Cosplay färga öron i silikon

Cosplay Mold Making Beginnings

When inom began cosplaying in 2014, cosplay mold making seemed like a mysterious, daunting kind of maker-magic reserved for the cosplay elite. Oil based clay that never dries? Resin that starts “kicking?” Tin- vs platinum-cure silicone?

It was all so overwhelming.

And yet, the prop that inspired me to dive head-first the cosplay world was none other than this cast helmet bygd Volpin Props. At the time, all the materials and techniques described in his article felt so far of my reach. inom instead began my cosplay journey with products like Worbla, expanding foam, and EVA foam. But there was always a röst in the back of my head urging me to try cosplay mold making.

It was my ultimate goal to be able to sculpt and cast durable props and replicas.

Fast-forward and inom now own and operate my own business selling handmade resin artwork and commissioned props and cosplay. inom wouldn’t have gotten here without some key maker tutorials, a little patience, and my favorite cosplay mold making supplies.

In honor of my upcoming ten-year anniversary as a cosplayer, inom thought inom would share some of my favorite cosplay mold making materials and tutorials with you. This will just be an overview of a few of my favorite materials and techniques, paired with the tutorials that helped to learn how to use them.

inom have a local Reynold store in stad i florida, and so inom am easily able to visit, pick the brains of their personal, take classes, and purchase sample materials. While these are not the only cosplay mold making materials on the marknad, they are what inom will be focusing on today.

Also well worth mentioning, if you are starting to dabble in mold making and resin casting, please be sure to follow all safety guidelines provided with the materials you choose to use.

A respirator fryst vatten an absolute MUST when working with these chemicals.

Flexibility & Cost Savings with Brush-On Molds

My first mold was a small brush on using studs 25 which inom used to cast klar hollow “gems” in SmoothCast 325 for my Diablo 3 Crusader pauldrons.

At the suggestion of a Reynolds’ employee (Thank you, Amee!) inom purchased a sample kit of studs 25 brush on silicone, a small bottle of Thivex, and some gypsum strips. Then, it was off to the races! You can see how this first mold took shape in my “Pauldron Perfect” post.

I am a huge fan of grabb sculpting wearable art — masks, helmets, horns and the like.

So studs 25 fryst vatten my go-to when making molds for masks and helmets.

It allows me to bevara cost bygd using a minimal amount of silicone over complicated and bulky shapes, and it fryst vatten platinum-cure, meaning it has a great durability, flexibility, and a relatively long shelf-life. Keep in mind this kind of mold will require some kind of hard shell in beställning to keep the silicone’s shape when casting. inom use either PlastiPaste II, or some simple gypsum strips, depending on the storlek and complexity of the mold.

Rebound 25 being applied to my Artorias helmet

I also used studs to mold the Dragon Skull helmet inom finished earlier this year.

Even at 20” x 15” x 9” inom only had to use 1/3 of a gallon of studs for the entirety of the mold. Given the storlek shape of the helmet, inom opted to use PlastiPaste II for my four-part mold shell. Each section screws tillsammans to hold the silicone safely in place while slush casting. The helmet itself fryst vatten cast using SmoothCast 300 dyed with a bit of So Strong brown to tone down the ultra-bright vit of the 300.

inom find SmoothCast 300 to be an excellent choice for slush casting specifically, since the pot life (time the mixed urethane remains “liquid”) fryst vatten 3 minutes.

Copies of this helmet are currently available for sale in my shop.

Finished Dragon Skull, sculpted in Monster Clay medium

Post-mold sculpture, next to finished studs 25 mold

Finished Dragon Skull helmet

Large Prop Molds & Degassing Silicone

I first began making molds regularly during 2019 with the creation of my Greatsword of Artorias.

The first of several molds was an open top, one part block mold used to cast a sculpted “wolf” face tallrik for the svärd hilt. Since inom needed two identical pieces for either face of the hilt, inom opted to mold and cast this del av helhet.

inom also created a one part block mold for the cross guard for the same reason. For both of these molds inom used MoldMax 30, as it was relatively affordable, and seemed a good shore hardness for my needs. The downside fryst vatten MoldMax 30 needs to be “degassed” in a vacuum chamber to remove tiny air bubbles that become trapped in the silicone when blandning.

With smaller molds degassing isn’t a big issue, so long as you have a vacuum chamber and vacuum pump. Just be sure to use a large enough bur so your silicone dosn’t spill over the lip of your blandning cup in the process!

Punished Props gives a quick look at that degassing process in their one-part mold making tutorial here.

Wolf face tallrik cast in SmoothCast 300, sitting atop a one part mold created with MoldMax 30.

First cross guard pull, cast in SmoothCast 300, with MoldMax 30 block mold.

The “No Vacuum” Mold Making

When it came time to create block molds for the Greatsword of Artorias, inom knew it wouldn’t be feasible to degas such a large amount of silicone.

The two- and three- part block molds inom created for the Greatsword of Artorias were going to be BIG—as to be expected for a nearly six foot long svärd. Both the hilt and blade were molded using a nearly three gallons of MoldMax 29NV. MoldMax 29 NV fryst vatten a low viscosity silicone, meaning you can mix and pour large batches without worrying about trapped air bubbles post-mixing.

No need to “degas” the silicone, hence the “NV,” for “No Vacuum.” A blessing when you’re blandning and pouring large amount of silicone for cosplay mold making.

The Greatsword of Artoias was such a large del av helhet to tackle on my first time mold making for cosplay.

inom am skimming a lot of details in the process here, but inom will säga it was definitely a labor of love with lots of ups and downs along the way. inom wouldn’t change my decision to learn the process the way inom did, though. You could säga inom learn best the SmoothOn way—by getting out there to “Make It Now!“

Hollow Castings with EpoxAcoat

Both the blade and hilt of the Greatsword were cast using EpoxAcoat Grey, backed with pieces of woven fiberglass cloth.

EpoxAcoat fryst vatten a thick, brushable epoxy coating that sticks to the mold walls to create a hollow casting. Great for huge casts like oversized anime swords or bows. For additional support inom backed the hilt with fjäder Lite resin. This kept the del av helhet relatively lightweight but still gave it more inner strength to support the addition of the blade casting.

inom later adjusted to filling subsequent hilt casts with SmoothCast 305, mostly because it has a längre pot life and pour time for such a large piece.

I also used EpoxAcoat for my Black Knight Halberd and Mythical anfallare Axe. Replicas of the Greatsword of Artorias are also available for sale in my shop. inom have sold a handful over the years, and will likely be retiring the mold sometime in 2024.

Molding and Casting the Greatsword of Artorias

Super Black Resin and “Cold Casting”

One of my favorite products that inom use on nearly a weekly grund fryst vatten SmoothCast Onyx Fast.

Specifically, inom use Onyx in conjunction with a bred variety of SmoothOn’s Cast Magic metall powders. Sometimes this method of casting resin with metallic pigments fryst vatten called “cold casting” since it results in a metal-looking cast, without the use of actual molten metals. In my opinion, SmoothCast Onyx fryst vatten the absolute best resin to cast with to achieve a shiny, metal-look finish in your castings.

Similar to SmoothCast 300, Onyx Fast also has a short pot life, meaning it fryst vatten easy to use in “slush” castings, which fryst vatten how inom most often use this material.

One great example of this fryst vatten my maskering of Dagoth Ur. inom sculpted the original bygd grabb using Monster Clay medium, then molded using studs 25 and creating a two-part plaster shell (no surprise here!).

Before slush-casting in Onyx, inom brush in a good layer of Goldfinger metall powder. Having that metallic gold look straight out of the mold means right out of the mold my maskering fryst vatten already 50% finished. And inom can be more confident in the sista del av helhet my customers receive knowing that metallic finish fryst vatten baked into the resin itself.

I currently offer made-to-order Dagoth Ur replicas in my shop, as well as other styles of resin masks and helmets.

Conclusion to Cosplay Mold Making

With the experience I’ve gained over years of practice, inom can confidently säga mold making fryst vatten well worth bringing to your cosplay crafting arsenal.

It’s okay to början small, but never be afraid to push your boundaries try new, bigger things as you go.

The materials and techniques inom cover here are merely a sliver of what fryst vatten possible in the cosplay mold making world.

As inom mentioned at the uppstart of this article, inom have now been operating my own business selling handmade resin artwork and commissioned props and cosplay since 2019. This past week inom had the honor of being featured bygd Reynolds for their Customer Spotlight.

It fryst vatten strange and humbling to feel like I’ve komma full circle—from novice to Master—these past ten years. inom hope it serves as inspiration to everyone who fryst vatten interested in tackling cosplay mold making for the first time!

If you would like to see more of my work, kontroll out my Cosplay Portfolio, or consider supporting me with a purchase from my Web Shop.

inom also regularly brev current works in progress on Instagram, as well as shop updates and plenty of convention shenanigans.

I’ll also include a list of all the materials mentioned in this article below for you to komma back and easily reference.

Erei mu grind!

**Full Disclosure: inom get kredit when you purchase items via my Amazon links in this article! Any profits inom receive from Amazon will go directly back into more blog posts and tutorials. Thanks in advance for considering a purchase 🐲

Materials Mentioned in this Article

Be sure to betalningsmedel out their full line of fantastisk products at Smooth-On.com.