Make a cast of a cardboard helmet with plaster?

Icedevil

Well-Known Hunter
So I'm working on a scratchbuilt helmet made out of duct tape, cardboard, and copy paper, yay! I just want to make a cast out of it somehow to just get the basic shape of it and then work on the finer details on that cast because details in cardboard don't work out so well. Should I just maybe slather some plaster on it or use plaster bandages or something else. I'm open to any and all suggestions. pics are at http://community.webshots.com/album/420924630GUYeNz I'm hoping that plaster won't made the duct tape come loose, because that's all that's really holding this together
 
Plaster will work, but the weight of it may crush you sculpt.


I see where you are going there, and would like to suggest that corrugated cardboard is not the type of material for you. It is the very nature of the corrugating that makes it not want to bend very well. If you tried this again in a card stock, or even a thin styrene, I think you will have better luck.

Back to the mold: a plaster mold will work fine for you, especially if the srface of the model wasn't perfect. The plaster can be cleaned up and sanded to clean up what didn't work well in the model.

good luck on your project
 
Hi:D ,Ive made similar stuff before using card ,one being a fett lid to get size and shape right before i vac.

i started with a ring of card that would go round my head and built it up from there ,when the side panels were in place the dome was made with first, a strip of card going over the top from ear to ear ,this pulls it in to shape ,then one from front to back ,both approx 1/2 inch wide.Then fillin the gaps with more strips until there is only small gaps left ,then get kitchen roll or strips of newspaper and use P V A [the white ,water based glue they let you play with in school,available in any hardware store,wood glue]and glue the strips or kitchen roll stuff on till you got about 2 layers .
now you have a soggy structure with dents between the card strips ...leave this to dry overnight .Get CHEAP INTERIOR FILLER from the d i y shop [hardware store]...damn cheap, around a quid something[£]and mix a thickish load on a piece of scrap card.[get some filler powder on the scrap card and stick your finger in the top of the pile to make a well,then add water in to it and mix]...the best tool to use is a pallet knife ,the blunt kinda knife that may be around to spread stuff like butter with.
Carefully add water to the filler till it is fully mixed and doesnt sag much under its own weight [holds its shape],now just pick it up on the pallet knife and spread it over the dry dome of yer lid.Spend a bit of time doing this and when its as good as it'll get ,get a flat wide paintbrush[about an inch ]and dip it in water ,use this to smooth the filler until your happy then leave to dry again,next WHEN DRY ,you could gouge out the dent and touch up any airholes or general glitches with some more filler .When your happy and its dry again ,sand it with sandpaper .
Corragated card is useful for structure but make the outer panels from MOUNTING CARD available from art shops .
Cereal boxes and similar are also usefull to "skin" things with as well as mix filler on as they have a varnished side .
Finally spray lightly with car primer [GREY is best]to bring it all into one colour and show the glitches that need to be worked out .
Hope this helps:)
:cheers
 
I'd make a mold of it in silicone, or somthing and then cast that in plaster, I've made lightsaber pieces from plaster before its quite easy I'd imagine if you made a cast of your helmet in plaster it would be moderately easy to fix up etc.
 
icedevil

hi

i done exactly the same as you. i made my bucket from card etc and then after coating in vaseline i covered the whole thing plaster cast bandages. i then had to cut the whole thing in two to be left with the two cast moulds. i then cast mine in resin mortor so i had something more rigid to work on (see 'my unfinished project' in the helmet forum).

i plan to now repeat the process but with fibreglass.
 
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