Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - starting the uniform (Page 6)

Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

Thanks! You've been so supportive from the beginning :D

I was worried about continuing for a long time because I didn't want to "waste" the silicone, but I finally realized that not using the stuff was way more wasteful than screwing up and learning from it.
 
Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

Yea, that stuff has a finite shelf life.
 
Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

I've gotten the mold to a pretty good thickness, I think.
1s395dD.jpg


I have some worries though. The surface is very rough, due to the nature of the silicone. There are a lot of areas that look like they could hook the mother mold, and make it impossible to separate. Stuff like this and this.

I understand some people add on a last layer (without any thickener in it) to smooth stuff out, but I was wondering if there was some other way, because I feel like it's just going to dribble off the sides and not fix the issue. Or should I not even worry about it?

Edit: maybe it's stringy because I'm adding too much thickener...
 
Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

No, you're doing fine in terms of thickness. I had a different problem, I didn't add thickener and instead ended up with a bunch of drip marks that I had to press into the mother mold every time.
Do add however registration marks!! They help tremendously in the aligning process. That way you line up big chunks of material first to your mother mold instead of all the tiny features.
Now, as far as trapping the mold, don't worry too much about that... that's the part where the silicone flexibility comes in handy. Just make sure you don't have any silicone "handles".
I made a "test" mother mold out of plaster first, and that turned out fine. Then switched it to fiberglass.
 
Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

Thanks for the advice!
Diegator said:
Do add however registration marks!! They help tremendously in the aligning process. That way you line up big chunks of material first to your mother mold instead of all the tiny features.
Click to expand...

Regarding this, is I added a few registration marks (molded from an ice cube tray)--one in the front as you can see in the picture, and then two in the back. I didn't add more because, again, I was afraid they might make it difficult or impossible to remove the mother mold. Is there some way I can be "mathematically" certain that they won't? Some rule I can use for placement of these keys?
 
Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

Make sure that the faces of the marks end up being at least parallel to the mother mold pull direction. I'm assuming you're making a two piece mother mold, right? It'll help if your registration marks are beveled, dome shaped, trapezoidal, tapered, etc. and otherwise not straight - Exactly like your ice cube tray marks :D . I'd place maybe two on each side, on the highest points, so on the cheek bone and on the temple/ear.
 
Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

I don't think your "overhangs" are bad enough to really worry about, like Diegator said what you want to avoid is having a really deep undercut that will lock the mother mold down. Basically you want to avoid concave shapes. That said, you may have problems with minor warping due to the little parts not fitting exactly 100% into their nooks and having them press inward. If I were you, I would put 1 or 2 coats of thinned silicone on top of what you have, and then you should be ready to rock and roll. If you do have any little drip strings, don't hesitate to cut those off with an Xacto.

As far as registration keys, I tend to err on the side of overkill when it comes to mold making after a few very expensive mistakes of my own.
 
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Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

I have made a to-do list and it's surprisingly short!

1. Thicken rim of mold and add more keys if need be
2. Build mohawk with paper bits for silhouette, then cut out of cardboard and wrap in tinfoil
3. fiberglass
4. Once fiberglass is cured, spraypaint outside to prevent stickiness
5. Drill holes in mohawk, add bolts
6. Remove bolts, separate mohawk
7. Spraypaint inside to prevent stickiness
8. Demold helmet, cut silicone as necessary
9. Order urethane resin
10. Make mold of lower filter
12. CAST

Do I need to add mold release or anything similar between my silicone mold and my mother mold? It seems like the fiberglass and resin would stick to the silicone, is that not so?

EDIT: vvvvv good to know, thanks!
 
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Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

Almost nothing sticks to silicone, except other silicone. You don't need to put a barrier or release between the two.
 
Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

I found it very helpful if you add a layer of bondo over your fiberglass mother mold, simply because you'll most likely end up with sharp pointy and painful bits, and since you'll be handling the mold quite a bit during slush casting, it may lead to some painful results.
Also, if you think your mother mold is the right thickness, add another layer, just in case. I've never been satisfied with how thin my mother molds turn out, and I've made them thicker and thicker every time. It's mostly from lack of patience, really.
 
Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

What are the disadvantages of it being too thin? Just bendy/not strong enough?
 
Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

Rubber Slug said:
What are the disadvantages of it being too thin? Just bendy/not strong enough?
Click to expand...

Pretty much. and in some cases it may crack. This was true for me specially around the registration marks.
 
Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

Hey Rubber Slug, I just saw your ear piece on shapeways and it reminded me of this. How's the battle going, making any headway?
 
Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

Yeah, I'm in finals right now though. I still have to thicken the silicone, especially around the edges of the mold. It's a bit of a pain in the butt because the helmet's not mounted on a clay base that's flush with the edges or anything like that. It's on top of an empty milk jug with some old socks packed in to make it fit tightly, and some aluminum foil around the inner edges.
 
Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

Haha, well whatever works, lol. Good luck on your finals.

Rubber Slug said:
Yeah, I'm in finals right now though. I still have to thicken the silicone, especially around the edges of the mold. It's a bit of a pain in the butt because the helmet's not mounted on a clay base that's flush with the edges or anything like that. It's on top of an empty milk jug with some old socks packed in to make it fit tightly, and some aluminum foil around the inner edges.
Click to expand...
 
Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

Thanks! :p

EDIT:

Fiberglassing for the shell starts tomorrow!

pppr6rR.jpg
 
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Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

VItGGKc.jpg

Couple more layers of fiberglass and I'm done with the shell. Next up is to drill holes to make it ready to be screwed together. Then I'll crack it open and see how the mold looks on the inside! (If it's screwed up somehow I'll probably go into exile and live in a cave)
 

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Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

Rooting for you mate. got everything crossed. amazing work. cant wait to see the result
 
Re: Half Life 2 civil protection WIP build - first costume, have questions

Man Im hyped, cant wait to see this work, i'l be the first on the buyers lol
 
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