My Contribution to TDH

Yay! It's fairly warm outside, so i don't have to pickle myself in chemicals indoors :)

I'll be putting the fiberglass jacket on sometime today, will take pictures!
 
Well, the jacket is finally done, the British weather held off for me, though I put up an umbrella just in case.

So I started using this kit my dad gave me and was merrily wetting the fiberglass matting when I started to notice that my brush was getting stiffer and the stuff was coming out like jelly. One mad scramble later and I realised I was not going to finish up with this.

So I had to get some more matting and some of my casting resin and finish off... let's see if you can guess where the free stuff stops and my stuff starts... :)

Frontjacket.jpg


Anyhoo, I realised I had to be quick with this stuff and stopped wetting the stuff on a piece of card, but wetting it in on top of the model, still had to pour another pot though when the first started to gel up. Used bigger pieces of fiberglass mat for the dome area to speed up the process.

Rearjacket.jpg


I've found some bolts, but the resin hasn't cured on the rear enough to put the drill through. Once that has done I will be trimming the mold and bolting the bad boy up! :)

I'll have a wander through TDH and see what's been going on.
 

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Yup, loads of progress now, I have pulled the shells away from the RTV and pulled the master out of the mold, as expected, some of the cardboard parts of the master didn't survive very well and I will have to fix it if I ever need to make a master mold again. That's not for today, so I've cleaned up the RTV but it is a little on the thin side, I will certainly be needing that thickening agent.

I also made a few mistakes with the fiberglass jacket, as the rubber is thin, it tends to fold away from the fiberglass shell when I am trying to fit it into it, so, next time, not only will I put bolts to keep the two halves together, I will place screws in at the base to ensure the mold is placed correctly.

I had to spend a good 20 minutes getting it right so I could place the screws in.

But enough of me, here's the master mold

Innerdetail1.jpg


Imageinner2.jpg


I will have to make a copy from this mold and work on it I am afraid, as I found a bubble one of the key slots. I may try fill this in with PVA glue though, I haven't decided yet, but I want to make sure that the final cast will be perfect, so I need to have a master that won't fall apart on me.

Inside.jpg


I will be really careful when I give the process a go tomorrow to ensure that I get a perfect cast!

Edit:

I ended up using a latex based glue to fill in the two air bubbles, though it isn't the best solution, it will be good enough for the one cast.

I will also do my cold cast experiments with this mold too.
 

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Hey guys,

The gelcoat has been placed in the mold and I am waiting for it to dry before I attack it with a second layer.

Will then mix up some resin "mud", which is basically resin and glass balls to strengthen the areas that might tear the fiber when pulled (the indents and the ear pieces mostly!)

Just checked the thickness of my Stormtrooper and it really isn't that thick, so I will ensure that the whole thing is coated in fiber.

It will make a great experiment for doing the real ones, to make sure that I do this correctly and with quality!

Will be off teaching wrestling today, so I may not get to show you till later tonight.
 
Hi guys,

Well, the first attempt was made, but it wasn't as successful as I'd liked. I don't think I fitted the rubber mold into the jacket correctly and the dome near the ear pieces warped.

I was also late for wrestling and I began to rush the job, the result? Airholes!

I didn't have any pigment to put in the gelcoat, but here are the shots, the red circle is a massive hole on the cheek plate, I think I did this trying to get a hair out.

If I have time I will make a second attempt tomorrow, but this time I will ensure that the mold is fitted correctly and I take my time with the process.

Helm1.jpg


helm2.jpg


helm3.jpg
 

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I'm having issues, the second one came out with a bump as well, so I'm going to have to go back to the drawing board with this and see if I can come up with a solution.

Problem is that the mold seems to sag into recesses in the jacket it appears.

Grr.
 
Saz, I didnt know you were casting a mould, this is great work, I'm gonna watch this one so I can learn how you did this, I wanna try to copy my custom once I finish it. I just got the dome covered in bondo, gotta just make the custom cheeks and wrap.

I just thought of something.... YOU CAN MAKE A MANDO BUCKET LAMP SHADE, seriously, that bucket you got there is just transparent enough to put one of those color changing LED party bulbs.

Both of my buckets are made from cardboard and glass so no transparency, but yours is a resin cast and it looks cool.
 
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gotta say, looks good. i myself have wanted to cast stuff and seeing a brave soul as your self really encourages me to try it out.... i am also curious as to what you are gunna do with the resined screw ups?
 
I'll see, I know my nieces want a gold and turquois helmet after seeing me make it, so one will go to them, the other will probably be used in an attempt to get a good master sorted.

It was raining today, so I will try tomorrow to get a smooth dome sorted.
 
how much did you spend on the goop? I wanna copy my custom when I'm done. Hop on over to my thread to see my progress and concept (remember the luke were gonna have company, that's me ;) )
 
It's not a cheap hobby!

The RTV is expensive, the good stuff was £40 for a 2 litre tin, which will get you about 3 or 4 coats, I learned that you need to add a thickener and an accellerant to keep the stuff from dripping off and sloughing to the bottom.

A 5 litre tub of resin is about £30 and the gel coat is about £30 for a 2 litre tin, I recommend you get the pigmented stuff as you cannot see where you have missed and it can leave holes in the finished piece.

You will also need micro glass balls to make a resin mud, can't remember how much that cost.

It's all about experimentation though, my next task is to go for a resin only attempt, which will be thin, but I am hoping that it will not sag the mold in the places I am having problems with, I want to get a perfect dome cast, and I may just cast the dome, then glue it to one of the earlier casts and bondo it back together.

Either way, it's not going to be a short time before I get anywhere near perfect casting.

It's all very new to me but I am learning by my mistakes though!
 
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wow, kind of expensive, but the rtv is what i need to copy my bucket, then make a glass and resin support correct?
After you put on the rtv, you made thick areas along the center so you could cut it apart after the glassing right? I've seen some moulding on youtube, but just wanna be sure.

Did you cut your mould apart or only your glass support?

I would have to get the stuff a little at a time, then make the mould, but with your info, I am sure I can do it.
 
I'll summarise what I have done later when I have it right, but you are basically correct, you need to ensure you have the right tools for the job though.

As for mine, I've realised that "somehow" the RTV has stretched and there is a sag, which explains the wobbly head part. I think I will repair the original and start again :(

I might sell off the other helmet off for cost, but it's a bit of a nightmare.
 
Let me make 100% sure that it would be wise to send it away and I'll post some pics of it for you. The left earpiece is bent and everything!

I'm going to take a quick break from it for a couple of days, get my money making work sorted and then get back on it.
 
How about looking at it as though it's 1 months unpaid vacation? :)
I like the sound of vacation :lol:
dont like the sound of unpaid :(
but I hope to get my 401k cashed out this week or next to pay the bills one more time then start getting a paycheck commin in soon :rolleyes
 
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