Vacuum forming

[TrueDave]

I have a set of plans for one. Stage moldmaker guidebook . I used to be really hot for one. I used one in a shop and didnt get to try its full potential.

I didnt check your link yet but I just got Hard core into Creepy Crawlers for a while. With an online forum and Ebay I went through Vac U Forming, Making Bendies Army men ( awesome!) and, creepy crawlers.
There was a Vac U form toy with basic shapes of tiny boats, broaches, log cabins, letters, Cars, mr potato head type faces.

[MEGO_SUPERMAN]

Creepy Crawlers....those were back in the day!

[ctc]

>How about this scabbard...can this be vacu-formed?

It COULD; but you'd need to make female molds; which is a huge pain.

Don C.

[TrueDave]

Jess; HOW did you do the lines on the sheild?
Do you have an extruder ?

[jessica]

No extruder. I make little worms with the clay. I'm sure there's an easier way! If you bake it in layers, you can just probably just make a thin layer of clay and cut it out with an exacto.

Female molds...with...clay? Or RTV first, and then resin cast?

[ThatBatmanGuy]

Also keep in mind: your details will be soft when vacuum forming in this scale. Your best bet, for the sheild and scabbard would be pressure resin casting. To keep the weight down, it's best to use micro filler beads in the resin. That way you will get that great detail you worked so hard to acheive.
Bob

[ctc]

>Female molds...with...clay? Or RTV first, and then resin cast?

For vaccum-formed parts, they'd have to be steel; which is what makes them so tough to do. It MIGHT be possible to do them out of some other material, but I've never heard of it being done. THIS is pure genius:

A new Weekend Project!!!! Yeah!!! - Mego Talk

....and is an awesome way to do male molds; that is, molds where the plastic is stretched over them. It's a great way to get general shape, like for armour and the like. But to capture the details you've got on stuff like the shield, it wouldn't work. Vinyl kits were HUGE back int he day of Japanese garage kits, but I've never found a good "how to" for them, and that'd be the sort of thing you'd need.

Don C.

[pmwasson]

Thanks for the tips (and books) on vacuum forming. I wrote up my first experiment:

Vacuum Forming - Laser Mego

[sprytel]

Now that is darn cool. Can't wait to see all the crazy things you come up with using this...

[megojim]

Nice job Paul

[pmwasson]

Some more experiments:
Vacuum Former, Part Deux - Laser Mego

[SeattleEd]

That looks great, Paul. Looking forward to the final piece.

[pmwasson]

That looks great, Paul. Looking forward to the final piece.

You should post your Space Glider

[SeattleEd]

You should post your Space Glider

I know, right? Maybe someday. Looking forward to yours.
Is this for the time traveler?

[astro-greg]

Beautiful Armor!

So the piece completed there completely made me think of ROM the space knight. And the whole process got me thinking about Stormtrooper armor.

Gosh, even a two piece Vader style helmet. The face mask, and then a separate top piece.

The possibilities are endless!

Some more experiments:
Vacuum Former, Part Deux - Laser Mego