Latex Rubber Question

Greetings all materials experts!

I'm looking for some guidance on latex rubber. For my Superman Returns project, I have been making the outer shell of my cape using Burman foams Balloon Rubber, and Slip Casting Latex. Been mixing and matching to get a good consistency etc.

http://www.burmanfoam.com/estore/home.php?cat=706

But my problem is this: when they cure, they are relatively clear. There is a slight tint to them, but both of these products are almost transparent. What I really want is something that cures opaque, preferrably in an off white.

Any suggestions? Any products anyone knows of that has qualities like that?? Is there an additive that can be put into the latex that wil give it a very opaque quality? Would mixing in some off the shelf latex paint help?

Please let me know if you have any experience or insight that might be of assistance.

thanks!

MattMunson said:

Greetings all materials experts!

I'm looking for some guidance on latex rubber. For my Superman Returns project, I have been making the outer shell of my cape using Burman foams Balloon Rubber, and Slip Casting Latex. Been mixing and matching to get a good consistency etc.

http://www.burmanfoam.com/estore/home.php?cat=706

But my problem is this: when they cure, they are relatively clear. There is a slight tint to them, but both of these products are almost transparent. What I really want is something that cures opaque, preferrably in an off white.

Any suggestions? Any products anyone knows of that has qualities like that?? Is there an additive that can be put into the latex that wil give it a very opaque quality? Would mixing in some off the shelf latex paint help?

Please let me know if you have any experience or insight that might be of assistance.

thanks!

Click to expand...

Hi Matt

Regular acrylic inks will work well for this. Latex based paints work okay as well but you can also buy latex tints. Burmans should stock them listed under pigment for tinting foam latex but they work perfectly well for tiniting liquid latex.

Best
Neill

Burmans kit of pigments

http://www.burmanfoam.com/estore/home.php?cat=724

or you can individual colours in bigger quantities here

http://www.monsterclub.com/latex/foam-latex-1.html

and here

http://www.monstermakers.com/product/latex-colorants.html

Cheers,
Neill

You might wanna try Plastidip.
http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=pl...uck_Parts_Accessories&_odkw=rat+rod&_osacat=0]


Richie

Neill, the tints you recommend are great for adding some color, but do not provide the "brick wall" type opacity that I am looking for. They certainly help, but after four or five coats, I am still getting a lot of translucency.

I might give plasti dip a try. That is interesting.

Anyone else?

I've used off the shelf acrylic paints (art store quality) to mix into different latex rubbers with pretty good results.

MattMunson said:

Greetings all materials experts!

I'm looking for some guidance on latex rubber. For my Superman Returns project, I have been making the outer shell of my cape using Burman foams Balloon Rubber, and Slip Casting Latex. Been mixing and matching to get a good consistency etc.

http://www.burmanfoam.com/estore/home.php?cat=706

But my problem is this: when they cure, they are relatively clear. There is a slight tint to them, but both of these products are almost transparent. What I really want is something that cures opaque, preferrably in an off white.

Any suggestions? Any products anyone knows of that has qualities like that?? Is there an additive that can be put into the latex that wil give it a very opaque quality? Would mixing in some off the shelf latex paint help?

Please let me know if you have any experience or insight that might be of assistance.

thanks!

Click to expand...

Matt,
The easiest and most effective way to do this is to tint a 5 gal pale of latex with 1 quart of indoor latex pant, satin base. Dump the whole quart into a 5 gal pale and mix.
The trick will be to find your red base color but I'd expect that you'd need to do a light misting of actual red color on your demolded cape once it's cast up. Latex is not like urethane when it comes to colors, even from a fiberglass mold you may get clouding and shades of your intended color which is why you may need to find a good base match...but then spray the cast cape at the end for the desired color.

A tip on casting it up....I wouldn't use balloon latex...stick with slip latex and stipple in a full coat (tinted as I suggested above) to ensure you dont trap any air-bubbles inside. Then, dump about half a gallon of your tinted latex onto the mold and use a roller to evenly 'paint' it over your stippled coat. Once set, repeat as often as you need for your desired latex thickness. On your last latex coat...try to thicken it to a paste and once you've coated the mold apply your wool backing and lightly press it down using a clean roller. It may take a few days to fully dry but when it does you'll be good to go.

Like I said above, once demolded you 'may' have to lightly mist spray the cape to your desired color unless you find the proper base color, or can mix it yourself but try the indoor latex satin paint trick. It works...

I hope this helps.

David

Thanks David. That is good stuff. I appreciate your insight, and know it's dependable based on your broad range of experience.

Ideally I would be able to get a good color match without having to spray it once done. I've gotten excellent results with the pigments I've been using, save for the opacity issues. Still, it's good to know I've got alternatives.

Awesome stuff. Satin latex paint, here I come!

Just wanted to give a quick shout out and word of thanks to David for offering some great advice on the cape. I took his words to heart, and have so far had REALLY great results. Not only with the pigments, but also with the techniques that david outlined for producing the cape outer skin.

Great stuff. Please check out a recent blog post for some pictures of the progress and how I put David's tips to work:

http://mattmunson1.blogspot.com/2010/02/cape-opacity-tests.html

MattMunson said:

Just wanted to give a quick shout out and word of thanks to David for offering some great advice on the cape. I took his words to heart, and have so far had REALLY great results. Not only with the pigments, but also with the techniques that david outlined for producing the cape outer skin.

Great stuff. Please check out a recent blog post for some pictures of the progress and how I put David's tips to work:

http://mattmunson1.blogspot.com/2010/02/cape-opacity-tests.html

Click to expand...

Very Cool Matt!!!
Dave will be happy to know his advice helped.
I don't think he expected you to quote and credit him on your blog so thanks in advance for that...and for the kind plug to our website.

Keep up the great work.:thumbsup

Rimma

Well done Matt, looks like it's going to be great!
One thing though, I didn't realize this was a silicone mold. When you mentioned latex I just assumed it was a rigid mold. Is it a high shore silicone? I mean is it rigid? The latex is going to need something to grab on to while it cures and because latex has a tendency to shrink it could pull away from your rubber mold if it cant grab on to it and basically hug it. This 'may' happen in between layers as you build up latex thickness...or you might just get lucky and nothing of the sort will happen.
In this case, when I mentioned thickening the latex for the last coat before you press down the wool backing...considering that your mold is silicone then I'd say dont thicken the latex...but do put enough on it for the wool to seep into it. The thicker the latex the more chance of it wanting to shrink as it dries and that may become a problem.

Have you considered casting the cape in urethane rubber? Same as I mentioned above...stipple first layer, roll second layer...bond wool on third layer. I know the screen accurate way is latex but, just throwing out another option...and it'll reduce the weight of your cast cape by at least 50%.

As Rimma mentioned above, thanks for the plug!

David