Spaceballs ACE Comb - How would YOU build it?

68Brick

68Brick

Active Member
A few of us will have our A-hole costumes ready for a major Con in the fall and a giant comb would be a great accessory ... the question is, how would be build it?

It would have to be lightweight, strong enough for trooping, and possibly be able to breakdown for transport.

My question to the builders of RPF ... how would YOU build it?

Spaceballs-trooper.jpg
 
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I really like working with epoxy. So just be careful that you get the "right" epoxy for your job. There are several types now. Because the comb is black, you can tint the epoxy black as the top coat.

Epoxys range in price from cheap casting resins (which will also yellow unless you add clear blue to one parts, say Part A) through to more expensive, low exo-therms for deep pours. These are fairly new and are interesting as they don't seem to crack like the older types can due to high exo. So beware of the low exo products as these will take hours, if not days to cure in thin pours. They have designed this way.

There are also special laminating epoxy resins which are water clear and will add both a hard protective layer as well as a sexy plastic shine to your part. A lot of artists coat canvas in this stuff, mixing colours into several small cups and then pouring them so the colours interact and when it sets up, you have a very cool swirl effect. This stuff costs about 40% more than standard casting epoxy, but is UV stable and is made for thin pours.

You can still use the standard casting epoxy but just know it will yellow over time.
 
What's your budget?

I'm making a prop Lance of Longinus from Evangelion for my daughter. I'm turning/carving it from Precision Board HDPU foamboard. Then I'm going to coat it in urethane resin, as PoopaPapaPalps also suggested. Precision Board is really nice because it has a very dense cell structure. That makes it easy to carve and finish. It's also very durable when resin coated.

The disadvantage is it's expensive. You'd probably be looking at $400 - $500 for a sheet large enough for your comb.

You could use pink foam insulation sheets, if you're on a budget. But those are a pain to carve and aren't as durable.

It's your time or your money. It's always your time or your money.
 
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68Brick said:
Thanks for the tips all.

My budget is small, so I''ll probably be going the pink foam route.
Click to expand...

Build.jpg

1. Just use wood glue to glue two or three foam sheets together to get desired thickness.

2. Cut overall shape in foam, leaving out the teeth as you will use wood there.

3. Cut wood dowels to size, and then cut holes for them in pink sheets. Use wood glue to coat ends of wood, then insert into foam holes and allow to dry completely.

3. Coat the whole thing in bondo, and then sand sand sand after dry. Repeat as needed to get a nice hard smooth shell. The longer you work on this stage the better the results.

4. After sanding, wipe it down to get all dust off of it and prime it. Let that dry completely.

6. Paint the black color.
 
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Search the web for tutorials on how to build surfboards with foam, epoxy and fibreglass.
Bondo contains polyester resin ("fibreglass resin") and that could hurt some foams.
I would choose thin-walled PVC pipe instead of dowels because of less weight.
 
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