Question regarding molding armor/parts/etc

Triton

Well-Known Member
Going to get started on my Iron Man here shortly. Building the Pep files now.

I was going to go with the foam, but after reading, the general concensus is while it is quicker, the quality isn't anywhere near the bondo route.

So I have a couple questions. How I envision things going in a perfect world. ( Chime in if I'm off base anywhere here )

Build my pep files. Couple outside coats of fiberglass resin.
Slush cast the inside with Rondo.
Build out the parts with bondo and sculpt till I'm happy.
Make mold with silicone RTV
Slush Cast with smooth on (or what have you), and voila!

Now...my question is this. Because the silicone and smooth on, or whatever I end up using to make the parts, is so darn expensive...my question here is...for a one gallon order of smooth on, how much will that last me?

Will it be enough for an entire Iron Man suit? Just trying to get a general feel of cost.

Thanks guys!
 
Based off making molds of every part, you're looking at WAY more than one gallon and well into four digits cash-wise.

It will be way cheaper to stop at the sculpting til you're happy part, and use the buck as a final piece. (A one-off rather than a mold.)
 
Based off making molds of every part, you're looking at WAY more than one gallon and well into four digits cash-wise.

It will be way cheaper to stop at the sculpting til you're happy part, and use the buck as a final piece. (A one-off rather than a mold.)

But won't that be REALLY heavy? LOL

So is everyone here really dropping THAT much money to make these? I can't believe that. LOL
 
Yes they are, it is't cheap or fast to make armor parts.

Well, I know they are not fast. I just had no idea it took THAT much material to make one armor set. Surely there must be a cheaper method for the home do it yourselfer that gives the same end result at a much cheaper cost.

I've always wanted to try mold making and cast resin, but at a cost of over a thousand dollars just for the silicone and resin? No way.

That's like...20 gallons of product...for a suit this size? That can't be right.
 
That's like...20 gallons of product...for a suit this size? That can't be right.

I used a gallon of Rebound on two molds: foot and head of my Wrex build. It went FAST. That was a bit larger than a standard Iron man helmet/foot, but that was a gallon right there. 20 gallons may be a BIT much but it's not far off.

You can always try estimating yourself by using this calculator:

Mold Making and Casting Materials by Smooth-On

Silicone is pricy. If you're looking for a low budget alternative, and are looking for a one-off, you could try alginate. It won't cut your cost down that much, and you won't be able to save the molds when you're done as they will dry up in a matter of days if not A day.
 
I'd suggest making the parts perfect before considering moulding and casting them. I'm almost done with a whole suit, 800 GBP worth of Silicone later. I actually moulded a foam suit:

XRobots.co.uk - The foam build
XRobots.co.uk - Moulding & casting
XRobots.co.uk - The rigid parts

Your other option is plastic coating a foam build and detailing as appropriate:

XRobots.co.uk - Plastic coating your Plastazote / EVA / Polystyrene foam / cardboard props and costumes

Your stuff is great btw Xrobots...but even you decided to go the plastic route, instead of wearing the foam. Foam is great if you're looking for something cheap to have as a mannequin prop...but not for something you intend to wear. We'll see...there has to be a cheaper way. 800 pounds just for the silicone needed to pull this off is borderline insanity. LOL

That's like what? 15 gallons of silicone? :confused
 
Well, I know they are not fast. I just had no idea it took THAT much material to make one armor set. Surely there must be a cheaper method for the home do it yourselfer that gives the same end result at a much cheaper cost.

I've always wanted to try mold making and cast resin, but at a cost of over a thousand dollars just for the silicone and resin? No way.

That's like...20 gallons of product...for a suit this size? That can't be right.

Each of my leg moulds was 5Kg of Silicone, for each shin, thigh - so that's 20Kg for the legs alone.

The cheaper option is to make a Pepakura paper, or foam suit and that be it - or plastic coat the foam as I said above.

Here's 20Kg of silicone in four leg moulds, if it were water it would be about 4.5 imperial gallons:

IM6_105.jpg
 
Well work out all the parts and how much you need for each piece. You will need a min of 3/8" thick mold or it will tare first pull. I usually go with 8 coats of brush on silicone to be 100% my mold lasts, after spending the $$ on material a few extra dollars to be safe is a no brainer.
I useed almost a full gallon kit (2 full gallons $265) on just the chest/Back , neck seal and back flaps.


Your stuff is great btw Xrobots...but even you decided to go the plastic route, instead of wearing the foam. Foam is great if you're looking for something cheap to have as a mannequin prop...but not for something you intend to wear. We'll see...there has to be a cheaper way. 800 pounds just for the silicone needed to pull this off is borderline insanity. LOL

That's like what? 15 gallons of silicone? :confused
 
Any reason why I couldn't skip the silicone all together?

Use the resin'ed pep as the mold and slush cast the resin directly into that?

Then either peel off or sand off the pep?

Seems like I'd have a bit of bondo to do after that, but shouldn't be much.
 
Well work out all the parts and how much you need for each piece. You will need a min of 3/8" thick mold or it will tare first pull. I usually go with 8 coats of brush on silicone to be 100% my mold lasts, after spending the $$ on material a few extra dollars to be safe is a no brainer.
I useed almost a full gallon kit (2 full gallons $265) on just the chest/Back , neck seal and back flaps.

Wow. Sweet lord. I mean...the end product is worth it, no question. I just had no idea you needed that much.

Does anyone make cheap quality silicone and resin? I don't care if the mold lasts to be honest, as they will only be used once.
 
Wow. Sweet lord. I mean...the end product is worth it, no question. I just had no idea you needed that much.

Does anyone make cheap quality silicone and resin? I don't care if the mold lasts to be honest, as they will only be used once.

That was the cheap stuff ;-)

If you only need one set of all the pieces then why not just make one out of Pepakura/paper/fiberglass and that be it?
 
That was the cheap stuff ;-)

If you only need one set of all the pieces then why not just make one out of Pepakura/paper/fiberglass and that be it?

I hate fiberglass...I really do. LOL
And I just figured the plastic would be MUCH lighter than doing it in fiberglass, and bondo. Stronger, etc.
 
Stronger? Not by a long shot is plastic stronger unless you use fiberglass cloth or matt with it.
There really is no cheap way besides going straight up pep and done.

I hate fiberglass...I really do. LOL
And I just figured the plastic would be MUCH lighter than doing it in fiberglass, and bondo. Stronger, etc.
 
Stronger? Not by a long shot is plastic stronger unless you use fiberglass cloth or matt with it.
There really is no cheap way besides going straight up pep and done.

What about weight though Finhead? Can a full fiberglassed and bondo'ed piece still be manageable weight wise?
 
No it gets heavy, but urethane plastic is actually heavier than equally thick fiberglass. It's all a give and take, you want light go with the foam and plastic coat it and live with it for what it is. Light cheap and fast.


What about weight though Finhead? Can a full fiberglassed and bondo'ed piece still be manageable weight wise?
 
Just thought I'd Chime in, correct me if I'm wrong. I know a lot of Halo suits are just pep and fiberglass, and the weight seems to be manageable. I have a buddy who is almost done the paint stage on his Halo suit and he has not had any complaints about weight yet. I mean 1-2 layers of fiberglass cloth/mat don't add that much weight, plus it is distributed across your whole body.

I mean I don't know how you define heavy either.
 
The majority of the builds you see worn here are just pep and fiberglass. Most people don't go through the trouble of making molds and casts of their pieces... Some do, but most don't.
 
I was going to go with the foam, but after reading, the general concensus is while it is quicker, the quality isn't anywhere near the bondo route.

Whoa there!!! Let me try to clarify this before you start:

Bondo, whether you making armor or restoring your dream car, is ONLY as good as the amount of time you put into the sanding! Bond requires several coats. The first coat just rounds out the rough edges. Then there is lots of sanding, and lots of Bondo dust (enough to choke on, please wear a mask) Now that you have sanded the first layer, the second layer fills in the few low spots, and the sanding starts all over again. after that, measure if your round surfaces are round or need more filler, and if your flat surfaces are flat. Now, for more Bondo. Are your lines and edges straight? You might need a few more coats of Bondo and sanding to get them straight. Meanwhile you have gone though a whole can of Bondo, and most of it is dust of the floor by now, also a package of sand paper. Are you done yet? Oh heck no. Time for primer and more sanding. Ye, more sanding.

That is just for ONE piece. There are forearms, biceps, shoulders, chest, back, abdomen, spine, crotch, butt, (2 thighs) + shins, and boots. My guess about 20 individual pieces. And you next have molding to do. Have you ever made a mold? Expect no less than 5 gallons ($400) of RTV, and 200 lbs of plaster to make 20 2-piece molds.

I hope that I have conveyed that sculpting by Bondo is a (minimum) 2 year commitment in time, an entire garage in space, and a variable budget.


Are you sure you don't want to give foam some more consideration?

Pepakura sounds very appealing when it is just folding and gluing paper. It is an enormous amount of work to turn that paper into armor.

If you are bent on doing as you propose, try one piece of armor, like the forearm first, and finish it all the way through to the end. Then decide if you want to do, or have the budget for, 20X it.

Good luck on your decision.
 
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