Making gauntlets....

[RBF]

Here is what you do but it will cost money.
First pour Silicone rubber into the plaster molds and i mean fill them completely.
Once the Silicone has set up remove the solid Silicone positives and don't worry if you have to destroy the plaster (and or Ultracal) in the process.
Now you have 2 Silicone positives.
Flip them on their backs so they look like your original sculptures.
Brush layers of Liquid Latex over both of them to create jackets of rubber. Silicone will not stick to Latex.
Brush enough latex to cover any undercuts and be patient letting each layer dry completely.
Now you can back that with either strips of plaster bandages or Ultracal for support.
When it's all dry flip it over and remove the Silicone positive.
Now you can fiberglass into the Latex mold as many gauntlets as you want.
Remember once you start glassing to use a mold release on the latex.
Keep the silicone positives in a plastic bag in a dark area for creating future molds as the Latex ones wear out.

that's very cool advise!! thnx

I have a question though... how do you deal with self curing and thus shrinking latex? or is there a different latex that won't shrink when curing?


awesome gaunt sculpts by the way!!

 

[Boba Maltz]

Thanks man always nice to help help out.
Two things can help with the shrinkage.
1) When you feel you have brushed on enough latex to capture all the details and undercuts you could dip strips of cheese cloth into latex and apply them all over as one of the final layers.
2) Using that mold release liberally.
Personally I really wouldn’t bother with the cheese cloth thing and just accept that with a latex mold you’re only going to get maybe 10 good pulls. You’ll always have your silicone positives to create new molds anyways.
If you imbed the latex with cheese cloth on a complex shape it might be hard to pull the rubber off of the positive.
The use of Silicone as a mold in the first place is your best way to go.
I know everything in my last post sounds like a lot of work but it’s worth it.
A good rule of thumb anytime you make a mold of something (if it’s not too huge) is to make Epoxy masters as your first pull. Then in the future you can always pull new molds off of those.

 

[Kivas]

great work, and great info

 

[psych0ticmisfit]

what type of clay should be used for something like this? i have been wanting to sculpt some things and cast them in resin or fiberglass. but im not sure what clay to use to sculpt them.

can anyone help me?

 

[Boba Maltz]

I know a lot of people go out of their way to use an oil based clay but it's really not necessary especially on a large piece..
For large projects you can use a water based clay like AdmFrancis did here.
It’s cheaper and you would be surprised at the amount of detail you can get from it.
I use a water based clay called WED Clay that Walt Disney formulated for his Imagineers
It has a super smooth consistency and if you keep your project damp with a spray bottle and covered with a plastic trash bag you can work on it for months.
For hard line sculptures like the gauntlets I sometimes do a quick and dirty sculpture, pull a mold and cast the piece up in resin or fiberglass and then do all my finish work on that with auto body filler or a two part putty like Magic-Sculp.
BM