Foam Sculpting My First Bio - Beyond The Final Rung

[Bronson]

Just mind blowing how much time and effort you have put into this bio Steve,this will sure will be the one to talk about and the one to send new ppl in the future to take a look at what has been created from foam.
Just an idea for when its all finished,painted,lasers etc , a nice glass cabinet with an all round view of the inside with maybe 1 led light to show this bad boy off !!

James.

 

[Philby]

*giggity* ,.......MAN !!  the bar got raised so high it's hard to see where it is,....

awesome work man ,....i like the direction it's going and the molds look good,....
still can't believe where this thread has ended up ,....
well WELL worth the effort and attention to details,....

very immpressive ,......

 

[AlphaTech686]

Steve, these are looking fantastic. I can hardly wait to see the pulls 

 

[BonzRus]

Just mind blowing how much time and effort you have put into this bio Steve,this will sure will be the one to talk about and the one to send new ppl in the future to take a look at what has been created from foam.
Just an idea for when its all finished,painted,lasers etc , a nice glass cabinet with an all round view of the inside with maybe 1 led light to show this bad boy off !!

James.

Thanks James! The glass cabinet is not a bad idea. Thanks, I had not thought of anything like that. Definitely worth considering.

*giggity* ,.......MAN !! the bar got raised so high it's hard to see where it is,....

awesome work man ,....i like the direction it's going and the molds look good,....
still can't believe where this thread has ended up ,....
well WELL worth the effort and attention to details,....

very immpressive ,......

Thanks a bunch Phil! I am not trying to raise any bar, this is just how it is turning out and it has been fraught with potential disasters at every turn. I am learning though and that is what's improtant to me right now.

Steve, these are looking fantastic. I can hardly wait to see the pulls

Me too Jeff, me too. I am very close.


Here is the latest. I was not able to progress as far as I would have liked over the weekend as I ran out of resin and the kids needed a bit more attention than expected so I hope to finish the interior mother mold this evening. After fiberglassing the front half I learned a few things and the back half went much smoother as a result. Here are the pics...

I added a dam of duct tape around the edge of the fiberglass mold more to help contain the resin than anything else and applied resin jelly to the flange area to fill in the places around the dovetail registration keys. This worked so much better than just fiberglassing the mat over them and expecting it to conform which should save me time later.

One layer of fiberglass mat applied.

I will apply the second layer tonight, drill some alignment holes and it should be ready to split the two halves and remove the plug.

That is all for now.

Steve

 

[BonzRus]

OK. Time for a BIG update....

I applied the second layer of fiberglass to the inside mother mold and removed the duct tape dam. Then cleaned up the edge of the flange with my dremel and a sanding drum.

I then drilled four 1/4" holes for bolts to help align the two halves. I decided to use some of the resin jelly to capture the nuts on the back side of the mother mold so I tightened them down and and used some gel instant glue to keep the nuts in place until I could get the resin jelly applied. I did this so I could remove the bolts before applying the resin jelly as I did not want to get any on the threads of the bolts and have a bigger problem.

Afterwards I gave the mold a light coat of gray primer and once it was dry it was ready to split the halves and remove the plug. The interior mother mold came out first without too much effort and then the interior silicone. Everything looked good. No bubbles.

Then I worked on removing the front mother mold from the silicone and again it came loose without too much trouble. It felt really good to peel the silicone off the front of the helmet...I hadn't seen it for three weeks now. Upon inspection it looks like the mold turned out great!

I did a trial fit to put it all back together minus the plug and it takes a little finagling but I can work with it.

The last thing to do was drill the two holes in the top of the rear flanges of the front mother mold and then I used a sharpened plastic tube to make holes through the silicone at each location. One is for a funnel and the other is just a breather. My molds are now officially DONE!!!

Next up will be my first pull...

'Till then,

Steve

 

[sonic7o7]

Wow, that mold looks amazing. I've never seen one done like that. I can't wait to see it casted.

 

[PredatrHuntr]

Awesome...love it.  Perfect looking mold.  Truly impressive.  The first pull should be just as awesome...

 

[oxtheii]

Absolutely beautiful work I can not wait to see your first pull!
Very excited

 

[wonko]

Dibs on the second pull! This is awesome Steve, simply awesome.

Brian

 

[AlphaTech686]

Dude I pull this up everyday just to see if you have more photos. This looks like it was a labor of love and it shows. Beautiful work.

 

[AlphaTech686]

One more thing, when looking at the negative it really shows the perfect proportions and symmetry. 

 

[Eaglewood]

I am still in awe of the beauty of the mold-- Hell--that in itself is a work of art!!!!!

 

[REYALS1]

WHOA! Absolutely beautiful Steve. Top notch work buddy.

-Ricky

 

[BonzRus]

Wow, that mold looks amazing. I've never seen one done like that. I can't wait to see it casted.

Thank you Sonic7o7...I am pretty excited at this point to see it casted up as well. I hope it turns out OK.

Awesome...love it.  Perfect looking mold.  Truly impressive.  The first pull should be just as awesome...

Thanks again Jason. I hope it will turn out right. So far so good...

Absolutely beautiful work I can not wait to see your first pull! Very excited

Thanks oxtheii, the feedback helps to keep things moving along. I am excited to see it as well.

Dibs on the second pull! This is awesome Steve, simply awesome.

Brian

Yes Brian, I have you down for the second pull. Almost there buddy...

Dude I pull this up everyday just to see if you have more photos. This looks like it was a labor of love and it shows. Beautiful work.

Jeff, thanks man for following this. It has been a labor of love because I love doing this sorta' thing but it does not compare to Topknot my friend.

One more thing, when looking at the negative it really shows the perfect proportions and symmetry.

Yeah, I thought it looked like an anorexic predator...and all the colors...whew, very wild indeed. 

I am still in awe of the beauty of the mold-- Hell--that in itself is a work of art!!!!!

Thank you for the kind words Clay. I really appreciate it.

WHOA! Absolutely beautiful Steve. Top notch work buddy.

-Ricky

Hey Ricky, thanks! I think it has turned out pretty good so far. The big test is yet to come though and until I have a casting in hand it remains to be seen if all this effort was worth it. I hope to find out very soon.

All the comments are so appreciated and believe me they do not go unnoticed. As I get close to completing this process I just want to say thank you to all who have been following and commenting on it. It means more to me than I can say. I hope to be able in some way to show my gratitude for all the kind words and support.

Steve

 

[REYALS1]

You know Steve, I do believe just responding to every single comment with a gratuitous "thank you" is more than enough acknowledgment you can give.

Not many people do that. You Sir though, you are one 'elluva guy. You have completely earned your standing and excellent status here. Not only are you producing something to be smitten about, but you show how appreciative you are to everyone and how a learning experience, such as yours, can be fun and positive in every aspect.

In short brother... "YOU ROCK!"

-Ricky

 

[wonko]

You know Steve, I do believe just responding to every single comment with a gratuitous "thank you" is more than enough acknowledgment you can give.

Not many people do that. You Sir though, you are one 'elluva guy. You have completely earned your standing and excellent status here. Not only are you producing something to be smitten about, but you show how appreciative you are to everyone and how a learning experience, such as yours, can be fun and positive in every aspect.

In short brother... "YOU ROCK!"

-Ricky

Here here!!!  Ricky is exactly right Steve, you're an asset to the lair, and have inspired me to keep on trying new things.

Brian

 

[BonzRus]

WOW! Ricky and Brian...I don't know what else to say but "Thanks"...you two have been some of my biggest supporters since coming to the Lair and Ricky you were actually the first person to respond to this my first ever thread. That meant a lot to a newbie who was unsure about what he was doing and I am sure there are lots of newbies who need encouragement just like I did. Jason (PredatrHuntr) has also been there steadily encouraging all along the way as well. Keep it up. You guys are major contributors to what this place it about so THANK YOU!!! In fact, just out of curiosity I counted the posts made by everyone to this thread and Brian you are right on top buddy.


Now for an update:

I have not poured any resin yet...last night I spent some time trying to get an idea about how much resin each mold might require as I do not want to waste a lot of the stuff since it is a bit pricey. I clamped my block molds between two boards and used an eye dropper to fill them with water until no more bubbles rose to the top and it looks like one mold will take about 1.5 ozs. and the other about 1.0 oz. Then I did the helmet mold and it will require about 38 ozs. for the two part mold. So it looks like I can get about three level 2 helmets out of a gallon of resin. I will have to just make a level 1 to determine how much resin it will take. Why do I say all this? Well, tonight I will make my first attempt to pour the resin now that I have an idea how much I need to mix up. Lord willing I will have my first pull by tomorrow. I will take plenty of pictures and maybe even a video so stay tuned. There is not a lot that I get really excited about in life but right now I am pretty stoked. I hope I am even more stoked by tomorrow.  

L8r,

Steve 

 

[wonko]

Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god... Dude I don't think I'm gonna get much sleep tonight. I'm excited for you buddy, and have faith that everything will work out just fine. Looking forward to an update on this, as I'm sure everyone is. As far as me being the too poster, I can't decide if that's good or bad lol. I have really enjoyed this process, and look forward to your next project!

Brian

 

[REYALS1]

Haha, Brian. I don't blame you for bring top poster on Steve's thread. His attention to detail and non-stop updating is crucial to keeping everyone following this creation in the loop.

Hell, we'd probably be textually screaming at him if he just showed us an update here and there. Without those updates... we would truly be lost, lol.

 

[Eaglewood]

Steve,
I f you are ever in the Michigan area, bring the molds and Ill donate the resin--  Cant wait to see these-- put me down on the list for sure.