Latex question.

sandbagger

sandbagger

Master Member
Skool me on latex gang!

I have a positive cast of my hands that I will be coating in a layer of clay, to sculpt the details of the Iron Man under-glove - the flexible underglove that goes under the armour, but has parts exposed under the finger joints and up the wrist.

Similar to what you can see here under the armour.

Jy5eWL7.jpg


I'm going to slush cast the gloves inside a negative mold once I have cast it from the detail-sculpted positive. I'd like recommendations what the best product/material would be and where I can source it. I live in Canberra, Australia.

dZmNxIU.jpg
 
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Latex will work fine. Most latex comes already opaque, and you can indeed color it. You can use latex pigments or just simple acrylic paint. Keep in mind that whatever color the latex is wet is a few shades lighter than what it will be when it is dried. In other words, it dries darker, so use less pigments than you think you need.


On a side note, did you lifecast your hands in stone? That is incredibly dangerous...
 
Mr Mold Maker said:
Latex will work fine. Most latex comes already opaque, and you can indeed color it. You can use latex pigments or just simple acrylic paint. Keep in mind that whatever color the latex is wet is a few shades lighter than what it will be when it is dried. In other words, it dries darker, so use less pigments than you think you need.


On a side note, did you lifecast your hands in stone? That is incredibly dangerous...
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Thank you for that. I've been looking online for days and rang the art store today locally to find out but still waiting on an answer. Very hard to get specifics it seems.

To your second question, I cast my hands in plaster of paris after first shaving my hands then coating them in barrier cream. I've done this several times years ago so it wasn't a problem. I am aware of the dangers but I thank you for your concern.

Cheers.

SB
 
I did a similar process, but heard the plaster can heat up and didn't want to risk burning myself... so I made duct tape dummy hand/forearms. Sealed it, and then filled those with plaster. Just make sure you put coat hangers down the fingers for rigidity. Also, use talc on your fingers before taping so you can easily get your fingers out. Learned this after struggling to get my left hand out and it worked like a champ for the right hand.

I'm working on cyberman gloves, fortunately no need to have lighting in them tho. But what about going with a full latex/rubber glove (including the armor part) and having the light fixed to the surface of your palm? You could always poke a small hole to run the wiring, and use rare earth magnets to hold the light in place.

I was amazed to find out that the suits for the 2005 cybermen and the NIS cybermen were completely rubber (pretty sure the helmets were hard shell tho as they get a bit of abuse). And everything looks like real metal... just an option to consider and not sure if anyone's done this for iron man yet.
 
Thanks mate. I'm looking into a whole lot of options. Trial and error is infuriating, but rewarding in the long run.

Just wondering what I should coat the mold with before pouring the latex so it doesn't stick to the mold.
 
Mr Mold Maker said:
It's a stone mold right?

Don't coat it with anything. Latex doesn't need a release. All you will do by putting a coat of anything in there is inhibit the natural drying process of the latex.
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Awesome. Thanks for that.

I take it from your forum name that you are wxperienced in latex and the like? If so, I'd love to pick your brains - particularly about where I could source the right materials in Australia if you know.
 
I have learned a thing or two along the way. You can always shoot me a PM and I'll do my best to help.

I don't know much about supplies over in Australia though sadly. I know Polymech sells latex (amongst other materials) but that's just about it. Google is your friend, and you'll just have to put some leg work in and call a couple companies.
 
Mr Mold Maker said:
I have learned a thing or two along the way. You can always shoot me a PM and I'll do my best to help.

I don't know much about supplies over in Australia though sadly. I know Polymech sells latex (amongst other materials) but that's just about it. Google is your friend, and you'll just have to put some leg work in and call a couple companies.
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Thanks mate. I got some here mail-order now.

Couple of questions...

Before I pour plaster of Paris over my clay-sculpted hands, do you think I should lacquer them first to make them very shiny and slippery-smooth? Then vaseline as a release agent?

Will the clay coating break off when I remove the plaster mold? I really want to preserve the clay-sculpt so once the latex is poured into the mold, I can keep sculpting over them to do the armour layers.
 
Sorry, didn't see your other questions.

Been pretty busy filling Halloween orders.. my brain is dead. :lol


You should seal the sculpture, but not with gloss lacquer. The gloss will cause the stone to bead right off of the piece. Use a satin finish clear coat, of coat the piece with culling spray.

You do NOT want to use Vaseline as a release. Vaseline vigorously breaks down latex. It will affect your future casts pretty heavily.

Try to use paste wax or a spray release like Frekote Lifft or Ultra 3 epoxy parfilm.

The clay sculpture will likely be destroyed when demolding.

Liquid latex drying time varies on a lot of things. There is no real constant answer to that.... Just do some good old fashioned trial and error and keep notes of the results.

- - - Updated - - -

Plaster of Paris is also not a great mold making material. It will be pretty weak. Be careful demolding!
 
Thanks mrmoldmaker. I got the clay sculpts out of the plaster just fine and no breakages. Now just testing the colours and drying time. I'd love for you to drop in on my iron man build thread and comment/advise on my progress.
 
Sorry should have been more specific. Plaster of Paris will work, it's just a pretty weak plaster.

Ultracal, or hydrocal, are much better choices. I'm not sure if that's available over there but I believe there is a Europe alternatives called Crystalcal or jesmonite.

If you can't find those, plaster of Paris is definitely alright for what you're doing.
 
Crap. I bought a 50 lb bag of plaster of paris because it was the same price as a 10 lb bag of ultracal. But thanks.
And glad I'm asking questions sandbagger is interested in so I don't feel like I'm hijacking his thread! ;)
 
Mclabop said:
Crap. I bought a 50 lb bag of plaster of paris because it was the same price as a 10 lb bag of ultracal. But thanks.
And glad I'm asking questions sandbagger is interested in so I don't feel like I'm hijacking his thread! ;)
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Not at all mate. I'm happy for this thread to be used for Latex/molding Q&A.

Mr Mold Maker, any chance you could look in on my Iron Man thread and advise as to my mix of colorant/tint to my latex? I'd love to hear your take on it.

SB.
 
I am going to throw this out there just for the sake of argument. The first time I bought stuff like ultracal I ordered a life casting kit from an online site. Don't get me wrong they were very helpful with advice before and after the purchase. But I didn't think about the fact that shipping a 20 lbs bag costs $$.to ship. Since then I've located a couple of local places where I can drive and buy the stuff. :lol

If you are going to purchase anything of weight I'd always check locally first. Maybe even contact the maker to see if they have anyone local registered to sell it ;).
 
Impster667 said:
I am going to throw this out there just for the sake of argument. The first time I bought stuff like ultracal I ordered a life casting kit from an online site. Don't get me wrong they were very helpful with advice before and after the purchase. But I didn't think about the fact that shipping a 20 lbs bag costs $$.to ship. Since then I've located a couple of local places where I can drive and buy the stuff. :lol

If you are going to purchase anything of weight I'd always check locally first. Maybe even contact the maker to see if they have anyone local registered to sell it ;).
Click to expand...

You are absolutely right and I did that too. Good thing to remember always.

Cheers mate.

SB.
 
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