Re: Daft Punk Thomas Bangalter helmet build
Long update!
Reviewing the rest of the moldmaking process. I made another partition on the front of the helmet to divide this section into two halves. This was made from 1/4" MDF and secured with a crapton of wingnuts and screws.
After setting these in place, I filled in the gaps between the MDF and the mold with clay. This prevents the mothermold material from bridging this gap and fusing into one solid piece
For the mothermold, I decided to use plasti-paste again. This one is a fair bit thinner and smoother than the one I made for the Guy helmet, so its a lot easier to pull copies.
The mothermold sections removed, showing detail on the inside. The MDF rings make re-aligning the sections much, much easier. I think I'll be doing this technique from now on.
Interior of the Rebound-25 mold. Great detail. There are a few small areas where some air was trapped under the registration keys - most notably on the right cheek. In the future, putting some thickened silicone underneath these will alleviate this problem. It makes for about a 1/32" dent in the final casting, but nothing a small spot of filler can't fix.
First pull!
This is the mold for the ear puck. Starting off with just PVC and MDF.
Molded in Mold Max 30. Since I waxed the inside of the mold jacket, I didn't need to cut anything away to slip it out of the PVC connector.
This is a trick I employed when making the barrel for my Portal Gun. To make the ear pucks hollow, I've poured about 1/4 cup of resin into the base of the mold and allowed it to cure around a cardboard ring. Once the lower section cures, you will in the cavity between the ring and the mold, and BAM - hollow cylinder.
Outside of a finished pull
And, lastly, some shots of the helmet with the ears inserted. I can't tell you how happy I was when they just plunked right into place. Almost as if I knew what the hell I was doing.
Feels good to have one cast on hand. Now for cleanup, visor, and eventually CHROME!