Dreads - The Continuing Saga...

BonzRus · Dec 10, 2012

While I am waiting to acquire the silicone I need to mold my bio helmet I thought I would start something new and give dreads a try. I love working with my rigid foam insulation board so I carved out a few different sized tapered pieces and sanded them smooth. I then applied two coats of just plain old white acrylic latex exterior paint I had floating around and this morning I sprayed them with Krylon white primer so they look like 'white carrots' now. These again will just be plugs for a mold. I am hoping to have enough silicone left over from my bio mold to make the mold for these. We shall see...this is just something to keep me busy while I wait.

Steve

Bronson · Dec 10, 2012

Great work mate, hope you get them to work,seems that dreads are the hardest thing to master,best of luck buddy ;-)

BonzRus · Dec 10, 2012

Thanks! Yes it does seem like they are a tricky thing to get right. I cannot guarantee success but I want to give it a try and learn something in the process.

Steve

wonko · Dec 10, 2012

Here he goes with the foam again lol. Why don't you sculpt your torso and legs out of it too while your at it Steve? They look good bud!

Brian

BonzRus · Dec 10, 2012

Don't think I haven't given that some serious thought Brian...

I can definitely see using it to make a backpack, gauntlets and shoulder and thigh armor...I love my foam board.

Steve

wonko · Dec 10, 2012

What kind of foam is it? Insulation foam? I haven't thought of dread plugs using this stuff. Great idea!

Brian

BonzRus · Dec 10, 2012

It is just the rigid foam insulation you buy from a home improvement store to install in your walls. Comes in thicknesses up to 2" and 4' x 8' sheets. Typically it is pink or blue or green. It is not the perfect medium but works great for certain things.

Steve

BonzRus · Dec 11, 2012

Part of this is for me has been an experiment to see how the foam behaves with the paint. So far my experiment has worked. I have now painted the foam with a coat of exterior latex paint I had floating around, gave it a light sanding to knock off the high spots, another coat of latex paint and then sprayed them with about three coats of Krylon white primer. I am not trying to get them really smooth as the imperfections help lend a bit of character. Now I have sprayed them with some Krylon satin black. The latex paint sealed the foam nicely and none of the primer or black paint got through such that the solvents in them dissolved the foam which was my concern. The latex paint basically acted just like the PVA (white glue) I have seen used to seal foam items prior to painting in other threads and the Krylon did not have any adverse reactions to the latex paint either. These are now ready to mold along with my bio when I get my silicone. They range in size from about 8-1/2" long by 5/8" in diameter to 19-1/2" long by 1-1/8" in diameter. Not sure if I need all those sizes or not but what the hey...

Steve

Okami Skullcrusher · Dec 11, 2012

I like them.
Very clean work!
Can you post a video which shows how they bend?

BonzRus · Dec 11, 2012

These are just barely flexible...more rigid really. They are not the final product but intended as plugs to make a mold from to actually cast the dreads in some kind of flexible foam as yet to be determined. The mold will be the next step.

Steve

wonko · Dec 11, 2012

You left your white carrots out and they went bad

BonzRus · Dec 11, 2012

wonko said:
You left your white carrots out and they went bad

Yes...I am waiting for them to deflate....

wonko · Dec 11, 2012

I did a giant lego minifig head for my son a few years back, used the same process. Looked good till he trashed it.

BonzRus · Dec 11, 2012

Nice...did he wear it? How did he see out of it?

wonko · Dec 11, 2012

The eyes are cut out. There's black mesh covering them. He did it for Halloween.

BonzRus · Dec 11, 2012

Good job on it Brian. I have a couple of boys who would love to be Logos for Halloween.

Steve

AlphaTech686 · Dec 11, 2012

Hey Bonz these are looking good. Google BJB Enterprizes and search for TC265 Foam. I've always used it and it is great. Super soft super flexible. What ever you do don't bother with Monster Makers. It is stiff and heavy. If you make your mold from silicone you might be able do pulls without splitting the mold which would mean no seams. I did this with the monster maker foam and was able to get them out probably because it is so stiff. I never tried the TC265 because I decided to do the sculpted dreads and put the silicone mold to the shelves. By the may if you do split the silicone you only need to split it on one side and if you make sure to get the mold seam bake together right you will still get a minimal seam.

BonzRus · Dec 11, 2012

alphatech686 said:
Hey Bonz these are looking good. Google BJB Enterprizes and search for TC265 Foam. I've always used it and it is great. Super soft super flexible. What ever you do don't bother with Monster Makers. It is stiff and heavy. If you make your mold from silicone you might be able do pulls without splitting the mold which would mean no seams. I did this with the monster maker foam and was able to get them out probably because it is so stiff. I never tried the TC265 because I decided to do the sculpted dreads and put the silicone mold to the shelves. By the may if you do split the silicone you only need to split it on one side and if you make sure to get the mold seam bake together right you will still get a minimal seam.

Thanks for the input Jeff...I have learned of the TC265 foam you mention (George recommended this product to Brian 'Wonko' in his thread about starting to make dreads) but have not yet been able to find out more about it from someone who is experienced with it. I am planning to make my mold from silicone and was contemplating trying to do it without splitting it. I have seen this picture of original dreads and was curious what the function of the cord in the end was.

It almost looks like they may have placed a cord the length of the mold and used it to help pull the dread out after it was foamed but I cannot be sure. It could be just to strengthen the dread for all I know. One could even tie a few knots in it if it would help to remove the dread intact. I am willing to try it and split the mold if I run into problems. I have also thought of applying layers of silicone to build the mold up to a decent thickness to keep its shape but still allow for the ability to help release the dreads by gently squeezing the silicone mold from the outside. Another option might be to simply suspend the plug in a tube not much bigger than the dread and pour silicone all around it. You could then take the silicone mold out of the tube and gently twist or bend it to help release the plug and any subsequent dreads that were poured. Any thoughts on this? I have no experience with the TC265 or any cold foam for that matter but I am wise enough to pay attention to what I am being told. What do you like about it? You mention that you decided to do the "sculpted dreads and put the silicone mold to the shelves". By this I would understand that you did not try pulling any TC265 dreads from the mold the way you described with the MM foam? Do you think it would work? I am not quite sure what you mean by "sculpted dreads" but would like to better understand what you mean and maybe why you decided to go that direction instead of the silicone mold. Again, thanks for the input. Your help and experience are greatly appreciated.

Steve

wonko · Dec 11, 2012

When I did my molds, I hung the clay plug in a tube and poured the silicone in around it. The molds turned out good, but it did take allot of silicone the way I did it. I would have liked to do a silicone jacket mold with a fiberglass mother mold around it. It would have saved silicone and allowed me to pull the dread without cutting the silicone (I think). As it is, I had to cut the mold because even with mold release (which I no longer use) it created enough of a vacuum that it would tear before pulling free. Maybe a very small hole in the end would help with that. I cut one seam, and when placed carefully into the tube, the seam is so light you can hardly see it. My curiosity has got the best of me now, and will order the BJB in the next day or two. I used Mold Star 30 platinum cure silicone for the first mold I made, which to me was a little unnecessary. The rest of my molds are Mold Max 30 tin cure. My advice to you is save yourself some $$$ and go with the tin cure... the platinum stuff is twice the price ($200.00 for a gallon), and there's no real advantage. Hope some of this was helpful. Keep us updated!

Brian

EDIT: I just ordered the Burman BJB TC-265...I'll update my thread with results when I have them.

AlphaTech686 · Dec 11, 2012

Hey Steve, first I set the silicone mold to the side and made a different one on the sculpted dread. There are some pictures on her somewhere. I used a brushable silicone on the sculpted one and a poured silicone on the regular one. I decide the poured one really waist a lot of material. The sculpted dreads could not be pulled straight out because of the details. I will say the silicone mold left only a faint line. Let me see if I can find some photos.
Here is the one I pulled straight out but it was MM ***** foam.