mold making materials

slartibartfast

New Hunter
I have finished a pretty decent looking helmet using WOW's awesome templates, which was further reinforced with fiberglass making the helmet almost indistinguishable from a bought one. I would like to make a mold of it and I have been researching a little and the different products for mold making is dizzying. I have checked out a great site online called Smooth-On, which sells everything and also has excellent videos on how to do various projects. The one product I thought might be ideal for a helmet mold was brush on material by the name of Rebound-25.

| Beginner Brushable Mold Rubber Options | Mold Making and Casting Materials Rubber, Plastic, Lifecasting, and More.

Would this be a good choice or am I way off? Would a mold of a helmet be best done with rubber or silicone and a mother mold for support, or is there a better way to go? I realize it can be expensive and I am not worried about that. If anyone who has made molds here could steer me in the right direction, I would be very appreciative as I am excited to start this project.
Thanks for any help.
 
I use Rebound 25 for all my helmet molds. You'll need a support shell with it... on its own it will be way too soft, no matter how thick you layer it on. I use Plasti-Paste, also from smooth-on.

There are a bunch of good videos on YouTube. Here's the one I put up:
Deathwatch Helmet Mold - YouTube

Other good places to look:

(different brand but still great videos)
 
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Thanks Stormtrooperguy! That video of yours is exactly what I have been looking for - good show! So a gallon to do a mold huh? Ouch! I am afraid to make an error at that price so I guess I better practice on something smaller. What resin do you use for making the cast?
I guess Boba's lid wouldn't work out too well using a vacuum table? I know the Stormtrooper works out well using that method, but would vacuum forming pick up the details necessary for a good Boba helmet? I am guessing not. Thanks again for the video posts.
 
There's some left over from a gallon... Not enough to do another helmet, but enough for a few small things.

I always tell folks that it's not worth molding/casting a helmet unless you plan to make a lot of them or you just really want to do it for the experience. If you only want one or two it's usually cheaper to buy kits. I usually spend around $500 on a mold all totalled, including the stirrers, mixing buckets, drop cloth, gloves, etc... But I've gotten 60 - 70 helmets out of a mold with no degradation.

Speaking of gloves: It's REALLY important to read the paperwork with the silicone. For instance, latex will inhibit curing. So if you have latex gloves it can ruin your mold. Make sure to use vinyl or nitrile.

The stormy helmets were designed for vac forming so they come out great that way. Some people have done vac formed Boba helmets... It looks OK, but the details are all too soft really. Plus, if you don't already have a vac table that's WAY more expensive than the molding. My former was a few thousand to build.

I use smooth-on's 65D resin for the helmets.

Slush casting - YouTube

I don't usually cast them myself... I'm not nearly as good at it as my friend Sean. He's done a couple hundred hand slushed helmets and is a master at the craft now. They come out smoother inside than commercially rotocast products I've bought!!
 
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