much silicone. Either that or have a small part waiting for a mold all ready to go so you don't have to get creative in using up the leftovers:
NOTE: Although the uncured silicone may look and smell delicious, DO NOT EAT IT. 'Nuff said.
Once the prototype is cleaned up and ready to mold again, clamp the mothermold in place over it (be sure to use oodles and gobs of clamps):
Then mix and pour the silicone into the void where the clay used to be:
Make sure you don't mix too much silicone. Either that or have a small part waiting for a mold all ready to go so you don't have to get creative in using up the leftovers:
NOTE: Although the uncured silicone may look and smell delicious, DO NOT EAT IT. 'Nuff said.
Once you've filled the void with rubber, shake the mold vigorously for ten or twenty minutes to help any bubbles rise to the top:
After that, realize that you've stopped making sense and call it a day. The rubber needs a few hours to cure anyway.
When the rubber has cured, it's time to pull the jacket mold out of the mother mold:
With the jacket and mothermold complete, all that's left is to pop out the prototype, reassemble the mold, and slush cast some copies. Here's a shot of the first pull from the mold next to the prototypes (which didn't survive the de-molding process):
After that, realize that you've stopped making sense and call it a day. The rubber needs a few hours to cure anyway.
When the rubber has cured, it's time to pull the jacket mold out of the mother mold:
With the jacket and mothermold complete, all that's left is to pop out the prototype, reassemble the mold, and slush cast some copies. Here's a shot of the first pull from the mold next to the prototypes (which didn't survive the de-molding process):
In other news, I've started finishing up a resin Assault Rifle that I picked up from Adam:
I'm trying to decide if I can move the flashlight switch to somewhere more convenient and still stop myself before I start trying to add a working ammo counter and removable clip and movable trigger and blank-firing receiver and...
ahem.
I also need to clean up my workshop again:
I'd be done making larger torso pulls and finishing the rifle, but the naval reserve sent me for two weeks in Pearl Harbor on short notice. Work will continue next Monday, so stay tuned...
I'm trying to decide if I can move the flashlight switch to somewhere more convenient and still stop myself before I start trying to add a working ammo counter and removable clip and movable trigger and blank-firing receiver and...
ahem.
I also need to clean up my workshop again:
I'd be done making larger torso pulls and finishing the rifle, but the naval reserve sent me for two weeks in Pearl Harbor on short notice. Work will continue next Monday, so stay tuned...
MxRacer476
Jr Member
Lookin forward to it!
Bloodl3tt3r
Well-Known Member
That's some vigorous shaking you were doing there.
This thread is still epic... I haven't been keeping up
This thread is still epic... I haven't been keeping up
X21 Ice Wolf
New Member
Managed to read all of the thread before the forums went down, and now caught up again.
All I can say is; holy HELLS, man. I seriously envy the skills you have with this stuff (And the workshop space, dangit! =P )
As a rank rookie, I can only hope to be as good as this someday in the distand future.
Keep the pics comin'! Please? Heh
All I can say is; holy HELLS, man. I seriously envy the skills you have with this stuff (And the workshop space, dangit! =P )
As a rank rookie, I can only hope to be as good as this someday in the distand future.
Keep the pics comin'! Please? Heh
Daeouse4361
Jr Member
Amazing Work! Your technique is stellar!!!
With the first pull out of the chest mold, I decided I built the prototype too thick for casting in solid resin (unless I want to make the wearers carry 50lbs worth of plastic around their chests) so I decided to make a thinner version before making the inside of the mold.
To achieve this, I started by taking the first pull, grinding out the thick spots, and beefing up the paper thin parts with some clay:
Then I wedged it back into the jacket mold and rebuilt the mother mold around the whole thing:
That done, it was time to apply some mold release and build the rubber jacket for the inside of the pieces:
The next step will be building the mothermold plug that will hold the inside rubber jacket in place when the mold is reassembled and ready for pouring.
Stay tuned for more on that.
To achieve this, I started by taking the first pull, grinding out the thick spots, and beefing up the paper thin parts with some clay:
Then I wedged it back into the jacket mold and rebuilt the mother mold around the whole thing:
That done, it was time to apply some mold release and build the rubber jacket for the inside of the pieces:
The next step will be building the mothermold plug that will hold the inside rubber jacket in place when the mold is reassembled and ready for pouring.
Stay tuned for more on that.
The new forum only lets me post four pics per post, so here's the other half of what I've been up to lately...
In other news, I had a few friends over to cast all of their armor parts. Here's a shot of a couple of them rotocasting:
Here's our Simmons holding his helmet (one of the four we made that day):
Here's the stack of small parts we made as well:
Not bad for a long afternoon worth of work.
In other news, I've almost finished my fourth attempt at this paintjob for my sister:
It still needs one more shade of tan and then weathering, lights, and a proper faceshield.
Stay tuned for more updates...
In other news, I had a few friends over to cast all of their armor parts. Here's a shot of a couple of them rotocasting:
Here's our Simmons holding his helmet (one of the four we made that day):
Here's the stack of small parts we made as well:
Not bad for a long afternoon worth of work.
In other news, I've almost finished my fourth attempt at this paintjob for my sister:
It still needs one more shade of tan and then weathering, lights, and a proper faceshield.
Stay tuned for more updates...
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