UK Leeds Build HOLY COW I'M NECROPOSTING, update 2013!!!!

Equipment Proton Packs
1

Well I’ve been making my pack since Friday

I’m planning on making an MDF buck/master, making a mould from it, then a cast from Fibreglass

I’ve got a pretty good idea of the methods i’m going to do and have printed loads of info off that i’ve read through on various mediums i can use

I’ve decided to test out plaster mould then a fibreglass cast, I’m going to test this out doing my Iron arm first, then if it messes up i can change medium for the mould

Progress so far

I’ve cut out the motherboard bit for the Buck to sit on for my mould out of 6mm thick MDF (main thickness of it)

Finished;

The EDA

The Gun Mount

The Power Cell

The Ion Arm

I’ve got a box made up for the Crank, i’m doing a box and i am adding 2 blocks to it, then the 1.25" dowel and balsa wood “ribs”, pics will show this

Cut the main bits of the synchronous generator and i have a whole load of flexible ply i’ll be bonding to the top and bottom pieces tomorrow

Cut the cyclotron out of a thick piece of wood 9" diameter, need go get a 10" diameter piece tomorrow for the 12.7mm lip at its base

then the details like rings etc for the buck

My dad is a joiner so so far i’ve only spent £16 and that’s for a new hot glue gun,craft knife and some balsa wood, as all the MDF was lying around as off cuts

onto the pics

Motherboard drawn out an my original detail less box place on it

showing the Ion arm

The EDA wasn’t finished at the above point, just one long rectangle

Then added the wedge shaped piece,cut out the required pieces added bits etc

Then Gun Mount, EDA and the Power cell finished, with the Synchronous generator pieces in place with cyclotron

I’ll make up the cyclotron exactly tomorrow along with the Synchronous Generator and the Crank and i should be almost done with the master then

All been done to Stefan’s plans, with help from Sean’s for 3d images to help visualise it all better - plan view is awful for some bits

one question does anyone know the surface area of the pack? just wondering how many packs of fibreglass to buy as it comes in 0.55m² packs

Then i’ll move to doing the thrower before painting and detailing the lot

I plan on doing my own lights and sounds too, but one step at a time

2

Yeah… I dont think a plaster mould would be too good for a pack.

Good rule of thumb when moulding/casting: If you need a rigid final part, then use a soft mould & vice-versa

Silicone would be the easiest method (and its still not easy!) but be prepared to shell out some serious money, especially with the cost of silicone in the UK.

Build is looking good though!! Keep us updated

Lawrence

3

Gibbs, the work in progress is looking great. Nice clean MDF work… and the bits so far assembled from MDF remind me of my Pack build from before the start of Summer.

Goodluck with the continuation and eventual moulding, hope it holds together and remains intact when you remove it from the buck. :slight_smile:

4

Yeah i’ll keep you updated

See thats why i’m starting with the ion arm to see how a plaster mould works, i’m not overly convinced on it, but i’ve been assured by an artist woman i emailed it should work. Then on the other hand theres the conflicting information here and elsewhere on the net

We’ll see

Why the hell is silicone so expensive here? its what made me look for alternative mould materials

crazy prices, i’ve seen a little 75ml pot of it in a shop for £8 ($12) enough for a full mould would be stupidly expensive

hopefully i can test a mould and cast over the weekend and see how it goes

The other option is Latex, which is less expensive but not by much,

in kg weight how much silicone would i need? 1kg is £17.58 you see

5

you see i’ve been working on premise that a plaster mould like this could be achieved

http://www.grandsportcorvette.com/gs/body.htm

as its mainly in car repair i’ve come across fibreglass construction, and thought a similar process could be achieved

6

Thats a cool link, Dont get me wrong, a plaster mould of a pack is possible, but it would be hard to do right. So many different sections. And if you notice there are no real tight corners or undercuts on that car, a pack is full of them!

If you have the time then use Latex. Its very cheap compared to silicone, probably cheaper than you could pick up the plaster for and still gets good results.

Silicone is the best option though, Some people say you’ll need about 20kg of silicone to do it. I dont believe that.

I think Funkzilla did his first mould using about 4kg, so if you dont waste it then a 5kg kit should get you through, you would have to do a glove mould and support shell though if trying to save on silicone/money.

Have you moulded many things before? If not, then dont make the pack your first! It takes a while to get it right!

Lawrence

7

20kg!! It’s £80 just for 5 lol

I’d consider 4kg if plaster, then latex don’t work

i’ve done loads of moulding in the past but it was all with plaster or clay then some resin

basically small stuff from two piece moulds

this will be the most complex I’ve done

saying that I won’t learn without trying

nearly done the master now, the synchronous generator is currently drying, bending plywood is awkward and was impossible to do over the top of it, so I’ve used a carved piece.

With any luck I can have a mould in progress by the weekend

8

Anxious to see how it works out.

9

Last night i almost finished the Wooden master

tonight i just need to glue it all down, and add the ribbing to the crank… oh and sort out the corner piece above the gun mount

i sanded the wrong side so i need to fix that

then i’ll be ready for a plaster mould, Ion arm first i think

Pics to follow this evening

10

lookin forward to seeing more

11

Didn’t get as much done as i’d have liked

but all thats left is to cut the cyclotron space for the Neutron Filter, stick it all down/together then fill and sand and spaces that need some more

not sure if i can get time to do a mould this weekend but i’ll try to, if not net week

12

nice build there mate.

Looks great

Lawrence

13

Cheers for that, its coming together really well, don’t know why but i expected i’d mess it up and it would look aweful

I’m pretty pleased with it so far

14

You should be, it’s coming along extremely nicely.

Leaves me incredibly interested in seeing what you do in regards to the Bumper.

15

Ahh the bumper, that looks like a right pain to produce

but i’ll have a go, i may even consider attempting a resin one

16

Right guys (and Girls)

I’ve abandoned the idea of plaster all together, i just cannot see it taking well to the synchronous generator

so I’ve decided to do some sort of rubber product mould in a fibreglass shell like Venkman 71 did

but i have questions 2 of them

first a note : I can get 4kg of silicone for £60 / $99 or i can get 5 Litres of liquid latex rubber for £16 / $27

Latex was the most commonly used mould making substance untill silicone dropped in price (LOL dropped) and is arguably just as good, especially when using the correct thickening agent, however it can shrink

1.Do you think Latex could be a perfectly viable mould source for 1 cast and keep accuracy?

2. how much Fibreglass will i need in m² 1? 2? 3? 100? this is to make a shell for the mould and do enough layers to do the actual cast

If it goes well i may consider upgrading to silicone to produce casts for people over the pond in the UK since its hard to get them here at a cost effective price, then again i may not. some interest has been shown in a possible shell if it pays off, but i’d not previously given much thought to this

17

Latex is good. But there are more chances that your mould will go wrong and its very VERY time consuming. Im talkining days of work to get it a good thickness. And as it has no active catalyst then some parts of it might not dry.

Silicone is expensive. But probably the best you will get, and after 6-8 hours you should have a good mould with it,

Dont really know about the fiberglass, never cast anything of that size with it.

Lawrence

18

well I’ve got 6kg of latex being couriered to me for a 1/4 of the price of any silicone needed so i’ll try that and if it goes wrong at least my master will be there to try again with silicone

I’ll ask at at a suppliers on how much Fibreglass they “think” i’ll need and work from there i think

Thanks for the advice Lawrence

Chris

19

Little update, the master is all stuck together, fillered and sanded down now

while i wait for my latex and fibreglass to turn up, i’ll be tweaking it slightly, using a countersunk drill bit to make indents for the N-Filter

I’ve got a wedge piece i’m sticking where the Ion arm goes, so when i cast that separately it will fit snugly over it

possibly some other detail but i don’t want to go crazy and do anything the mould won’t take

20

gorgeous!