Hello, I am planning in building a Proton back using Stefan’s plans.
I am planning to build it out of MDF wood, make a mold, cast a pack in resin and use some fiberglass as support.
Is this a good idea? The reason why I am making it out of resin and fiberglass is due to the fact I will be making several of them(4-5)
Is there another alternative to make the packs stronger or another method to make use of a mold?
Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
Have you even made a mold, and seen the costs involved? It’s not cheap at all. Really depends on how much time and money you can invest. I’m building two packs at the same time, and that works out very well.
what would be a more feasible solution to construct multiple packs?
Depends on how many packs you are making. I’m making two, and the work goes very smoothly. you kjust make two of everything you need.
Once you know how to make one of something, the second copy is always easier, and so on.
KC made like 6 bumpers at one time.
Im thinking about 3 now, considering two friends want to wait and see how these turn out, appearance and cost wise, first.
These packs will be mostly used for display, if that helps or anything…
First and foremost did you want to build, mold and cast shells to say you made it yourself, for the challenge and satisfaction? If so go for it all the power to you…
But, if you want to build, mold and cast shells to save money then read bellow…
If you want 4-5 fiberglass packs, then in truth when $ comes to $ it’s pretty cost effective to simply purchase them… Honestly the break even point assuming no disaster is about 5-10 shells…
If you just want the packs and fiberglass isn’t important then simply build them in multiples as suggested…
Yeah, I know it looks easy, cheap and “wow it’s only a little bit of this and that” but unless and until you actually do it you really have no idea what is involved… Making a master molding it and getting decent fiberglass pulls is a 4 figure investment, and one mistake can be a total lose… With this same 4 figure investment you would have been able to simply purchase the shells already done and avoid all the hassle…
My advise to anyone even considering this is to start small, learn to mold and cast something as simple as one side of coins,. then try casting a two sided coin… Then cast something a little more complicated like a ceramic figure or even a plastic toy and learn about parting lines and multiple piece molds… Then move onto something smaller that requires a backer mold shell or similar like you will need to do for the pack shell…
After you are confident and understand the products, process and cost then and only then would I suggest you even consider molding a pack…
I was going to have a friend help me, he took a class somewhere to learn how to do this mold and casting stuff. I just originally wanted to make them out of some kind of light weight material like mdf board or something. My friend just told me it was better this way, so I am hesitantly believing him.
I am going to be doing 90% of the work and funding myself, so it is mainly my choice on how to construct them.
Well, then you have to ask yourself.. do you have $1000 or more you can invest in modling and casting them?
If not, then you can make 3 packs MUCH cheaper then spending $1000 +
I’m doing 2 outfits and packs, and I think I’ve spent about $300, but that’s also including a sander and some other various small tools I needed along to way. (Also keep in mind $140 or that amount was for uniforms, belts, walkie and talkies.)
Yeah, there is no way my friends are going to help me recoup that cost…
I can borrow most of the tools from my father, like a good college kid :lol:
So scratching the resin/fiberglass build, what would be an ideal building material that would not break the bank?
Also, which plans are wallet friendly, if that means anything…
Dont let these guys freak out you. Ok, maybe you’ll need to spend $1000 on parts and materials to make a buck, cast a mold and them make shells.. but they want to sell you a Pack shell for $350 to $400 each. If you only make 4 of them at that cost and your unit cost is $250 each comparted to buying one at $350? OK, well then you figure that you’ve got what you need right? Then all of a sudden you can go out and start selling Pack shells if you want, and recoup that initial setup fee. Lets say you sell them at $250.. each and undercut the rest of the people on here.. you’d probably need to sell six shells or so to reach your break even point, and everything after that is gravy. It wouldnt take you long to make your money back and even pay for your materials.
Not to dump on the Naysayers.. but I am not a big fan of discouraging posts. If you want to make them.. knock yourself out. Dont let anyone tell you what you should or should not do.
Forget about fiberglass molds and what not, cardboard is the way to go, it’s stronger and will last much longer than…ok I’m totally kidding, sorry I wasted your time…good luck though…
Oh I would probably not be comfortable selling a pack to people i dont know unless it was absolutely perfect.
I know I will be doing this in the future once I get the hang of building several of them and what not to make a mold that I can cast, but until then I need something that is cost effective and that will take up some of my time, lol.
I only have about $400 to spare after finishing 90% my stormtrooper costume and the rest of my money has to go to paying my college related expenses for next semester.
Thanks for all the help so far, I really appreciated it.
Good fiberglass resin is $100 (cheap ■■■■ is $30) a gallon, Gel coat is another $75 a gallon, and 5-7 layers of fiberglass mat/cloth (1/8" good laid fiberglass) for a single pack shell will run you about $50-100… So how much gravy will there be on a $250 selling price after you factor in the 4 figure cost of the mold, supplies and time? When you get a bad pull figure out the total lose of supplies and time yet again… As I said above break even point on out of pocket money is 5-10 shells, then you might turn a small profit or at least start to pay yourself a small hourly wage but it’s hardly gravy… And you can expect a complicated mold like the pack to start failing anywhere after about 20 pulls requiring a new mold to be made…
Lets also not forget that you need to wear a respirator and it should not be done in doors without proper ventilation, as the fumes are toxic, it needs to be done in a controlled temperature and humidity environment or else it will play havoc with the fiberglass resin, I could go on and on as I have done it and know full well what is involved and yes at one time I would have stated it was easy and prices charged were high but those days are gone as I now know better…
And yes, I will be offering a shell shortly, but that doesn’t change anything I have stated above that is factual, believe it or not…
As I said above if you want to go for it, then do it but don’t expect or believe it’s a cost saver for just a few packs though…
I take it Exoray that the statement above is through years and years of bad experiences haha
Like you say, start small first and learn the ropes.
Yes, I have had nothing but bad experiences with the fiberglassing experience over the years… You will find people that do it for a living saying it’s isn’t ‘all’ that bad, but then you have to remember they are 100% properly setup and that is what they do for a living day in and day out… You won’t find anyone with experience telling you it’s a piece of cake…
The end resulting pieces of my fiberglassing are the only positive side, everything up to that point is just plain a pain in the butt, from a sticky gooey mess all over the place, to resin kicking too fast or not fast enough, fiberglass splinters, burns (yes the resin burns like a $@%#$ when you get it on your skin, and it doesn’t just wipe off) and cuts everywhere… And we are not only taking about exposed skin it sometimes even gets under or through clothing… Trimming and even handling the parts afterwards result in more cuts, pokes, splinters and an overall itchy feeling…
The pack itself is also not an easy layup, in fact it’s a complicated one and takes time to do properly… The layup issues can be seen on many of the offering to date the fiberglass tends to pull way from the mold in certain areas because of the vertical straight up surfaces, causing warping… Also the pooling of resin creating brittle areas…
There are a ton of variables like I said above that need to be factored in temperature and humidity being the two biggest…
I just want people to be properly warned that it isn’t really a cakewalk, it’s expensive and one mistake can create a total lose of your investment…
Well I commend you guys that do this full time. I’m pretty new to this prop business and I really appreciate the effort you put in, as do many others I guess. Your time, effort and mistakes have payed off in the long run.
Well done!
Making molds and casting is an art.. it’s not something you pick up over the weekend. If it was that easy, you’d see 30 guys selling pack shells right now, yet none will even be available from anyone till next year.
Check my thread for some low cost ideas.. also norm’s plans also have a lot of good cheap tips in them.
It also depends on how accurate you want you packs to be. Some people are happy with the basic shape. Others want everything pretty much like the movie packs, and others want every single part as accurate as possible. Look in the for sale section of the website. just reproduction bits n pieces will runs you a few hundered for accurate parts.
I’m doing a cross between accuracy, price, and weight, in that order. I want our pack light enough to be able to wear comfortably for hours, I want the general public to see them and think they are props, and I want to guys do do crave accuracy to respect them as very close, but with some modifications for price point and weight.
lol, I guess I wont be doing cast and molding for a long time…
I want it to be like 75-85% accurate, probably.