Was going to vaccu-form the pack shells this year, as its looking like im going to have to make FOUR of them this year. But ive been looking around, and well, it doesnt look like the plastic shells are very durable. Not much help from friends, as they all have real jobs, no tools, etc. So this brings me to the best method of mass-producing pack shells From where i sit, with no experience to speak of, fiberglass seems to be the way to go. So i google, and google, and google, and cant seem to find a few gallons of silicone that DOESNT start at 500$. I havent even gone into the fiberglass prices yet. Times are a bit rough, as im sure most of you know and are feeling it as well. (rich people dont go around building proton packs, they buy them off ebay for the price of a down payment on a car).
So, for those of you who have used silicone and fiberglass to make your pack shells and other parts such as the thrower bulk, etc, can you help a fellow ghosthead out and let me know what you used, most inexpensive balanced with quality? (these packs will have to survive a full night in the big apple, parties, contests, and so on) where to go, what to use. Any input from experience will help. Trying to do this without putting myself into debt, haha. thanks in advance guys.
The exact amount of silicone rubber you need depends on your application length. I don’t know if 1 gallon of Rebound 25 will last for production of 4 shells, or only last long enough to get 1 or 2 out of it. But this method is not cheap, however when done right the shells are very strong, durable, and visually superior to most anything else out there at a light weight. Because wood can be accurate… but damn is it heavy.
If you want a cheaper method you might want to look into Styrene to make your shells out of.
there we go, thats something i was looking for. Appreciate it. When you say the mold wont likely survive anything beyond a 2nd casting, what happens? does the mold start to crack, dry out? What makes it start to deteriorate?
This is a good topic- I would also like to make a mold and do a few fiberglass shells. (I don’t want to go into production, just have two friends who would like to be in on the fun…) I live in reality and know that this type of stuff will drastically effect quality of the finished product… Sanding/filling out some imperfections on a fiberglass shell is still preferable to building three packs from scratch. I guess the question I’m really interested in is: How many corners can I cut and still end up with a shell? lol!
You guys are the pro’s, advice/guidance would be just the best…
Going the “right” route is not cheap… There are ways to cut corners and sorts but mileage and quality will be all over the place…
This mold cost me nearly $1000 in materials to make…
It consist of 4 gallons of silicone (5 gallons = $600 shipped)
Fiberglass mother shell, about $100 in materials…
Prep materials included
100lbs of clay $200+ shipped…
And there is easily $100+ worth of incidentals…
Are there cheaper ways? Sure, there are always cheaper ways and corners to be cut…
In the end IMO if you are only doing a few shells then you will not save any money making a mold, and if you do decide to go cheap may I suggest you try making a smaller mold of something and do some test runs before you jump feet first in and commit to a shell mold…
more than anything, i wanted to do some fiberglass shells this year, but the money isnt there. im barely scraping by as it is. So ive opted to order 4 vaccuformedshells from studiocreations. I figured at 260$ for 4 shells, yeh its the cheap way out, and its not really my own, but this year just isnt great financially.
i also figured that the plastic shells can be filled/reinforced and probably come out just like the real deals if painted right.
I did the same thing newb. I bought a shell from studio creations… I was thinking it might be cheaper to use his basic shell. then maybe i can cut out a few of the boxes which are not 100% accurate, and maybe go out and replace those with 100% accurate boxes (power cell, etc).
Anyone know where I can buy those individual boxes pre-made. Powercell, Crank Generator, etc. Basically any box that has the “strips” lining design on them.?
