Re: Steampunk Ironman Helmet WIP -updated 3/11
It's time I contributed something to this project. First, my
disclaimer: I am as much a mold maker as I am an astronaut. I love the idea of both but either one could end very badly since I have no formal training in them. So don't judge me on the quality or technique of my mold making. My motto is, "As long as it works."
Having said that, Indie wanted me to cast the curved tube piece that goes on the side of the helmet. We need two of these and they need to be more durable than the constructed piece. So sure, give it to the guy who doesn't do this for a living! :eek
The first thing I had to do was figure out how I was going to cast this. I could have done a fiberglass jacket and try to be all fancy, but this is really a waste mold so I didn't see the point (and I didn't have any fiberglass). So I figured out where my mold would seam together and clayed up one side of the piece, cutting it roughly in half.
Again, not the cleanest mold by any stretch, but ready my disclaimer above.
Around that I bent some foam core and hot glued the #$&! out of it. Nothing is more disheartening than to check on your mold 30 minutes later and find all the silicone spread out in a nice puddle. Not that that has ever happened to me. I just hear that sometimes happens. The blue thing you see in the photo is actually a 3mm piece of plastic that I attached to the end of the piece (which curves up) to help avoid air bubbles being trapped when I pour the resin later.
I failed to take any photos of the poured silicone on the first half, but it looked a lot like the second half, which is pictured below. I did remember to use mold release before pouring the second half. The LAST thing I wanted was to lock this piece in the mold and have to tell Indie he needed to make another.
This morning, I said a short prayer to the mold making gods that I used enough mold release as I started to take the mold apart. Clearly they exist, because the mold came apart pretty easily. I have some cleaning up to do on it, but I've done worse. It's a chunk of silicone, to be sure, but I believe it will work just fine! I'll know this evening (or at lunch) when I go to pour the resin.
I'll post pics of the resin piece once I get that done. That will get passed off to Indie so he can do more cleanup on the piece that the original would not have endured.