Tron: Legacy Quorra helmet build
- Thread starter Crimson490
- Start date
YenChih Lin
Master Member
Re: Tron: Legacy Quorra Helmet
Dude twitter the photos to Olivia, she's got an account there!
Dude twitter the photos to Olivia, she's got an account there!
Re: Tron: Legacy Quorra Helmet
Canobi,
Thanks for the input and the kind words - I really like the look of the pdip on your helmet! And as far as el wire goes, I've heard some varying info from some of the el suppliers. One told me that voltage doesn't matter - only frequency. Another told me that 12v will make the wire brighter than 9v. But, I'll be testing out your suggestion and checking out Cool neon. It'll be interesting to see how they stack up against the Glowire kit which runs off of a 9v 4kHz driver. The Cool neon kit runs off of a 9-12v 2kHz driver. I'll be sure to post my findings when the kit arrives.
Update:
I decided to keep the sculpt full glossy, and if people want to change textures on certain areas, they can do that to the cast.
I found a major treasure the other day at the thrift shop - my 'new' silicon key mold. These little cubes are the perfect size! Snagged it for $1. Oh yeah!
Silicon has been applied, and now I'm prepping for the plasti-paste hard shell. Hope to do that this weekend, and maybe just maybe make my first cast early next week!
Canobi,
Thanks for the input and the kind words - I really like the look of the pdip on your helmet! And as far as el wire goes, I've heard some varying info from some of the el suppliers. One told me that voltage doesn't matter - only frequency. Another told me that 12v will make the wire brighter than 9v. But, I'll be testing out your suggestion and checking out Cool neon. It'll be interesting to see how they stack up against the Glowire kit which runs off of a 9v 4kHz driver. The Cool neon kit runs off of a 9-12v 2kHz driver. I'll be sure to post my findings when the kit arrives.
Update:
I decided to keep the sculpt full glossy, and if people want to change textures on certain areas, they can do that to the cast.
I found a major treasure the other day at the thrift shop - my 'new' silicon key mold. These little cubes are the perfect size! Snagged it for $1. Oh yeah!
Silicon has been applied, and now I'm prepping for the plasti-paste hard shell. Hope to do that this weekend, and maybe just maybe make my first cast early next week!
Darth Serberus
Active Member
Re: Tron: Legacy Quorra Helmet
Absolutely beautiful work, really interesting to see the results of the 12v EL when it arrives.
Absolutely beautiful work, really interesting to see the results of the 12v EL when it arrives.
Re: Tron: Legacy Quorra Helmet
thanks guys!
The mold is done, and I will be casting #1 tonight. Going to try the black dye with the clear resin and see what I get...no idea how light or dark it will look. They say 5% is the max you should do, so I'll start there and back off if it's too hard to see through.
I have to put up pics whenever I update, so here's a funny one.
thanks guys!
The mold is done, and I will be casting #1 tonight. Going to try the black dye with the clear resin and see what I get...no idea how light or dark it will look. They say 5% is the max you should do, so I'll start there and back off if it's too hard to see through.
I have to put up pics whenever I update, so here's a funny one.
Re: Tron: Legacy Quorra Helmet
OK - well, cast #1 was pretty much a total disaster! I used 3mo. old resin, so it probably had some moisture in it. But I also used WAY too much black dye. The cast foamed up and has dimples all throughout. Not to mention it's completely opaque. I thought I ruined my mold as the silicon had these dimples in it when I pulled the cast, but fortunately, the silicon flattened back out over the course of the day. Yay!
Cast #2 is curing right now...this time I only used a total of 3 drops of dye for the whole cast, and it's much better. Despite my best efforts to degass the resin, I'm still getting lots of tiny bubbles - more than usual. Maybe the dye has something to do with it...I have a couple more options up my sleeve.
I got my Cool Neon EL wire today, so I did a side-by-side comparison to see which was brighter. Cool Neon's 'Fish' driver (9-12v 2kHz) is much quieter at 9v. At 12v it's louder but brighter. So, it wins (so far). Still bluish, but unless I rig up a rats nest of white LEDs, that's how it's gonna be! In fairness, Glowire only states their driver is for 9v. I will ask them if it can be run at 12v. This may make it brighter than Cool Neon's. Then again, it may die. But at 9v, it's hard to say which one is brighter.
OK - well, cast #1 was pretty much a total disaster! I used 3mo. old resin, so it probably had some moisture in it. But I also used WAY too much black dye. The cast foamed up and has dimples all throughout. Not to mention it's completely opaque. I thought I ruined my mold as the silicon had these dimples in it when I pulled the cast, but fortunately, the silicon flattened back out over the course of the day. Yay!
Cast #2 is curing right now...this time I only used a total of 3 drops of dye for the whole cast, and it's much better. Despite my best efforts to degass the resin, I'm still getting lots of tiny bubbles - more than usual. Maybe the dye has something to do with it...I have a couple more options up my sleeve.
I got my Cool Neon EL wire today, so I did a side-by-side comparison to see which was brighter. Cool Neon's 'Fish' driver (9-12v 2kHz) is much quieter at 9v. At 12v it's louder but brighter. So, it wins (so far). Still bluish, but unless I rig up a rats nest of white LEDs, that's how it's gonna be! In fairness, Glowire only states their driver is for 9v. I will ask them if it can be run at 12v. This may make it brighter than Cool Neon's. Then again, it may die. But at 9v, it's hard to say which one is brighter.
Re: Tron: Legacy Quorra Helmet
sick
Cast #1 isn't a total loss. I was able to use it to learn how to route the wire and determine that 5ft really is needed.
Cast #2 is, well, better? No foaming, but still getting an unusual amount of bubbles. I like this level of tint as a base. It could be slightly darker still, but that can easily be done with a quick coat of VHT from the inside. The plan is to mask internal areas where you need to see and spray the rest of the interior flat black. This should darken the helmet enough to pass as black.
Now if I can just get rid of the dang bubbles! I'm planning to do another cast possibly tomorrow in clear. After this, I'm taking a break!
sickCast #1 isn't a total loss. I was able to use it to learn how to route the wire and determine that 5ft really is needed.
Cast #2 is, well, better? No foaming, but still getting an unusual amount of bubbles. I like this level of tint as a base. It could be slightly darker still, but that can easily be done with a quick coat of VHT from the inside. The plan is to mask internal areas where you need to see and spray the rest of the interior flat black. This should darken the helmet enough to pass as black.
Now if I can just get rid of the dang bubbles! I'm planning to do another cast possibly tomorrow in clear. After this, I'm taking a break!
HowardAxiom
New Member
Re: Tron: Legacy Quorra Helmet
I was literally speechless when I saw the last post.
Truly amazing work!!
I was literally speechless when I saw the last post.
Truly amazing work!!
Popeanator
Active Member
Re: Tron: Legacy Quorra Helmet
Awesome! I want to see some one make the Sam Flynn commandant helmet/mask (disk wars). This is sweet!
Awesome! I want to see some one make the Sam Flynn commandant helmet/mask (disk wars). This is sweet!
Re: Tron: Legacy Quorra Helmet
Thanks guys!
-BORING POST ALERT-
I made the clear cast, which still has quite a few bubbles, but it was the best out of the 3. I am in the process of applying VHT NiteShades to the exterior and flat black to the interior (except where you need to see). This will hopefully hide the bubbles while still providing visibility. The VHT is a little tricky to apply evenly, but it lays down nice and thin with no perceptable build-up or 'orange peel' effect, so the cast's glossy finish is maintained. A little carnuba wax on top of it gives it added protection from general handling and brings out an even better gloss. I'll try to get some pictures up soon.
In the long term, I'll be switching to a better quality clear resin so I can get these bubble issues to go away and skip the painting steps altogether.
Thanks guys!
-BORING POST ALERT-
I made the clear cast, which still has quite a few bubbles, but it was the best out of the 3. I am in the process of applying VHT NiteShades to the exterior and flat black to the interior (except where you need to see). This will hopefully hide the bubbles while still providing visibility. The VHT is a little tricky to apply evenly, but it lays down nice and thin with no perceptable build-up or 'orange peel' effect, so the cast's glossy finish is maintained. A little carnuba wax on top of it gives it added protection from general handling and brings out an even better gloss. I'll try to get some pictures up soon.
In the long term, I'll be switching to a better quality clear resin so I can get these bubble issues to go away and skip the painting steps altogether.
Re: Tron: Legacy Quorra Helmet
ah. ok. All the more reason to find a resin that works right out of the mold!
ah. ok. All the more reason to find a resin that works right out of the mold!
Darth Ronnow
New Member
Re: Tron: Legacy Quorra Helmet
Fantastic work! I've done a ton of optically clear resin and acrylic casting. It's the thermal reaction as the resin cures causing the bubbles. If you can just get your mold into a pressure tank/pot during the cure you can take that problem out. I'll try to get some photos up to show you the equipment I'm talking about and some turn signal lens I did once.
Again great work,
Clint
Fantastic work! I've done a ton of optically clear resin and acrylic casting. It's the thermal reaction as the resin cures causing the bubbles. If you can just get your mold into a pressure tank/pot during the cure you can take that problem out. I'll try to get some photos up to show you the equipment I'm talking about and some turn signal lens I did once.
Again great work,
Clint
Re: Tron: Legacy Quorra Helmet
Just read this whole thread and WOW that sculpt is amazing! Really top notch work here, and I'm blown away by how precise and clean the results have been.
Best of luck with the casting, i can't imagine how tough it is to get a clear slush without bubbling. What resin are you using?
Just read this whole thread and WOW that sculpt is amazing! Really top notch work here, and I'm blown away by how precise and clean the results have been.
Best of luck with the casting, i can't imagine how tough it is to get a clear slush without bubbling. What resin are you using?
Re: Tron: Legacy Quorra Helmet
Thanks!
Sorry for not updating in awhile...it's been a busy past couple of weeks!
I've been using Alumilite's clear polyether resin. It usually always has some amount of bubbles, though never this bad. I can't envision using a pressure tank for slush casting...how does that work exactly? I thought pressure tanks were only good for the kind of molds where you just pour it and leave it.
Anyway, I'm going to be using a more expensive urethane from Innovative Polymers. I've tried one of their clears on a test CLU helmet and I only got one tiny bubble on the whole cast.
Thanks!
Sorry for not updating in awhile...it's been a busy past couple of weeks!
I've been using Alumilite's clear polyether resin. It usually always has some amount of bubbles, though never this bad. I can't envision using a pressure tank for slush casting...how does that work exactly? I thought pressure tanks were only good for the kind of molds where you just pour it and leave it.
Anyway, I'm going to be using a more expensive urethane from Innovative Polymers. I've tried one of their clears on a test CLU helmet and I only got one tiny bubble on the whole cast.
Pannaus Props
Sr Member
Re: Tron: Legacy Quorra Helmet
Crimson, you did a wonderful job. As Volpin said above, it's incredible how clean your lines, grooves and all are. Also, I love your sharing of your techniques. It's always cool to see people sharing as much as they can.
Keep the great work up!
Crimson, you did a wonderful job. As Volpin said above, it's incredible how clean your lines, grooves and all are. Also, I love your sharing of your techniques. It's always cool to see people sharing as much as they can.
Keep the great work up!
