Most common mistakes new builders make.

[Thoramyre]

Well, considering there are so many different interests and mediums to work in, I intentionally made it a broad question.
There are some tips, tricks and helpful hints that regardless can be applied over all the categories.

With regard to what medium? It's a rather broad question when you refer to new builders. Are you planning to work in metal, resin, latex, what? Being a tad more specific will yield better advice.

Good luck just the same!

-Rylo

 

[Einstein]

It amazes me how you can look at a prop to build and think you have all the detail down to a science. Yet others can look at the same prop you want to build and see so much that you missed with their eagle eyes.

Somewhat humbling
Just a thought
Ed

 

[OB10]

Document. Write things down. Take photos.

When I started down this time and money sucking hobby , it was pre-internet, and all I had to go on was suggestions from theater types, 1970's era plastics books, catalogs, sales reps and the like. And since I wasn't living in a major city I didn't have handy access to the few resiny and rubbery materials that are so easy to come by now. So I did some unwise things, knew that I would never forget them (HAH!) and moved on. (Don't use vaseline for a mold release with fiberglass - the vaseline mixes in with the resin and never ever cures. That's all I remember.)

A couple years ago I picked up a graph notebook at Staples for a prop book (graph paper's cool!) and started taking notes on all my projects. (Except the Cherry Darling machine gun leg I made for an amputee friend of a friend. I was in a rush and knew I'd remember the details when I had time to write things down..... Yeah. Sure.) That way, I'll be able to go back and figure out what I did if I ever need to. It's also a great place to record paint codes in case you need to repaint, touch up, or make another. I've written down some materials prices so I know how much something cost at a certain time from various suppliers. I printed out and attached some metric to Imperial conversion charts, decimal to fractional charts, standard PVC pipe sizes (REAL sizes, not plumbing sizes) and other reference.

When you find reference pics, blueprints or diagrams on the net, download them. Sometimes websites, forums and photo albums go away. When you find good tutorials or sources of materials, bookmark them and/or print them off. Document your build with photos, both for us and for when you try to remember how you built something. And backup your files. And don't leave your notebook out in the rain.

If you're mixing custom colors, make sure you make extra, because you might not have enough, or you might need to touch up, fix or modify the piece at some point. And you may want to buy spare paint (ah, Krylon Shadow Gray, I hardly knew ye!). The paint may be discontinued or the formula changed. And the can of paint you have may either lose its' propellant or just plain clog up, and that's no fun.

 

[jim fred]

Buy expendables , such as brushes , sand paper , primer and the like when your at the store for any reason ! Better to have extra laying around than have to stop mid-session to run to the store and lose your grove . Or redirected by the misses cause she noticed you were home after all !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

I'll add one I've seen pop up recently. If you're using a 3D printed part, sand and fill the resolution lines! I've seen a lot of printed parts where the person thought they could just paint it up and have a prop. Don't embarrass yourself, do it right the first time. Nothing makes a prop or model look sloppier than not filling and sanding properly.

I am far from an expert, so this is advice from that level. :lol

 

[wolfchild59]

Hmmm...most of my basic maker mistakes were made years ago, before I started in the prop world, so they don't all relate to here. Though the one about changing clothes before working resin, that's an important one. I've ruined many pants and many shirts from resin mishaps. It's rare that I get through any night working with resin that I don't get some on me somewhere.

With prop-specific stuff, for me, it was trying to be exact exact exact to the "original" prop, when there was actually multiples of the prop used on the show and therefore slightly different sizes and shapes. So I was going crazy trying to match things up and make everything perfect. I even contacted other people that had made the prop before to try to get some pointers. It was their advice of finding a happy medium, picking the one I liked the best, and making my prop to match that as best I could that finally gave me some piece of mind and got me moving forward with it.

Also, don't do it to try to save money. Even if your out of pocket expenses do happen to come in under the cost of what someone else is selling it for, the amount of time you will have spent on it to get it completed will definitely put it over. Do it because you love it and you want to have that prop in your collection that you made to be exactly how you wanted it.

 

[Thoramyre]

A lot of folks may think some of these things are just "common sense" but as a trade craftsman, I can say you learn from mistakes (usually the silliest/most costly ones).
And it NEVER hurts to remember the basics, and pass them on to the new guys. My shop has worked like that for decades, tribal knowledge can be the MOST valuable tools you have.
Thanks so far guys for ALL the input!!

 

[joberg]

Don't think that there's enough ventilation in your room when painting, sanding, fiberglassing, etc...wear the proper mask and get a proper spray area (your lungs will thank you)

 

[13doctorwho]

MY bit of advice is don't have too many projects running at once. A lot of people over commit, whether personal projects or for hire. Usually none of them get done, and if they do they look slapped together. Take time and do it right. If too many plates are spinning, one is bound to fall.

 

[nosaint]

Dont assume you cant do it just because it doesn't turn out the first time. The great works you see on here may have been made several times. I know each time I redo the same part I come up with at least one way in which I can make the project better. Keep trying and dont get discouraged!

 

[cenn]

Testing the paints you are using before you put them on your nice polished prop. It takes about 1 hour....grab some scrap plastic, and see if the paints work well with each other.

Or with the plastic/base material for that matter.. Learned this the hard way myself :behave

 

[SigsegV]

I'm relatively new at this, so I'm learning from mistakes all the time. So far I've learned:

• Research and plan thoroughly, and make plenty of mock-ups, sketches, or 3d models to make sure you know exactly what you're going to do before you even buy supplies. Go back to your plans often and revise them as much as you need. For my most recent project the one I actually built was based on the 6th version of the plans, and it was a very simple build.
• Take your time and don't rush. Working too fast leads to mistakes. Take as much time as you need to get the best results.
• Related to the above, when letting something dry, be generous with the time you give it to do so. I've screwed up plenty of stuff by continuing when it seemed dry to me as opposed to waiting overnight like I knew I should have.
• Stop working and take a break when you're getting tired/hungry/etc. Working while overly tired makes just as many mistakes as working too quickly.
• Today's lesson: don't just measure and then cut, measure again afterwards to make sure your cut was accurate. Thankfully the uneven edge didn't cause the seam to warp too much today, but it could have easily been worse.

I'm sure I'll be making plenty more mistakes to learn from soon.

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

Think. Patience.

The two best tools that anyone can carry. They also work on anything, too.

 

[Bioshutt]

You can put acrylic on acetone based lacquer but not vise a versa and will eat up the paint.
When fiberglassing use small pieces properly cut, not large sheets.
Flea markets can be goldmines for greeblies and may have that one rare prop piece you need to make your prop more accurate.
SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY! wear proper protection.
Go slow when cutting plastic with rotary tools (espically when cutting visors)
When cutting the visor out of your raw helmet, have a helmet stand ready to hold it because when the visor is out the helmet is at it's weakest, to make visor removal easier drill small holes then cut visor out with a rotary tool, sand the visor area smooth then wash helmet again.
Always ask questions, the answers can help you make your prop look much better.

 

[Kubla Kraus]

Measure or take the time to make a good approximation of the volume of something you are going to mold. Know exactly how much volume you will need to fill before mixing. I don't know how many times I've been left with a 3/4" rubber or plastic puck at the bottom of my mixing cup because I htought I could eyeball it. Rubber is not so bad because you can chop it up and use it in your next mold, but the plastic is generally a loss.

 

[Exterminator]

Fun with fibreglass!!

I always add pigment to my fibreglass (the gelcoat and the matting layers), so that I can see everything is mixed together properly.

Several people have said "know your materials", and that reminds me of something stupid and expensive I did when I first tried my hand at fibreglassing. Did I buy standard gelcoat? Noooo, I bought super-expensive "100% thixotropic" gelcoat in tiny (and costly!) tins. As you fibreglassers will know, standard gelcoat is quite thick, but it does move a bit, but this tinned "100% thixotropic" stuff was absolutely stiff like axle grease ... so I "thinned" it down with matting resin to effectively get ordinary gelcoat!! Duhhh!! :facepalm I didn't do that again!

 

[Darth Lars]

Don't think that you can use spray paint or lay bondo/fiberglass in the house. The unused bedroom does not have proper ventilation and some spray paints spread dust that gets onto everything in it.

Be wary of cheaping out on a detail that is widely available, thinking that you could build it yourself cheaper and within the time constraints that you have. That may not be true in the end.

Go slow when cutting plastic with rotary tools

Has already been said: Get a proper dremel with a real speed control! Some cheap ones can't go slow enough for cutting plastic or they don't have enough power for when you need it.

 

[Heroic Replicas]

Take how much time you think it will take and triple it.

Learn to love sanding. I can't wait until I get to sand again!

 

[PurpleDiamond]

Never use a dull blade or a dull drill bit.
Harbor Freight is very useful but cheap tools are very rarely worth buying.

 

[thorssoli]

The most common mistake? Starting. Welcome to the end of financial security forever...

But seriously, there's been a lot of good advice so far. The one I'd harp on more than anything else would be "research." There are always more references out there if you're willing to look hard enough.

Also, many of the materials used in this hobby were not originally designed to be used the way that we use them. Don't get discouraged when things don't behave the way that you expect them to. Learn from it and you'll be able to prepare for problems next time.