Interesting Materials Tests/Thinking Outside The Bun

I have a couple of interesting things to write about tonight, both of which I am very happy with. First up, I have some results from my urethane test on the rigid pull of the cape mold. Here's a pic:



Long story short, it turned out really great. The opacity is very nice, and the thickness is good. It's probably a hair thicker than I would have preferred, but it's darn nice. This will be fabric backed for the final piece, and that will give it some much needed strenght. Disregard the color. I was shooting more for opacity than the proper color.

Bottom line, I am pleased with this, and I think this technique will work for the boots.

Second is something really interesting. I am sort of at a point with a few of these tests where I am really going "alternative" when it comes to my techniques. At the end of the day, what I am trying to do is find a way to quickly and easily get a good pull out of the cape mold. Silicone repels pretty much everything, which makes laying one up problematic. Ideally, I would have a stone mold, which would work wonderfully with latex. But I don't. I could make one, but it would be expensive and heavy. And hard to handle. Nobody likes that. So I have been scratching my head trying to come up with alternative ways to get this mold to work.

And I had a VERY crazy idea today. I sprayed some primer into the mold, then brushed latex on top of that!



A couple of things to note. The primer goes on VERY thin and very evenly, so I'm not too worried about losing detail. Even if I lose SOME of the crispness of the diamond pattern, it will be so minimal that I will be comfortable with it, especially if it makes the entire process work.

The latex brushed on VERY smoothly, and did not pull up at all! It also went on VERY thin, and was pretty opaque. I think there's a chance that with two coats, I will be good to go. I didn't use any KILZ on this blend either.

The real trick will be discovering how easy or difficult it is to get the paint off the latex once I pull it up. My fondest wish is that a quick dip in some warm water will make it just flake off, but we shall see. IF that is the case, I think I pretty much have a slam dunk technique for pouring up a cape. It'll be a little stinky, but it will be VERY easy, won't take much latex, and should go quickly.

A BIG OLD fingers crossed on this one.