Koda Vonnor

Thanks for the fast re-post, Pam. Wow... That's.... mildy deflating. Kinda puts me back to the design phase again. I looked at Thomas' Ganner Krieg armor project pix and it looks like the shoulders are about 1/2" thick. I just assumed he made them out of fiberglass laminate as well as the body plates (which I see now on second look are thinner in the non-cosmetic areas). What did he use to cast the shoulders and handguards? Is there some other casting material that I might try on the shoulders? They still need to be light, but they do need to be thicker. (Need to "build up" the look of my skinny arms and shoulders) Is there some kind of foam or something that can be layed-up in a non-level mold like the shoulders will be? Something with more viscosity? Or is there something that could be used to build up the thinner fiberglass "shells" after they are cast? Make them a bit thicker? I've thought about maybe building up the insides with softer foam rubber, to add a bit of bulk and padding, and help keep them from shifting during normal arm movement, but I still need to make them thicker at the edges at least. I guess I could fill the "shells" with clay post-casting to shape the insides, then cast separate "bottoms" but man, I'd really like to avoid all the extra crafting if at all possible. ~ Koda

Does anyone here know the relationship between fiberglass cloth/mat and the thickness of the finished product? I need the shoulder bells to be about 1/2" - 5/8" thick, and the Breastplate to appear to be about 5/8" thick. I'm not too worried about the BP, as I can just make the edges look thicker, while leaving the middle section thinner. Nobody will see the back side of it. With the bells though, the top edges will ride about an inch off my shoulders, and the underside may be visible at that point. What thickness/weight of glass (mat, cloth, veil, it's all confusing to me still.. ) do people use? How many layers would it take to make the casting 1/2" thick? How flexible is the mat? How much thicker is the mat than cloth? Any clues on this are greatly appreciated, as I'm not sure what materials to get. Thanks all! ~ Koda

I look forward to seeing this one, VS. ...for obvious reasons... ~ Koda

What about sealing the plaster mold the same way as the clay? I thought I read something (in a wild gooling frenzy) about doing something like that. Then maybe some general spray release agent. I have seen them at Smooth-On and those type of websites. Any stuff you might recommend for plaster -> fiberglass release? ~ Koda

Thank you very much for the info, Scott. I will be using polyester resin laminated with fiberglass cloth. I bought some gel-cote in black and white so I can mix up a silver/gray base color for the final pieces. I guess I was most interested in how to prep the clay before I make the mold. So after the krylon crystal clear coating on the clay, and the vaseline coating on the exposed plaster, I'll still need a mold release on the clay, over top of the Krylon coat? Or were you talking about what to put in the mold before I start laying in the Gel-Cote? I'm not too concerned with keeping the first plaster molds, as I will be making final molds of the hard-masters after I sand them all down smooth, but before I paint them. Those master molds will most likely be rubber, backed with plaster. I probably will finish and wear the hard masters though, rather than re-cast them in the master molds, since I'm lazy. I'll keep the final molds just in case. ~ BC

We have lots of great info here about making silicon and other flexible molds, but what about rigid molds? Does anybody have any tips or advice on those? I have an armor project that is under way. I have taken plaster casts and am laying on the clay and shaping the armor plates. After I'm done with the clay, I'd like to make molds of the pieces. I'm having a hard time finding info about making rigid plaster molds from oil-clay models. Does it need some kind of release agent? If so, is there something that can be sprayed on that will not ruin the re-usability of the clay? Is there something that can be washed off both the model and the mold? Would soap-based agents be sprayable? Would brushing on an agent leave brush marks in the mold? I will be making layered fiberglass casts for all pieces, some of which will have slight undercut edges. All pieces will have non-cosmetic back surfaces, but none of these surfaces will be flat or level. Is this doable in a rigid mold or would a flexible mold work better? Also, what are "mold walls?" I heard Thomas mention those in his project description, but have no idea what he meant. Any help or advice on this step would be greatly appreciated. ~ Koda

Thanks Pam. I do plan on doing the shoulders first and trying out the velcro trick on those. I hope I can post progress pix up here (even though it's not an Imp costume) as it applies to fiberglass crafting. ~ BC

I am attempting a breastplate and shoulder bells for a Rahm Kota (yeah I know he's not Imperial ) costume. I'm going to try fiberglass with either polyester or vinyl resin. (Which of those makes a lighter cast, does anybody know?) I'm struggling with just how to attach these pieces to the wearer as there is no backplate to the armor set. I wondered if anybody has tried to bond velcro loop material right into the sticky resin, so that when it sets up it has the soft strips all around the inside edges of the plate. That would make attaching straps (elastic or rigid) a lot easier. Would the velcro material soak up enough resin to bond it to the piece, or would it pull right off when the resin was cured? Any ideas? Also, what would a 16" x 14" x 1/4" fiberglass breastplate weigh? I don't have a clue. Many thanks! ~ Bill C.

Hi Thomas, I don't know if you remember me, but I wore Kyle Katarn for CIV. I am attempting to create a Rahm Kota for D*C08 and CV. I have never done any sculpting, mold-making, or casting, and there were a couple of things about your described process that elude me. Re: Step 1 above, what did you use to reinforce your duct-tape mannequin (DTM) so it would hold shape while you applied the clay for the armor plates? Did you plaster-cast the whole shebang while the clay was still on the DTM? Re: Step 4, what are "mold walls?" Many thanks for your help, Maestro. I am being driven, albeit slowly and methodically, into new crafting territory by this costume... ~ Bill Costigan