funclips4u
Member
*UPDATE!
IT DID NOT WORK. IT DIDNT NOT RELEASE FROM THE MOLD VERY WELL IN MY FIRST TEST, AND THE RESIN SEEMED TO TEAR APART TOO EASILY, EVEN THOUGH IT IS STRONG WHEN ACTUALLY PRINTED. SO I'LL HAVE TO SCRAP THIS IDEA.
I'm trying to find a good way to make flexible c-3po shorts for my C-3PO cosplay I'm making. I first tried 3d printing a mold, where I then brushed on liquid urethane from Smooth-on. I didn't get even coverage, so it ended up with tiny holes and weak spots. The 2 part mixture is also difficult to mix properly, so I think that led to it being extra fragile, it ended up tearing where the weak spots are. It had potential, but I dont want to mess with that again and potentially end up with the same issues again.
My 2nd method was that I printed it in flexible filament. The filament wasn't very sandable, so post processing was difficult, I didn't actually finish with post processing. Anyways, the flexible print was going to make it difficult to walk, it was pretty stiff.
So anyways, I have flexible 3po feet printed in superflex 3d printer resin. And I really wished that I could print the shorts in this material too. Sadly, the shorts are way too big to print in resin, and I dont want to split it into a bunch of pieces.
But I just came up with a new idea that I thought might work. I would use clear filament and print the shorts in "mold mode" on cura. Which makes a hollow shell in the shape of the shorts. I would then pour the superflex resin into it, and shine a UV light at it. This would harden the resin, and the hollow 3d print would shape it into the shorts. Then I can just pry off the printed mold, destroying it in the process. The end result should give me a strong rubber-like resin 3po shorts with even wall thickness. Because I can't post process the inside of the mold, the shorts will be full of print lines and potential defects. But this resin is sandable, so I should be able to sand out the layer lines from the shorts. Most likely there will be little blobs and strings from the print, floating in the shorts, nothing I can really do about that.
Because both the resin and the printed mold are translucent, I dont see why this idea won't work, the uv light should be able to cure it all the way through.
Most likely, the resin would try to bond to the print, so I need to use a release agent. A spray would be too difficult to get inside the mold. So I will pour a little vegetable oil into the mold, and swoosh it all around, and dump it out. But because filament is porous, I dont know if the release agent will really work. So there's still the chance that the resin would bond to it, and it would be a flop. SO I will do a test with a really small piece, to make sure I would be able to peel it off of the mold.
IT DID NOT WORK. IT DIDNT NOT RELEASE FROM THE MOLD VERY WELL IN MY FIRST TEST, AND THE RESIN SEEMED TO TEAR APART TOO EASILY, EVEN THOUGH IT IS STRONG WHEN ACTUALLY PRINTED. SO I'LL HAVE TO SCRAP THIS IDEA.
I'm trying to find a good way to make flexible c-3po shorts for my C-3PO cosplay I'm making. I first tried 3d printing a mold, where I then brushed on liquid urethane from Smooth-on. I didn't get even coverage, so it ended up with tiny holes and weak spots. The 2 part mixture is also difficult to mix properly, so I think that led to it being extra fragile, it ended up tearing where the weak spots are. It had potential, but I dont want to mess with that again and potentially end up with the same issues again.
My 2nd method was that I printed it in flexible filament. The filament wasn't very sandable, so post processing was difficult, I didn't actually finish with post processing. Anyways, the flexible print was going to make it difficult to walk, it was pretty stiff.
So anyways, I have flexible 3po feet printed in superflex 3d printer resin. And I really wished that I could print the shorts in this material too. Sadly, the shorts are way too big to print in resin, and I dont want to split it into a bunch of pieces.
But I just came up with a new idea that I thought might work. I would use clear filament and print the shorts in "mold mode" on cura. Which makes a hollow shell in the shape of the shorts. I would then pour the superflex resin into it, and shine a UV light at it. This would harden the resin, and the hollow 3d print would shape it into the shorts. Then I can just pry off the printed mold, destroying it in the process. The end result should give me a strong rubber-like resin 3po shorts with even wall thickness. Because I can't post process the inside of the mold, the shorts will be full of print lines and potential defects. But this resin is sandable, so I should be able to sand out the layer lines from the shorts. Most likely there will be little blobs and strings from the print, floating in the shorts, nothing I can really do about that.
Because both the resin and the printed mold are translucent, I dont see why this idea won't work, the uv light should be able to cure it all the way through.
Most likely, the resin would try to bond to the print, so I need to use a release agent. A spray would be too difficult to get inside the mold. So I will pour a little vegetable oil into the mold, and swoosh it all around, and dump it out. But because filament is porous, I dont know if the release agent will really work. So there's still the chance that the resin would bond to it, and it would be a flop. SO I will do a test with a really small piece, to make sure I would be able to peel it off of the mold.
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