How my wonderful husband made my moon shaped piece

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I'm finally getting around to posting info on how I did some of the different aspects of my costume - I hope it doesn't sound presumptuous - just wanted to make sure I am giving back since I got so much from this forum!

Cris sculpted the moon shaped piece and hanging thingies from ren-shape. The renshape is fragile so he then molded them and made resin casts.

Here is a pic of my finished one next to a resin cast:
image-display


As you can see, the finished shape of the hanging parts is a bit different from the resin cast. This is due to the method used to hang them. We didn't want to cut the resin to fit the different pieces together so Cris 1) cut the top out of the circle - this left the top in a "U" shape 2) he put a wood screw vertically into each of the arms of the "U"; 3) he attached a wire to one screw, threaded the wire through the hole in the moon shaped piece, and then attached it to the second screw 4) he then used bondo to cover the screws and wire. We didn't take progress shots (our bad) so here is a drawing of what it looked like:
image-display


The original casting had a flat back on the hanging pieces. The new casting you see in the first pic above has two "half-casts" of the hanging pieces placed back to back. We are working on an easier way to hang them - maybe by sandwiching something between the two pieces. We are also wanting to use a method that retains more of the shape of the original resin pieces.

To attach everything together, Cris used a piece of aluminum bent in a hook shape. He screwed the little moon shaped piece into the aluminum (black arrow) and then used two screws to attach the larger moon-shaped piece (white arrow). The piece then just hooks over the top of the cumberbund:
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I painted it using the same technique I used on everything else: flat back primer, Testor's silver spray paint. Weathered with watered down black Glossies acrylic paint brushed on and then sponged off. Here is what it looks like on the costume (The Boba is Boba Max and the Jango is Steve from Richies Armor):
image-display


Hopefully that made sense - feel free to PM me or post here if you have questions!

:zam Kim
 
Those are some real nice pics. FANTASTIC COSTUMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Hey Kim? What are you using for the jumpsuit in that picture?
 
That jumpsuit is a cotton lycra piece that I had custom made by renaissancedancewear.com

It took about a month's turnaround time and cost approximately $200.

:) Kim
 
whoah! all of our pictures are gone!

I'll have to re-upload them :(

In the mean time- here is some progress we have made on upgrading Kim's hanging parts to the double sided ones.

Instead of the screw and wire method, I poured half of the mold laying flat, and then stuck some bent wire into the wet resin. (simulated here:)

splitmold.jpg


then after it solidified, I put the other half of the mold on, and poured the rest of the resin around the wire and filling in the reverse side.

newhangthing.jpg


Now we can just bend the wire through the moon piece, and cover with propoxy or bondo etc and paint! This was alot easier than the previous method.

hanging.jpg




-cris
 
What did you guys use to make the molds out of for the resin? I've sculpted a couple of pieces and I'd like to make molds of them and use resin, I'm just not sure what to use for the actual mold. The only molding I've done has been with clay and plaster and I don't think that'll work well for this.
Thanks!

~ Kat
 
Kat,

In the pics above, you can see the blue silicone-RTV that we use. We get it from FX Solution (www.fxsolution.net). The kind we get is called 1065. The 1065 is very durable and is therefore good if you want to get multiple pieces out of a mold. It is somewhat difficult to measure as it requires a 10-1 ratio of silicone to catalyst. The 1065 is $135 for a gallon of silicone plus a bottle of catalyst.

You can get a similar kind from MicroMark that isn't quite as durable but is very easy to measure (it requires a 1-1 mixture). It is item #82083 and costs $26.95 for two quarts.

MicroMark also sells an almost two-quart kit of high-tear resistance silicone. We've not tried because we use enough to justify purchasing the gallon from FX Solution. If you don't need a whole gallon though...

There are lots of other places to get silicone too but these are the ones that we've used and have personal experience with.

:) Kim & Cris
 
Hey cris... i thought RTV meant Room Temprature Vulcanization.. meaning, no catalyst was needed to make it harden (like silicone caulking).. i could be wrong though... i often am :confused

also... many people use GI-1000 silicone as it's very durable, long lasting and somewhate easy to work with. I think it's a bit cheaper then what cris was mentioning - at about $80/gal. But this is also a 10:1 mix (by weight). Get yourself a triple beam balance (the kind you prolly used in science class and all the druggie kids wanted to steal :facepalm - - you can get em cheap off eBay.).

Some people may tell you that you need an air chamber to remove the trapped air bubbles - but i ave never had a problem with tis. The trick is to pour it onto the item being cast in a small stream - to let the air escape. The cure time is 24 hours -so you have plenty of time to pour it :)

They sell this silicone online at Vagabond but you may find it at a local industrial supply place where you live - and save on shipping (yeah!)
 
Another good source for RTV and Resin is smoothon.com. Great prices and great service. They have a technical staff that can help you decide what to order. They even called me one day after an order to tell me that my order might be wrong because of the combination of stuff I was ordering. I had actually ordered the right stuff because the two things I was ordering were for two different projects but it made me glad to know they were looking out for me and not just pushing stuff out the door.
 
HMMM, maybe you are right. I always refer to it as RTV because that's what they called it in the micromark catalog. However, I do know that the room temperature part just means that it does not require extreme HEAT to cure. Just mix in the catalyst and wait. Our's cures in about 4 hours on a warm if you get the mix right. (longer if it's chilly out, you under catalyze or do not mix it thoroughly.)

I have heard lots of people recommend the GI 1000 stuff, but since we have no experience ordering or using it, I didn't think it would be much help.

I do not have a whole lot of molding experience in general, so I am not an expert on prices or techniques. If there are lower cost supplies out there- I'm on it! We got this particular kind because we knew someone who had lots of success with it, and we could go drive and pick it up the same day (bonus getting ready for Comicon!)

If anyone else has any good advice, please chime in!

-cris
 
for your information, yes. why do you care? man. I'm deleting that pm you sent me. i will NEVER talk to you again. Admin staff, last post was 4 years ago, and if its ok with migrate from as you wish, delete this thread.
 
for your information, yes. why do you care? man. I'm deleting that pm you sent me. i will NEVER talk to you again. Admin staff, last post was 4 years ago, and if its ok with migrate from as you wish, delete this thread.
What are you talking about? I never sent you a PM, so don't try to make me look bad.

You basically posted bragging about bringing the thread back, which isn't right.
 
for your information, yes. why do you care? man. I'm deleting that pm you sent me. i will NEVER talk to you again. Admin staff, last post was 4 years ago, and if its ok with migrate from as you wish, delete this thread.


hahahahahahahaha

dont bring threads back, its not funny, nor cool so dont bother, some people already do that here

and he probably didnt even send you a PM, your just trying to get people on your side hahahaha
 
YOU SO DID! remember this?! "hi, i saw you on the forums and thought you could use some help on building your coustume. my aim is GCNgamer128.good luck!" SEE?! I WAS TELLING THE TRUTH! and dont lie and say "nuh, i never sent you that gosh" if you do, its a LIE.
 
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