Question about a light, sturdy, foamy material for hollow models...

[Blade3327]

Hello,

My dad has taken an interest in my learning of mask-making (as I will be starting my first soon). From this arose a question: is there a material that can be poured into the mold made from a sculpture that is light, sturdy, and foamy?
My dad's into making model airplanes, so obviously after getting the material out of the mold, it'd have to hold its shape (not be flimsy or heavy, like latex).

Any ideas for such a material?

Thanks

 

[hez1]

I would have to suggest...foam. It will depend on exactly what size pieces your dad plans on doing, but smooth on does various density foams that would probably work just fine. They do a rigid foam that will work better than the flexible foam that most people use for dreads, for example.

 

[Blade3327]

Smooth On... is that a company? Is there a site where it can be purchased?

And even though this is off-topic, I actually need to know where the flexible foam you mentioned can be bought (for my future Pred's dreads). And what it's called.

 

[hez1]

Take a look at http://www.smooth-on.com/ They also have a very helpful group of tech support guys. You can give them a call with questions and they should be able to answer everything you throw at them. They do both rigid and flexible foams.

 

[shaka-zulu]

You can try: http://www.monstermakers.com/

Just type "foam" into the search feature. I hope this helps.

 

[Blade3327]

Thanks. Already tried Monster Makers, so the Smooth On website was helpful!

The Monster-Cast compund is interesting: http://www.monstermakers.com/product/monst...ng-plastic.html

Would this be useable in molds made of Ultra Cal 30? In other words, can I follow the same mask-making process, but instead of latex, use the Monster-Cast?

 

[hez1]

Thanks. Already tried Monster Makers, so the Smooth On website was helpful!

The Monster-Cast compund is interesting: http://www.monstermakers.com/product/monst...ng-plastic.html

Would this be useable in molds made of Ultra Cal 30? In other words, can I follow the same mask-making process, but instead of latex, use the Monster-Cast?

No. That is a plastic, and will have no flexibility to it at all. The general rule is that a hard casting (resin/plastic) will require a soft mold such as silicone, along with a hard mother mold to keep its shape. If you have a hard mold, like ultra cal, what you put into needs to remain flexible once it has cured, like latex. In short, the only way to get something made from the monster-cast material you mentioned out of the mold, would be to break the mold. Even then it would probably have bonded to it and you'd end up breaking the cast too.

 

[Blade3327]

I know. I meant if that plastic Monster-Cast stuff would work in Ultra Cal 30 molds for my dad's project. He needs the sturdiness and lightweightness.
But I guess for him, he'd need silicone as a mold. Then it'd work?

For me, I'm already pretty much set. I'm the one who's making latex stuff, so the Ultra Cal 30 and whatnot will be for me. The silicone and Monster-Cast for him.
When it comes to my dreads, I'll come up with something later down the road. Got a lot of work until then...

 

[hez1]

Yes, he'd need silicone. Like I said, ultra cal is not a good mold material for resin no matter what you're making with it. He should look up some of the smooth on tutorials on their site, and they also have a bunch of videos on youtube.

 

[Blade3327]

Okay, thanks!