Advice for a newbie.

[Alex Hayashi]

So I'm about to build my first suit soon and not an expert at all at making heads. I plan on making a head out of Pepakura but unsure about what to put on for sculpting like Latex, molding clay etc. I plan on doing the Big Red Predator which uses a lot of the basic P1 armor.
Any suggestions?

 

[LunaticNic]

Hey, I'm unfortunately not familiar with pepakura, but regarding sculpting molding and casting I have some experience. Sculpting is relatively simple,
For the most part you get a plastic head armature, some clay, (oil clay(which is more expensive) for re-use and indefinite sculpting time or Wed-clay for speedier sculpting (though needs to be kept moist to prevent cracking)) some sculpting tools(I personally find "rake" and "loop" tools most effective). When the sculpt is done you will want to spray it with some release agent, and mold it in the medium of your choice (ultracal30/stone mold or a fiberglass/resin mold). For casting a stone mold will soak up the moisture in liquid latex, making it cure faster, while in resin molds you need to paint latex into it in layers, or use silicone (with which I have no experience as a casting material).

Also remove the teeth and mold them in silicone before casting them in resin.

Hope that helps

 

[Alex Hayashi]

Thanks, man. Huge help, saw one cheap amateur way of creating the latex mask but probably wouldn't turn out as well.

 

[LunaticNic]

I actually tried it on my first and second mask. You unfortunately lose almost all detail you've put into the sculpt, and don't have a clear estimate how thick the latex is in certain areas creating tears when you remove it :/

 

[Alex Hayashi]

Damn, that sucks. Never done full casting nor do I really trust myself doing it.

 

[LunaticNic]

Casting is pretty simple to be honest. With a stone mold you just strap both halves together securely, and then flip it over and fill it with latex (the latex is called rd407 I think), wait 3 hours or so and then dump out the excess. after that's cured you just pour a little expanding foam (careful toxic fumes!) Release the straps, and pull the two mold pieces apart and you theoretically have a mask ready to paint. With a resin mold and latex you apply the latex in coats with chip brushes until you strap the two pieces together and do a couple more coats on the seam-line.
Then again filling with expanding foam and separating the mold halves.

 

[LunaticNic]

And by filling with expanding foam I mean just pouring in a bit to hold the shape of the head and fit snugly. If you end up with too much you can always pick out some of the extra foam.

 

[Alex Hayashi]

I'm gonna need to research all of this.

 

[LunaticNic]

A little research goes a long way in making something awesome

 

[Alex Hayashi]

So little update. Got super lucky and found someone on Ebay selling a head for a reasonable price with the hands and feet. Hopefully the measurements line up with my mask.