Muscle Suit foam vs Silicone

ChiCubsGordon24

ChiCubsGordon24

Active Member
Hey guys,

Hoping I'm posting this in the right area. Wanted to crowdsource a question. I'm wanting to make a muscle suit for myself and not sure whether to use foam or silicone for the muscle pieces. I'm planning on digitally sculpting them in Z brush and printing the molds. I've seen a lot of suits that use foam but it never looked quite right to me. Had the idea to use silicone for a more realistic feel the muscles but tend to be heavier than foam.

Any advice either way would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
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Hi C,

I think it depends on what you want to do with your suit.E.g.: if you wish to add electronics,then foam is better,because it can store and shelter battery packs,wiring and lights etc.
If you just want to add muscle under a plain zentai suit,then padding is probably sufficient:
[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zyoxjX9L2RQ[/video]
 
A whole muscle suit made out of silicone would move better but would be pretty hefty, especially if the muscles are exaggerated.. I've seen muscle undersuits made from foam latex, upholstry or reticulated foam, and even rubber latex. Making the muscles separately and attaching them to a body suit would help the muscles to move more naturally, but it will have limitations depending on the material used.
 
BornKilr said:
Very heavy, and also very expensive, I would think
Click to expand...
Oh, absolutely. Way out of my budget, lol. Now I've heard of muscle suits where they'd encapsulate silicone within a foam shell which does provide more realistic movement, and that might be a tad bit more cost effective, but the effort involved in accomplishing this as a DIY hurts my head to think about...
 
I don't know if this helps, or if this kind of look serves your idea, but I made a muscle shirt with foam muscles and then covered them in a layer of silicone, in this case it is for a trap jaw costume
20776841_10155644964727679_2258854156422883401_o.jpgIMG_20170604_201915.jpgIMG_20170520_162200.jpg
 
This is the look I'm going for. This was the technique used for the Raimi Spider-Man movies. doesn't seem too complicated. I would add the leg muscles of course. I saw some information on Soma Foama yesterday. Has anyone used it?

H3257-L96346935.jpg
 
ChiCubsGordon24 said:
This is the look I'm going for. This was the technique used for the Raimi Spider-Man movies. doesn't seem too complicated. I would add the leg muscles of course. I saw some information on Soma Foama yesterday. Has anyone used it?

View attachment 844678
Click to expand...

Soma Foama is a very interesting material. I´ve used it two or three times (Soma Foama 10). One has to be careful as it can start growing very fast, some molds might be hard to fill due to this. Make sure (if you use closed molds) you have a very strong and reinforced mold (specially flanges etc). The foam rises with a lot of power and pressure. It cracked some flanges of a fiberglass mold (bolted)
Also careful with fumes...ventilated working space, respirators etc...
Could be a good idea to reduce weight and get a nice movement. But still, foam latex is lighter I´d say.
 
udog said:
Soma Foama is a very interesting material. I´ve used it two or three times (Soma Foama 10). One has to be careful as it can start growing very fast, some molds might be hard to fill due to this. Make sure (if you use closed molds) you have a very strong and reinforced mold (specially flanges etc). The foam rises with a lot of power and pressure. It cracked some flanges of a fiberglass mold (bolted)
Also careful with fumes...ventilated working space, respirators etc...
Could be a good idea to reduce weight and get a nice movement. But still, foam latex is lighter I´d say.
Click to expand...

Ive heard that foam just isnt durable over time. trying to find a happy medium between durability and weight.
 
ChiCubsGordon24 said:
Ive heard that foam just isnt durable over time. trying to find a happy medium between durability and weight.
Click to expand...

Well, I have some spare castings here in the studio (with plat silicone skin), and it´s hard to say because I don´t have a fresh casting to compare (and it´s not a product I´ve used that much). I could be that the foam inside tears more easily than three years ago , but just a feeling. In any case, it´s tear strength is a bit low even in new castings.
Haven´t noticed anything else with these castings. All SF10, can´t say about SF15, never tried that one.
I´ve never used it without silicone skin by the way. I thing it´s a must to get good castings.
 
udog said:
Well, I have some spare castings here in the studio (with plat silicone skin), and it´s hard to say because I don´t have a fresh casting to compare (and it´s not a product I´ve used that much). I could be that the foam inside tears more easily than three years ago , but just a feeling. In any case, it´s tear strength is a bit low even in new castings.
Haven´t noticed anything else with these castings. All SF10, can´t say about SF15, never tried that one.
I´ve never used it without silicone skin by the way. I thing it´s a must to get good castings.
Click to expand...

I had the idea of coating the soma foama with a layer of dragon skin or something similar. but wasn't sure if that step was necessary.
 
I have always skinned it with DGSK10 or similar. The product (soma10) has a bit of a rough finish. Never tried it without the skin so I cannot say. But I see it as a filler, more than as a finish product. Moreover, if you take in account it´s tear strenght is low.
I would like to get my hands on SF15 to see how it works. Maybe a higher density gives a better finish.
 
II would skin it first. If your two part mold is closed make sure you leave an easy way to fill with Soma Foama once it´s closed. And make sure it´s a strong mold.
 
It depends on your budget (as mentioned earlier ), the material used and the final look. Real muscles are very hard to reproduced because of their inherent mechanics (layers of minor to major muscles and everything in between). I did a biceps (both bellies) in silicone. As you have seen from the way your own muscle moves and flex, you'll notice that when you raise your forearm toward your shoulder, the biceps bulge.
When you put that same forearm down, your biceps have, now, an elongated form. You cannot have that type of natural flexing with any of those suits. What I did was to respect the natural mechanics of the body: I basically made an elongated biceps (2 bellies connected together) and, at both ends of that muscle, I made 2 loops out of a wide rubber band. So the first loop is affixed, around your arm, toward the front/mid delt and the other loop is affixed past your elbow, also around your arm.
That way, when your arm is hanging on your side, the muscle is elongated (or stretched by the rubber loops) and when you flex, the biceps bulge naturally. You can test the position of those loop and see that for an elongated stance, you really have to put that bottom loop past the elbow...if not, it won't work. Have fun;)
 
joberg said:
It depends on your budget (as mentioned earlier ), the material used and the final look. Real muscles are very hard to reproduced because of their inherent mechanics (layers of minor to major muscles and everything in between). I did a biceps (both bellies) in silicone. As you have seen from the way your own muscle moves and flex, you'll notice that when you raise your forearm toward your shoulder, the biceps bulge.
When you put that same forearm down, your biceps have, now, an elongated form. You cannot have that type of natural flexing with any of those suits. What I did was to respect the natural mechanics of the body: I basically made an elongated biceps (2 bellies connected together) and, at both ends of that muscle, I made 2 loops out of a wide rubber band. So the first loop is affixed, around your arm, toward the front/mid delt and the other loop is affixed past your elbow, also around your arm.
That way, when your arm is hanging on your side, the muscle is elongated (or stretched by the rubber loops) and when you flex, the biceps bulge naturally. You can test the position of those loop and see that for an elongated stance, you really have to put that bottom loop past the elbow...if not, it won't work. Have fun;)
Click to expand...

That's an interesting idea. Any pics of the final product?
 
No pics I'm afraid (it was several years ago and the whole thing was chucked in one of my many moves:cry) The good thing is that only the biceps and triceps are the one that'll make or break your muscle suit. The shoulders, for example, are not "moving" as much as those muscle groups. The silicone I'd used was really soft and almost skin-like. You'll still have to affix all of those muscles on a Zenta suit for sure. The triceps seems to be a little more complicated (3 muscles: long, medium and short head) You should look at videos of body-building competitions to see how much movements some muscles are actually doing while been moved and flexed. Sometimes it's just the way you'll affixed those "not-so-much- moving-muscles" onto your suit. Back muscles should be glued onto your suit while you're making your back "bulge" forward; that way and as soon you've regain a normal posture, the muscles will move and bulge normally under the suit. You can move your arms and shoulders and see those act naturally.
Also, depending on the character you want to do, making a forearm muscle (that's pretty much immobile) will help secure your biceps and triceps muscles (you'll have 3 loops: shoulder, forearms and wrist loops). For the pectorals, use the same trick as for the back muscles; but this time, they have to be glued while you're putting your shoulder toward the front of your body (as if you're trying to go through 2 narrow walls). Then, as soon as those are glued, stand straight and your pecs will have a natural stance (tight when your shoulder blades are back). Abs and sides will not move much; no need to go crazy with those: it's a simple job of gluing them onto the suit. Hope it helps;)
 
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