Just curious, but what does it involve to create a fiberglass mold?
We might have some friends come live with us for a while. Their house was just sold and new one won’t be ready for another month. The husband is a wood worker, and figured a nice payment for room and board could be crafting a shell that I could make molds from and then sell for extra money.
Curious if the time and expense put out for it is worth the money received…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrIBCzzUHa4
You’re looking at about $400-$500 in materials plus the fact that there are already 3-4 producers in the market.
Well, in this case, I was thinking of a Real Ghostbusters Mold :). Once pack #2 is started, I’d abosolutely LOVE a RGB one..
You don’t make a mold from fiberglass.
As for that video. Its a shame they didn’t make parts 2 and 3. I wouldn’t really recommend making a mold like that.. but they next step would have been to cover the ouside of the silicone in fiberglass to make a solid backing to it. The silicone would have been too floppy otherwise. Then fiberglass on the inside of the silicone.
That type of silicone and method would really have only been good for a few pack shells.
I’m sure he meant “fiberglass mold” as in “mold for fiberglass” similar to the phrase “jello mold” which isn’t really a mold made of jello.
I hate jello…
which means that you should do this, because those 3-4 people need more competition. im 100 percent serious.
while i hate the shell build threads, because well, they’re worthless, a new shell maker is exciting to me, because the more makers, the more the 3-4 have to lower their prices to compete with cheaper/better shells.
i maintain building a pack is far more fun and satisfying.
That’s a sound theory, but only if the new shell maker can put out a product that is on par with what the other makers are selling. Similar to how the vacuform shells like Studio Creations make didn’t really put a dent in the fiberglass shell prices because they weren’t really much of a comparison.
you know, studio creations did two things: they made cheap shells and cheap…molds. however, i understand, shells are only good if they’re good, though any competition is great, people still do purchase studio creations shells. studio creations really isnt in the proton pack business anyway, while shell makers are purely in the pack business.
In the end you get what you pay for. There are various levels of quality, craftsmanship, and over-all accuracy with shells.
To answer your question Shedder…
If you are new to casting and need to purchase all products needed to make a mold and shell you can expect your investment to be well over $1000 (depending on products) to make a proper mold and cast before you would ever get your first shell out.
-Silicone Rubber
-Fiberglass resin (both shell and mold support shell)
-Gel coat, Brush up resins, or surface coats
-Fibers (both shell and mold support shell)
-Fillers (both shell and mold support shell)
-Gel coat, Brush up resins, or surface coats
-Release agents, mixing materials etc…
Molding and casting a proton pack to produce fiberglass shells is NOT an easy or cheap project to take on. None of this includes the man hours and investment into making a master to mold.
It’s great that you are thinking about making shells. However, would suggest for you to start by casting small parts first and work your way up to bigger items. If you never done this before, it could be a real headache if you make a mistake while casting a shell.
Franchesky
There is also the issue of accuracy. The most accurate and best shells are ones made by people who have owned packs in the past, and have built off what they’ve learned from others.
I was following everything I could when I made our packs, even though as were intentionally inaccurate, but I’m still amazed by details I didn’t notice two years ago. And basing a pack shell off inaccurate information means a less popular pack for sticklers for detail, and also a lower selling price, because you can’t compete with better more accurate shells already out there.
There’s always room for Jello
Except in a silicone mold.
Okay. When is somebody going to say it? Let’s make a jello proton pack! 
actually, if i had about 90 bucks to blow, id take a studio creations pack and use it as a mold to make a jello proton pack to illustrate my point.
Hey guys,
Wow, a tad more expensive than I thought. I would have thought the wood construction process was the most involved part of it. But as said before, this is an RGB pack. Since there are no ways to get accurate measurements, it’ll be mostly guess work. I was hoping to sell it for $250 if the stars of Keiken aligned perfectly and everything actually came out good. Not sure if a trap would be easier too try, but it’s a back up option.
Your argument is confusing me. You hate shell build threads, but you want to encourage competition among shell makers, in order to reduce shell prices.
With lower shell prices, that means there will be even more shell builds, hence more shell build threads, which you hate.
No, no, no. He wants to weaken shell makers by forcing them to lower the price of their dreaded, worthless, god forsaken shells. But yes, the shells will sell more. I don’t think he thought about that.
i didnt think too far ahead, i was more concerned with shell makers having to lower their prices and fall into a panic because they wont be holding the market purely for themselves.
but yeah, unfortunately more shell threads… its not like anyone scratch builds these things anymore anyway.
Hey hey! I’m almost done a scratch built pack! I think it will, in the end, be more rewarding than a shell build because I built it (with my father) from the ground up. Although not 100% accurate, it’s damn good for being made out of wood!
I’m with you though PC, too many shell builds, not enough scratch.