Timecon's Armor Progress
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timecon
Well-Known Member
I know its ben awhile but its been cold outside kinda hard to work on my porch. but soon thanks to a member here I wont mention unless he would like, this member donated the funds to start molding my armor and he gets first dibs on the copies. you may reconize a certian method use by thorssoli in these pics so here is the start.
brychang
Jr Member
this is amazing, its made me feel alot more confident about the possibilities of the pep method!
do you mind if i ask how you worked out how to design the under suit? was it just looking at the game stills, or did your freestyle it?
also...my mum helpedme make a TMNT costume when i was a kid too...chicken wire and papier mache...how times have changed eh
maybe we should start a poll regarding this?
do you mind if i ask how you worked out how to design the under suit? was it just looking at the game stills, or did your freestyle it?
also...my mum helpedme make a TMNT costume when i was a kid too...chicken wire and papier mache...how times have changed eh
maybe we should start a poll regarding this?
timecon
Well-Known Member
SpartanG said:this is amazing, its made me feel alot more confident about the possibilities of the pep method!
do you mind if i ask how you worked out how to design the under suit? was it just looking at the game stills, or did your freestyle it?
also...my mum helpedme make a TMNT costume when i was a kid too...chicken wire and papier mache...how times have changed eh
Well the undersuit was completly made by my mom, but she did look at pics to do it we are thinking of using a thinner foam next time and making it into like a shirt, I keep telling her that people would be willing to buy these since a lot of us can't sew and she might do a run but I guess I need to know the interest from others
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Ral Partha
Sr Member
Count me in then.timecon said:
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LastSpartan
Sr Member
Drop me a PM when you got price for your torso casts.
Spartan 051
Well-Known Member
it looks like the person that funded the modeling is getting a really good deal if he getting a couple free torso pulls out of the deal with out the hassle of learning how to mold.
timecon
Well-Known Member
rvb18 said:hey time con , the guy who donated already said who he was a few months back, but hey that not my business
lol, you made me go back through my thread to see but nothing and I'm pretty sure this member has never posted that information since this member told me in an email after seeing your comment on the thread. this memeber thought that was funny your trying to guess
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BloodAngel011
New Member
Timecon, do you think I could buy an undersuit piece like that from you? (Or is it asking too much of your mom? I'm fine either way, but...that undersuit is amazing and I wantz onez!
timecon
Well-Known Member
BloodAngel011 said:Timecon, do you think I could buy an undersuit piece like that from you? (Or is it asking too much of your mom? I'm fine either way, but...that undersuit is amazing and I wantz onez!
yeah I call my mom and see how much she would charge, when I get home from work tonight.
Ill start writing down names so if anyone else has a interest let me know I'll try to get a price later tonight or tomorrow
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LastSpartan
Sr Member
Depending on price, I am interested.
(For both the torso and the undersuit ^.^)
(For both the torso and the undersuit ^.^)
TH3 FETT MAN
Well-Known Member
cant wait to see it done looks good
looks goodHopefully you haven't finished your mothermolds for the torso yet, because I have a few recommendations based on lessons learned from doing the same thing with the same pieces. If you don't mind my suggestions, I've got some ideas that could save you some strain and a bit of money.
First: add a bit of a flange around your prototype parts. Ideally you should cover the holes for the arms and neck and make sure you build your prototype with a few inches of "throw-away" space all the way around. That way you can slosh resin all the way up to the edges so that you can make them thick and strong and then just cut off whatever bits of resin cure beyond the desired edges of the finished piece. With mine it was awfully hard to make sure I got good coverage all the way to the edges unless I cast the parts with lots and lots of small batches of resin to prevent spilling. If you add some extra space all the way around the edges you won't have to worry about coating your floor with resin and you'll be able to crank copies out faster.
Second: Build the frames so that there's a wooden edge all the way around the bottom too. With mine I didn't think of this before hand and the raw fiberglass edges are a continual source of annoyance during casting and a potential point of weakness as the molds get handled.
Third: add bumps or notches in the surface of the silicon so it will be able to fit and hold itself to the mothermold. These should be kept as simple as possible so you don't have to worry about the rubber getting locked into the mother mold when it comes time to pull the whole thing apart and remove the casting. If you keep the silicone parts thin but make it so that there are big ridges lined up under the wooden parts, that should do the trick. Just make sure you coat the wood with vaseline or paste wax so you don't have to spend forever working the mother mold off of the silicon when it tries to lock into the wood grain.
Finally: make sure you don't set yourself up to use more silicon than you absolutely have to. As long as you shape it so that the mothermold will hold it securely in place, you can get away with making the silicone as thin as 1/2" in most places. Making it as thin as possible will save on material costs and weight. I overdid it and the mold for my back plate weighs in at about 25 or 30 lbs. It's no big deal when you're just moving it from one shelf to the next, but when you add in a couple pounds of resin with glassfiber reinforcement and then pick it up and spend the next hour trying to keep the resin sloshing around to evenly coat the mold, that 25lbs gets to be a bit of a workout. For an idea of the best way I've found for how to limit the amount of silicon used, take a look at how I did my boots in the same thread where you saw me make the torso molds. Build the void with clay first. Then the mothermold, then remove the clay and fill the void with silicone. That way it'll be exactly the shape and thickness you need.
When I do my next size of torso, I'll probably be making the back piece in 3 separate pieces (left, right and center) to make the molds easier to handle and make the parts easier to mail (cheaper too). Then the end user can assemble them with a $4 tube of epoxy from their local hardware store and everyone will be happy. You might want to consider this idea.
Now that I've babbled all of that at you, let me know if your mother does decide to do a run for undersuits. Depending on her price, I'll be needing ten in various sizes. Or if you'd prefer, I'd be willing to trade for armor parts or helmets once I get back into the shop.
First: add a bit of a flange around your prototype parts. Ideally you should cover the holes for the arms and neck and make sure you build your prototype with a few inches of "throw-away" space all the way around. That way you can slosh resin all the way up to the edges so that you can make them thick and strong and then just cut off whatever bits of resin cure beyond the desired edges of the finished piece. With mine it was awfully hard to make sure I got good coverage all the way to the edges unless I cast the parts with lots and lots of small batches of resin to prevent spilling. If you add some extra space all the way around the edges you won't have to worry about coating your floor with resin and you'll be able to crank copies out faster.
Second: Build the frames so that there's a wooden edge all the way around the bottom too. With mine I didn't think of this before hand and the raw fiberglass edges are a continual source of annoyance during casting and a potential point of weakness as the molds get handled.
Third: add bumps or notches in the surface of the silicon so it will be able to fit and hold itself to the mothermold. These should be kept as simple as possible so you don't have to worry about the rubber getting locked into the mother mold when it comes time to pull the whole thing apart and remove the casting. If you keep the silicone parts thin but make it so that there are big ridges lined up under the wooden parts, that should do the trick. Just make sure you coat the wood with vaseline or paste wax so you don't have to spend forever working the mother mold off of the silicon when it tries to lock into the wood grain.
Finally: make sure you don't set yourself up to use more silicon than you absolutely have to. As long as you shape it so that the mothermold will hold it securely in place, you can get away with making the silicone as thin as 1/2" in most places. Making it as thin as possible will save on material costs and weight. I overdid it and the mold for my back plate weighs in at about 25 or 30 lbs. It's no big deal when you're just moving it from one shelf to the next, but when you add in a couple pounds of resin with glassfiber reinforcement and then pick it up and spend the next hour trying to keep the resin sloshing around to evenly coat the mold, that 25lbs gets to be a bit of a workout. For an idea of the best way I've found for how to limit the amount of silicon used, take a look at how I did my boots in the same thread where you saw me make the torso molds. Build the void with clay first. Then the mothermold, then remove the clay and fill the void with silicone. That way it'll be exactly the shape and thickness you need.
When I do my next size of torso, I'll probably be making the back piece in 3 separate pieces (left, right and center) to make the molds easier to handle and make the parts easier to mail (cheaper too). Then the end user can assemble them with a $4 tube of epoxy from their local hardware store and everyone will be happy. You might want to consider this idea.
Now that I've babbled all of that at you, let me know if your mother does decide to do a run for undersuits. Depending on her price, I'll be needing ten in various sizes. Or if you'd prefer, I'd be willing to trade for armor parts or helmets once I get back into the shop.
timecon
Well-Known Member
thorssoli said:
Thanks so much with your advice! that and docs advice and I think this will be great! also I talked to my mom she has been busy but she said that she will get the cost for them and let me know, but I may need to buy her a new sowing machine so she can crank them out quicker as it takes a day to make just one on the old machine she has.
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