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Post by Supersaurus on Sept 30, 2009 14:21:08 GMT -5
A thread dedicated to the discussion of casting with foam latex or silicone for the creation of animatronic skins.
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Post by dinoslayer on Oct 1, 2009 3:38:43 GMT -5
I have some questions: - How do you do rotocasting? - Does the method work with rubbery materials like latex and silicone? I know SWS casted (and still casts) organic character skins in mask-like forms before pulling them over the animatronic rigs. I thought of something like that but in smaller scale (think hand/rod puppet scale). - You told me that casting hollow rubber skin needs a core piece to the mold. So how does this core piece actually work? That's been a bit unclear to me. Does it restrict the volume that the foam latex takes and by that way make it a balloon-like hollow piece of skin they have used in JP? I'd see lots of potential for this method in smaller scale hand puppets, stop motion and rod puppets.
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Post by jpdude11 on Oct 1, 2009 23:03:19 GMT -5
I have some questions: - How do you do rotocasting? - Does the method work with rubbery materials like latex and silicone? I know SWS casted (and still casts) organic character skins in mask-like forms before pulling them over the animatronic rigs. I thought of something like that but in smaller scale (think hand/rod puppet scale). - You told me that casting hollow rubber skin needs a core piece to the mold. So how does this core piece actually work? That's been a bit unclear to me. Does it restrict the volume that the foam latex takes and by that way make it a balloon-like hollow piece of skin they have used in JP? I'd see lots of potential for this method in smaller scale hand puppets, stop motion and rod puppets. you nailed all my questions exept for one: what pakaging does the latex come in?
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Post by Supersaurus on Oct 2, 2009 13:21:26 GMT -5
I have some questions: - How do you do rotocasting? - Does the method work with rubbery materials like latex and silicone? I know SWS casted (and still casts) organic character skins in mask-like forms before pulling them over the animatronic rigs. I thought of something like that but in smaller scale (think hand/rod puppet scale). - You told me that casting hollow rubber skin needs a core piece to the mold. So how does this core piece actually work? That's been a bit unclear to me. Does it restrict the volume that the foam latex takes and by that way make it a balloon-like hollow piece of skin they have used in JP? I'd see lots of potential for this method in smaller scale hand puppets, stop motion and rod puppets. "How do you do rotocasting?"Rota casting (or slosh casting) is basically holding the mold in your hand and after adding a little resin, rotate/turn the mold so the resin runs across the surface giving it a coating. You will need to build up several coats to get a suitable thickness, and should be done as the previous coat is gelling. You need to work out the right amount to do this so none is wasted, and is always best to add a little less than too much so the coats remain neat. If you add too much resin per coat, you may get messy results as too much resin is trying to 'latch' to the surfaces and just falls away as you rotate the mold. This results in hard strands of resin across the open spaces inside the mold. This method works for plaster and molten oil-based clay too! ;D "Does the method work with rubbery materials like latex and silicone for producing animatronic masks?" Foam latex, silicone or any other rubber produced for animatronics are poured and/or injected into a mold with an insert/core piece made out of plaster or fibre reinforced plastics and then baked in an oven for several hours to cure from a pourable liquid to a spongy-like material. To make a very cheap basic mask that could be worn and used to some degree with animatronic work, there're some types of casting rubber available, but I have no experience with them. I think one is a polyurethane rubber. I'm not sure how these are used though. There's also a very cheap molding rubber called latex. This is usually used in producing small molds for plaster work. No good for animatronics, but can still be rota-cast in a mold quickly and left to dry inbetween layers to get a good thickness. It does have a high shrinkage rate though at approx 7%, which does cause some problems occasionally in getting an accurate reproduction of a mask/model. "How does this core piece to the mold actually work? Does it restrict the volume that the foam latex takes and by that way make it a balloon-like hollow piece of skin they have used in JP?" The core is created be layering clay into a mold to the desired thickness of the foam skin, then the core of the mold is resin laminated onto that. When that has cured, the core is then removed and the clay is cleaned out of the mold leaving an even gap inbetween the core and the mold for the foam latex to fill.
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Post by jpdude11 on Oct 2, 2009 16:41:18 GMT -5
how can i use this for my dilo's skin to make it look life-like?
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Post by Supersaurus on Oct 3, 2009 8:58:44 GMT -5
If it's to be a static display (non-animatronic & non-posable model), then casting rubber would not be neccessary to create a realistic finish. You can get good results by just painting resin, plaster or the clay itself (providing it's of the firing type). ;D
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Post by jpdude11 on Oct 3, 2009 13:23:38 GMT -5
what does this stuff come in?
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Post by giganotosaurus on Oct 3, 2009 15:40:41 GMT -5
does thew rubber make it even more realistic, even if it is non posable... like for a mount.
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Post by Supersaurus on Oct 4, 2009 14:28:46 GMT -5
what does this stuff come in? Casting rubber is a liquid that comes in bottles or containers. You need to mix the supplied catalyst precisely to get a proper cure.
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Post by dinoslayer on Oct 4, 2009 14:38:36 GMT -5
I presume one has to follow the manufacturer's included recipe precisely to get it to harden accordingly?
So what if I use silicone? A book for Stop Motion animation says that it can cure without a need for an oven(not that I wouldn't use one in any case, Peter Jackson had a simple home oven for his "alien masks" in Bad Taste).
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Post by jpdude11 on Oct 4, 2009 19:51:53 GMT -5
I presume one has to follow the manufacturer's included recipe precisely to get it to harden accordingly? So what if I use silicone? A book for Stop Motion animation says that it can cure without a need for an oven(not that I wouldn't use one in any case, Peter Jackson had a simple home oven for his "alien masks" in Bad Taste). i dont think that anyone wil put there animatronic in an oven just to cure it
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Post by dinoslayer on Oct 5, 2009 1:57:31 GMT -5
Dude, I meant the rubber, not the animatronic rig.
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Post by Supersaurus on Oct 5, 2009 14:03:27 GMT -5
Foam latex rubber needs an oven to cure. I'm not certain about the silicone based rubbers for animatronic skins? These might just need a catalyst to cure it. There're many different products available and I've only really used rubber for moldmaking. Try here: www.burmanfoam.com/estore/home.php
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Post by jpdude11 on Oct 5, 2009 18:28:40 GMT -5
ok ill have to try it for my dilo
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Post by dinoslayer on Oct 6, 2009 11:37:04 GMT -5
I assume they ship worldwide? I could find use for other things at that site as well(sculpting tutorial DVDs).
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