Hey fellas. Sorry if I have posted this in the incorrect forum but I figured someone could point me to the correct thread:..
A while back, I built a trap out of wood. Well, I was proud of it…and so was my nephew, who I turned onto GBs. However, being 4 years old, he wants to play with it a bit rougher than I intended when I built it just for show, so I wanted to construct a new one out of plastic. However, I have no knowledge about how to do this. But from seeing how professionial some of yalls proton packs and other props you guys have constructed, its obvious you guys know what your doing in order to mold your own equipment. (and I have to admit, I’m envious as hell about how well yalls look compared to my own attempts at proton pack and trap since they are made of wood and have no lights/sound.)
So I did some research online…and well, first question: I found a link about making plastic and molding that apparently intended for kids/families to do as an activity. Since the ingredient list is so simple, it looks like it would be a snap for me to use. But…is the plastic made using these instructions on this link:
http://invention.smithsonian.org/downloads/sparklab-plastic.pdf
durable enough to use for propping purposes and/or letting a 4 year old use to play GB with me?
If not…could somebody point me at something that would let me know the best way? My plan was to make a plaster cast and then fill with plastic resin in the desired shape of the trap body. But, being the idiot I am, I wouldn’t know what to ask for when going into say, Wal-mart or Ace hardware or Home Depot in order to make this myself.
Again, I apologize if this is in the wrong forum, but since being able to make plastic would help me in constructing replacement pieces for my own proton pack as well as constructin a trap for my nephew to play with, it would help me a lot.
Thanks
Hey JP!
I’m going out on a limb here and guessing that you have little or no experience with children, otherwise you wouldn’t be so willing to give a 4 year old a “brick” of plastic that he can clock you in the head with. My suggestion would be to make one out of foam:
Much safer for all involved.
This dairy plastic is both totally cool and freaking me out.
That said, you’re going to have to invest so much time and money into molding your trap that when it comes down to casting it, you wouldn’t even consider this milk plastic. Depending on the complexity of the mold it could cost you 100-200 in silicone alone; you’d just spring for the extra $30 to get a trial sized bottle of casting rubber. I don’t see plaster being a viable option; you’ll likely destroy both original and the mold in the process.
Yeah, I’ve tried the “casting with plaster” before and it doesn’t work for rigid material. You’ll need to use some type of silicone to make the mold and there’s no real cheap source for it. I’d suggest doing a quickie build out of foamcore and resigning yourself to making a new one every so often as they wear out. Could be a good way to start teaching about being careful of objects.
Well not a whole lot of experience with kids, but I admit, i didn’t think he’d be throwing it around like they used to on the RGB. I had hoped he’d roll it on the ground when I’d play with him. But anyway, I never thought about using foam to mold it. This might work even better. Thanks for the help guys! After all, I told ya I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to plastic…for my old proton pack, I just used wood, cardboard and a lots of hope and prayer when putting it together…and I don’t think I spent more than $100 bucks except in buying the alice frame from the Army Surplus store. I’d post pics of it and my trap but they don’t hold a candle to how well everybody else’s look.