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Species Western Dragon
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It's been a while since I posted about my fursuit making adventures, but be sure that I've been working hard! These are my very first two test pulls using my fancy-pants new platinum cure silicone mold.
Links to what I used on the bottom vvv
My mold was made with Smooth-On's Rebound 25. I did three coats, but four would have been better. There were thin parts on the tip of the nose and eyebrows because gravity made it fall away from the high points. Next time, I will anticipate this and apply some thickened silicone to those parts using thi-vex. I am a moron and forgot to make registration keys, d'oh! I did fine without them, but I'm not taking that risk again. This stuff doesn't stick to jack shit; it's great. You don't need a mold release, but I read somewhere once that using it anyway helps your mold last longer, so I used some. It was some all-purpose spray stuff I got from tap plastics.
My jacket mold is made of plaster strips, also bought from Smooth-On. FAR superior to the stuff you buy from the craft store. The way I made it is so improper and embarrassing that I won't even tell you what it looks like. Follow someone else's tutorial...
The mask on the left I just made (I still smell like resin, gross) using polyester resin and a plain weave fiberglass. It is super lightweight and was surprisingly easy to make. I need to work out how to avoid bubbles in complex parts like around the nostrils and eyebrows. The lip is solid resin. Practice makes perfect, I suppose!
The one on the right is made of Smooth-On's Smooth Cast 325, which is easily colored using So-Strong tints. I did white, grey, black with my coats, but I should have done white, white black to get a whiter outside. You can see where it pooled in the low points. Slush casting, especially with something that sets up so fast, takes practice. It was pretty easy, and fun! It is very soft for a while after setting up, so I should have let it harden fully in the mold, because leaving it on a table overnight warped the outer edges. Oh well.
I am having fun, WHILE WEARING A RESPIRATOR AND GLOVES (despite how hot is outside). THIS SHIT IS NASTY. I was a bad girl and didn't wear any protection while making my silicone mold, but it had zero odor... Protip: you can get the polyester resin off your skin (and tools) using acetone nail polish remover.
Polyester resin from TAP plastics (with catalyst, of course)
Smooth-on's Rebound 25 brush-on silicone, good stuff!
Smooth-Cast 325. The other Smooth-Cast 300 series products will also work spectacularly.
So-Strong color tints in black and white. Please note: This stuff will make your urethane be flexible for longer. Be careful when demolding. If you're really worried, just don't use it.
I bought my smooth-on products directly from their website and paid out the ass for shipping. Next time, I will roadtrip to or order from a California-based distributor. There is a TAP real close to where I live, so that's no problem for me.
Ask questions, I'll answer 'em!
Links to what I used on the bottom vvv
My mold was made with Smooth-On's Rebound 25. I did three coats, but four would have been better. There were thin parts on the tip of the nose and eyebrows because gravity made it fall away from the high points. Next time, I will anticipate this and apply some thickened silicone to those parts using thi-vex. I am a moron and forgot to make registration keys, d'oh! I did fine without them, but I'm not taking that risk again. This stuff doesn't stick to jack shit; it's great. You don't need a mold release, but I read somewhere once that using it anyway helps your mold last longer, so I used some. It was some all-purpose spray stuff I got from tap plastics.
My jacket mold is made of plaster strips, also bought from Smooth-On. FAR superior to the stuff you buy from the craft store. The way I made it is so improper and embarrassing that I won't even tell you what it looks like. Follow someone else's tutorial...
The mask on the left I just made (I still smell like resin, gross) using polyester resin and a plain weave fiberglass. It is super lightweight and was surprisingly easy to make. I need to work out how to avoid bubbles in complex parts like around the nostrils and eyebrows. The lip is solid resin. Practice makes perfect, I suppose!
The one on the right is made of Smooth-On's Smooth Cast 325, which is easily colored using So-Strong tints. I did white, grey, black with my coats, but I should have done white, white black to get a whiter outside. You can see where it pooled in the low points. Slush casting, especially with something that sets up so fast, takes practice. It was pretty easy, and fun! It is very soft for a while after setting up, so I should have let it harden fully in the mold, because leaving it on a table overnight warped the outer edges. Oh well.
I am having fun, WHILE WEARING A RESPIRATOR AND GLOVES (despite how hot is outside). THIS SHIT IS NASTY. I was a bad girl and didn't wear any protection while making my silicone mold, but it had zero odor... Protip: you can get the polyester resin off your skin (and tools) using acetone nail polish remover.
Polyester resin from TAP plastics (with catalyst, of course)
Smooth-on's Rebound 25 brush-on silicone, good stuff!
Smooth-Cast 325. The other Smooth-Cast 300 series products will also work spectacularly.
So-Strong color tints in black and white. Please note: This stuff will make your urethane be flexible for longer. Be careful when demolding. If you're really worried, just don't use it.
I bought my smooth-on products directly from their website and paid out the ass for shipping. Next time, I will roadtrip to or order from a California-based distributor. There is a TAP real close to where I live, so that's no problem for me.
Ask questions, I'll answer 'em!
Category All / Fursuit
Species Western Dragon
Size 800 x 1072px
File Size 1.07 MB
Listed in Folders
Thanks! The long write-up is just me being a chatterbox :P. Mold making is a little intimidating, but it's pretty easy once you break it all down into steps. The tutorial I learned from is by Qarrezel over heeeere http://qarrezel.deviantart.com/gallery/7080403
I actually found that fiberglass is more tedious than slush casting urethane resin. Fiberglass will be strong as heeeeeck, but you have to do a lot more after it's done to file down all the pointy bits. The process is also a lot more labor intensive. For my final mask, I'm using urethane resins. Why do you want to do fiberglass?
Oh! Just thought of something: You can sand fiberglass to a shiny finish, but it's near impossible to sand urethane resin nicely; I've tried.
Oh! Just thought of something: You can sand fiberglass to a shiny finish, but it's near impossible to sand urethane resin nicely; I've tried.
i want fiber glass cause it dosent warp with heat, light weight, and really strong.
did you use fiberglass mat? or just the resin?
your mold looks really nice btw.
ive only ever cast craft resin.
but im sure another kind would work, i would rather take the time to have some thing durable tho.
i love your fursona have you decided materials for your body suit yet?
did you use fiberglass mat? or just the resin?
your mold looks really nice btw.
ive only ever cast craft resin.
but im sure another kind would work, i would rather take the time to have some thing durable tho.
i love your fursona have you decided materials for your body suit yet?
Just the resin would be too brittle! The process I used was a thin slush coat of resin to get a skin on it, resin mixed with micro bubble filler to fill in tough spots like the lip and around the nostrils, then two layers of fiberglass (and resin, of course). I found that twill weave is more flexible, but sheds more than plain weave.
Yeah, I have picked materials for my body suit! I'm going to use matte milliskin, because I think regular spandex looks too... spandex. The best stuff I've swatched comes from here: http://www.nyfashioncenterfabrics.c.....ic.html#ibtabs
spandexworld.com sells something cheaper, but I found it to be much thinner than the stuff from NY Fashion Center. I'll airbrush the green on, and for the orange plate scales, I'm going to do some tests. Right now, I want to try using the exact same techniques people use for silicone paw pads. I haven't gotten that far in my testing.
Yeah, I have picked materials for my body suit! I'm going to use matte milliskin, because I think regular spandex looks too... spandex. The best stuff I've swatched comes from here: http://www.nyfashioncenterfabrics.c.....ic.html#ibtabs
spandexworld.com sells something cheaper, but I found it to be much thinner than the stuff from NY Fashion Center. I'll airbrush the green on, and for the orange plate scales, I'm going to do some tests. Right now, I want to try using the exact same techniques people use for silicone paw pads. I haven't gotten that far in my testing.
yeah i was looking for a thick spandex, but i might do a stretch velvet, im starting to think if i want fiber glass i might buy a mask and make my own body suit.
some one on the fashion center fabrics said it snags and im sure i might bump in to things and snag it ahh so im still looking it to it i might order a swatch tho and try to see how much it takes to break it
some one on the fashion center fabrics said it snags and im sure i might bump in to things and snag it ahh so im still looking it to it i might order a swatch tho and try to see how much it takes to break it
Yeah man, swatches are great. Spandexworld took goddamned forever to send me my swatches, but they were free, so myeh. I didn't read the snags bit; I will have to be careful.
stretchy.org is where I am learning how to make a bodysuit. I just finished my prototype one using his directions for a zipperless one. Yay!
What kind of a critter are you going to make?
http://www.spandexwear.com/home.php
These guys sell a plain spandex-y spandex that is SUPER thick.
stretchy.org is where I am learning how to make a bodysuit. I just finished my prototype one using his directions for a zipperless one. Yay!
What kind of a critter are you going to make?
http://www.spandexwear.com/home.php
These guys sell a plain spandex-y spandex that is SUPER thick.
im makeing a Japanese squirrel, its just like a red squirrel but dark brown/black, i have my very own zentai suit so i going to used that pattern to make another one cause it fits me perfect its only a 2 way stretch fabric
i know what i want knida with the look of my suit i dont really care tho as long as its cute
i know what i want knida with the look of my suit i dont really care tho as long as its cute
oh i looked and i see how they do the zipperless one ^.^ like a zipperless pillow case, well i was going to alter my pattern so there would not be seams on the outside of the legs, so i probably could not do that, a zipper would be better cause of the seam in the middle of the back, thanks for all your help so far, im still contenplateing plastic vrs fiber glass, but im starting to feel i would rather make it my self, at least i can start with a body suit while im still saving money to make the head
With the pattern I got from stretchy.org, there were no seams on the outside of the legs or body, just the inseam, front and back. Though I was using a 4-way stretch fabric...
I bought a "trial size" of smooth cast, and it was more than enough to make two pulls and do some experimenting to get used to the material. I think you can squeak three pulls out of one trial size just fine. A trial size of Rebound was also plenty. It took me about one and a third packs of 8" by 5yds plaster strips to make my support shell, but my support shell isn't very good...
A lot of the stuff I've learned about this process comes from...
http://qarrezel.deviantart.com/gallery/7080403 <---- dis
http://volpinprops.blogspot.com/ <---- and reading the near-entirety of this blog :P
I am still learning all this myself, but I'm always happy to talk about what I've learned!
I bought a "trial size" of smooth cast, and it was more than enough to make two pulls and do some experimenting to get used to the material. I think you can squeak three pulls out of one trial size just fine. A trial size of Rebound was also plenty. It took me about one and a third packs of 8" by 5yds plaster strips to make my support shell, but my support shell isn't very good...
A lot of the stuff I've learned about this process comes from...
http://qarrezel.deviantart.com/gallery/7080403 <---- dis
http://volpinprops.blogspot.com/ <---- and reading the near-entirety of this blog :P
I am still learning all this myself, but I'm always happy to talk about what I've learned!
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