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the reason is it creates an undercut that would be a pain to get rubber into, butalso make it almost impossible to get the casting out. plus there would be no mother mold support in this section so the castings would suffer.
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Sanding and patience. That section on my pack buck is made of balsa.
I wouldn’t say there is anything wrong with their fiberglass stuff either, as long as you are using it for actual fiber-glassing and not as a pourable casting resin.
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The more I thought about it last night, the more I disliked the idea, and it made sense why it wouldn’t work. You’re right.
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Okay, so do you start with just a big block of balsa and whittle that part away to the angle, or what? I’ve toyed with the idea of getting a solid block of wood and taking it over to my friend’s door/window shop and seeing if there is any way he could drill that sized hole in the block. That way I could just cut the rest of the block down to the proper dimensions, leaving the rounded angle on the outside right corner. Thoughts?
I haven’t seen any fiberglass gel coat there though. I was thinking of checking at a local boat parts store maybe?
If you use the bondo brand resin, the gel coat is a mix of half resin and half microbulb filler. Again, if you want to know about the fiberglass lay up methond we use be sure to check our tutorial videos in the How2 section of our blog, 2StoryProps.Blogspot.com.
Balsa is very easy to work with and sand. for the round nub I started with a square piece and then rounded it with a dremmel. You will need to seal the wood to hide the grain wither with sanding sealer or even a layer of glazing putty.
Okay, I saw some bondo stuff at Home Depot right next to the fiberglass material. Although… I have no idea what microbulb filler is… I’ll definitely check out your tutorial videos. I really am just figuring out the whole process based on online videos, so I literally DO need all the help I can get. Thanks for the input!
Hey, sorry if I’m a bit late to this convo with this. I don’t know what Smooth-On is like in the states, but here in Australia, it is terrible. I’ve worked with smooth-on urethane before and just ended up with a piece full of bubbles, and also their silicone adhesive and had the prosthetic pull of the wearers face before we’d finished applying it.
We have a product here called Barnes, and they do base levels kits, right up to advanced, studio level stuff. My tutor got me using their ‘pinkysil’ to start with and the moulds were fantastic. It is pretty pricey though. But because I haven’t seen the brand posted here or on the RPF or other props sites before, I think it’s an Australian brand.
Also, you should be able to find a fiberglass wholesaler to get the resin and fiberglass sheets and matting through. If your home handy stores are anything like ours, the price at the wholesaller would be a fraction of what you pay for “The Lowest Prices” ($22 1kg fiberglass starter kit @ bunnings, 3 times the materials and some extra tools for the same price @ the wholesaler).
I’ll check around with local shops and see what they can do for me. Thanks for the suggestion!
Jump on google too and search for Fiberglass Wholesalers in your area. I’ve done the same for electrical, aluminium and wood wholesalers for other projects, and while I might have driven a bit further, we once scored a ute full of aluminium box for a fifth of what we would have paid for it at the commercial store. And on literal truck load, that’s a heap of a saving.
Good idea. I was going to check with local fab shops to see if they had aluminum so I could make motherboards for my shells as well. Now I’ll compare their prices with a wholesaler. Thanks.
Have you even built your buck yet? I would do that before you buy all this material.
I don’t have my buck completely finished yet. I’m maybe 25% done, if that. I don’t see the point in waiting until I’m finished to get all of the rest of the materials I know I’ll need. Once the buck is done, I’m going to need this stuff anyway. Why not have it on hand so I don’t have to wait?
What if you never finish the buck? I think you’re underestimating the difficulty level of doing such a large project as a first.
Silicone has a shelf life of about 6 months to a year. You may be optimistic now about getting your buck done but don’t put the cart before the horse. No point in spending a few hundred dollars on materials that go to waste when it’s just a few days wait to order them when you need them.
This is good, helpful information to have. Didn’t know that. I guess I’ll wait then, but I still don’t think ordering it now would be a problem 
So, does anyone have a recommendation for a pourable silicone they’ve used before?
Well, the only silicone I have used is a Barnes product called “Pinkysil”. But I wouldn’t recommend it for this application because it only has a pot life of 6 minutes. Maybe something comparable to their “Ultrasil”? Make sure you check the pot life, curing time and mix ration (as well as other things) before buying a product.
I would have to agree with the others on this, get the buck completed before buying stuff for the mould. Or you could end up spending a bucket load on materials and have them unusable when you come to use them. Not much sense in spending a second bucket load on materials because you bought the first lot too early.
Making a buck for a proton pack is a pretty big project. Making the bucks for a costume I’m working on has taken 22 months (and still going), and while I might only be spending a few days a month working on it, it is still a big project, and it isn’t anywhere close to the size of a proton pack.
Like I said, I’m unemployed right now, so I’ve got nothing but time to spend on this, with no sign of things changing for quite some time. I realize it’s a big project, and that it’ll require a bunch of time to get it all fine tuned, and exactly how I want it, but… I’ve got that time. I want to do it right though, and that’s where the MANY hours of research I’ve done, plus all of your guy’s input are going to make the difference. I appreciate all of your input.
I think it is great we have all been chiming in hear with our glas experience.
One point I am not sure has been brought up; how many packs are you planning to make?
If this is a one off for you, you are probably better off buying a shell from someone who has the molds or making a one off pack. While having a hollow shell is really nice, the main reason I made fiberglass shells is because I needed to make a few packs. If you find someone willing to sell a $300-$500 shell, your not only ahead finacially, but you save a few months of work. There is alot of detail work after the castings come out (knobs, tubes, PVC, etc) that will take time and money, plus if you want light and sound you are at least doubling the cost of your pack.
There is also a time factor to consider. Rubbers and resins are very tempermental to temperature and humidity. As we enter the cold months (north america) casting is going to become very diffcult if you do not have a heated and vented space to work with.
I plan on making as many casts as I can. I would like to keep one for myself, obviously, which I’ve already collected maybe half of the parts for, and sell as many as possible.
The coldest it gets around here in the winter months is the lower 50’s, except for maybe a week or two during the winter time. I’m not too worried about that. If worse did come to worse, I do have a spare room in my house, so there would be an extra measure of climate control.
Don’t even think of laying fiberglass indoors, especially if it’s where you live.