Wonderflex, and its adhesive qualities

[Cashew]

I took a trip out to Dazian Fabrics in NJ today, to get my first 2 sheets of Wonderflex. Nice place, easy drive, nice people, and they have parking. Best bet though is if you're going, call them ahead of time, because they usually don't get hobbyists looking for only one or 2 sheets.

Now, in traffic, I had a thought--
I know wonderflex is supposed to be relatively sticky stuff,
But....
Is there anything it Won't stick to?

I made my templates for an Alice In Wonderland Battle Armor set out of corrugated cardboard. (it was the right price, and stiff, what else could you ask for? Additionally, my living room looks as if a curvy medieval knight came in and exploded in a blast of cardboard scraps...)

Now, I'm thinking I'd like to use the wonderflex without the cardboard underneath so as to refine the curves a little more. I'm thinking of covering the templates with either aluminum foil or plastic wrap, so I can tweak the forms without the rigid template underneath. Is this a good idea, or am I dooming myself to failure?

Thanks for your advice

 

[MiDri]

I've seen people build ed's (from full metal alchemist) automail from Wonderflex before, did not seem to sticky perhaps they put a matte spray coat over it?

 

[Cashew]

I've seen people build ed's (from full metal alchemist) automail from Wonderflex before, did not seem to sticky perhaps they put a matte spray coat over it?

Its only sticky when its hot.. otherwise it feels pretty much like a credit card... (kinda flexy but rather rigid...)

 

[Thermoman]

I took a trip out to Dazian Fabrics in NJ today, to get my first 2 sheets of Wonderflex. Nice place, easy drive, nice people, and they have parking. Best bet though is if you're going, call them ahead of time, because they usually don't get hobbyists looking for only one or 2 sheets.

Now, in traffic, I had a thought--
I know wonderflex is supposed to be relatively sticky stuff,
But....
Is there anything it Won't stick to?

I made my templates for an Alice In Wonderland Battle Armor set out of corrugated cardboard. (it was the right price, and stiff, what else could you ask for? Additionally, my living room looks as if a curvy medieval knight came in and exploded in a blast of cardboard scraps...)

Now, I'm thinking I'd like to use the wonderflex without the cardboard underneath so as to refine the curves a little more. I'm thinking of covering the templates with either aluminum foil or plastic wrap, so I can tweak the forms without the rigid template underneath. Is this a good idea, or am I dooming myself to failure?

Thanks for your advice

Hey Cashew- Just curious if you ended up using WONDERFLEX...I'm product manager for Dazian Fabrics and invented WONDERFLEX and FOSSHAPE several years ago as originally designed for industrial use and then later introduced these heat activated materials to theartre, Hollywood, cosplay etc.

 

[Sakara]

thermoman..you should go onto cosplay.com
I dont know what half of the cosplayers would have done without Wonderflex and Fosshape! some the armour and such done on there is incredible!

 

[Corsairgryl]

You can also build up layers, makes it quite hard yet with a bend to it, great stuff. Also you can mold it over shapes when hot, I recommend getting some of those " oven gloves" so you can manipulate it without burning your fingers

 

[toothboy]

How easy is it to cut Wonderflex? Do you cut it like styrene...score and bend?

 

[Labrynth]

Hoping to make some chest armor out of this stuff later. Worried about shaping over breasts tho.

 

[Sakara]

try something similar to how Evilfx did female armour using heatable foam -
Mass Effect N7 Armor Build! « Evil FX / BioWeapons.com

 

[Darth Mule]

I think you'll find that when you use the stuff, your worries will evaporate. It really is a friendly material to work with. Never had a problem with it being overly sticky. It gets a little tacky over dry heat, but I tend to shape it with a steamer for better results.

 

[EricHart]

I think you'll find that when you use the stuff, your worries will evaporate. It really is a friendly material to work with. Never had a problem with it being overly sticky. It gets a little tacky over dry heat, but I tend to shape it with a steamer for better results.

I agree; Wonderflex is very intuitive to use. We had a giant foam-carved head for the Broadway version of Merchant of Venice; it was too heavy for the actor, so I decided to cover it in Wonderflex to create a hollow "shell" version. We wrapped the foam piece in aluminum foil to protect it. When we took the Wonderflex off, the aluminum foil remained stuck to some degree, so it does seem to have at least some adhesive qualities to other materials.

 

[rollerboi]

I'd love to see some pictures in this thread.
And welcome to the RPF, Thermoman and EricHart!

 

[Labrynth]

Ahhh thanks for the tips guys. LOL I hadn't thought of just using random objects for shape. LOL I was going to do the famous duct tape and t shirt mold, but knew it wouldn't be strong enough to support shaping over it.

This will have to wait a few months, but I want to make armor for the Comic Baroness and Female Punisher I want to do for D*C next year.

 

[EricHart]

Thanks for the welcome, rollerboi! Here is a picture of the head during one of the performances:

I wish I had some process shots, but my iPhone ate them. But you can see we were able to get some pretty tight curves and undercuts, particularly around the teeth. We cut the Wonderflex apart and pieced it together "papier-mache style". The final piece was hollow; it retained its shape, but it had a lot of flex to it, so we stiffened the inside with Gorilla Glue; when mixed with water, it foams up and hardens just like spray foam, but much easier to work with and far less toxic.