alien dome how?

[panik33]

hey guys does any of you know any cheap ways i can make a xeno dome
as im thinking of making a costume kind of like the monsteroom kit as inexpencive as possible as kind of a backup costume .... to be honest im addicted to costume building

well i have the rest of the costume planned out

just not how to make a good looking dome without clay sculpting as i can't realy afford that after my pred build
any dome will do realy but i would prefer the alien/AVP smooth dome but i will take anything

well thanks guys and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

ron

panik33

 

[TuaCathach]

what are using for the rest of the head? if your using an alien head such as monsterrooms ... just build a warrior suit.. no need for the dome

 

[panik33]

No I'm not using monsterrooms costume I'm making my own from foam and latex in the same style that monsterroom has done his kit

 

[Darth Pinhead]

You need to make a buck and have it vacuum-formed. Have you seen Sacha Feiner's costume? If not, definitely check it out...

 

[Elkman]

Yeah, I was going to suggest thermoforming the dome with some kind of plastic as well. I've had good results thermoforming PETG plastic. It's mostly like PETE pop-bottle plastic, but it's modified with glycol. I got it at a plastic supply company located right down the street from my office, and I made a small thermoforming rig in my basement.

I read through some of the link that Darth Pinhead posted, but the site has too many ads, popups, popunders, and other stuff obscuring the actual content.

 

[Darth Pinhead]

I read through some of the link that Darth Pinhead posted, but the site has too many ads, popups, popunders, and other stuff obscuring the actual content.

Yeah, that site didn't used to be that bad. At least I don't remember seeing as many as I do now...

 

[panik33]

thanks guys i see what you mean about the vacume forming but alas i dont have the facilitys to vacumeform around here but i like the wire sculpt idear i think i mught use that

 

[Termokk]

I beleve they were made by creating a flexable mold and just sloshing the fiberglass resin in there in a thin coat. Makes a semi-translucent smooth dome.

 

[panik33]

Thanks termokk

That's what i was thinking if doing but it's making the mould is the hard and expencive part

I was thinking of using some super cheap clay or plaster of Paris to create the sculpt and then taking a silicone mould of it and just sloshing the resin in it and then painting it black

I'm not going for the translucent alien more like the ones from AVP and then I'll be able to make as many as I want which should be cool
I'll have to see how much the silicone and plaster is first

 

[Termokk]

Thanks termokk

That's what i was thinking if doing but it's making the mould is the hard and expencive part

I was thinking of using some super cheap clay or plaster of Paris to create the sculpt and then taking a silicone mould of it and just sloshing the resin in it and then painting it black

I'm not going for the translucent alien more like the ones from AVP and then I'll be able to make as many as I want which should be cool
I'll have to see how much the silicone and plaster is first

It may be cheeper to go to home depot or lowes and get some green/blue insulation foam in 4x8 sheets. Stick it together with wood glue and carve it with a wire brush to get the basic form then use bondo on the surface to make it super smooth. Molding it is gonna be expensive, but i bet you could do it with a relitivly small amount of silicon if you get the thickening agent to make it paintable. Or if you can make it without undercuts, you could just use fiberglass to mold it and when you pour the fiberglass resin into it, just use turtle wax as a separating agent and you will be all set. (the wax might make the surface hazy tho, but worth a try) Hope that helped...

 

[panik33]

Wow I didn't know you can mould stuff in just fibreglass yeah it won't have an undercut I don't think not sure yet

I'm not sure but is it possible to do a mould from latex

 

[Termokk]

Wow I didn't know you can mould stuff in just fibreglass yeah it won't have an undercut I don't think not sure yet

I'm not sure but is it possible to do a mould from latex

Yea you can just keep layering latex onto it untill its pretty thick. You would need a mother-mold tho, somthing to support the flexable mold. Any plaster or fiberglass would work.

 

[panik33]

Yea you can just keep layering latex onto it untill its pretty thick. You would need a mother-mold tho, somthing to support the flexable mold. Any plaster or fiberglass would work.

nice one im good at working with latex ill do that then

thanks mate