First Layup

As promised, I have started to lay up my very first full cape.

I started by peeling off the layers of latex that I had put on in order to clean up the mold. This process pulled up all the dust and gunk that had accumulated on it over time.



Despite earlier experimentation, I decided to go with the foam brush for the actual application of the latex. Because the mold is so big, and my arms are only so long, I added an extension to a brush to reach the parts in the middle. I figured this would save me from putting any weight on the mold as I stretched out to reach those hard-to-get places.



This is how much I got done before I ran out of steam on the first try.



Got a little bit more done later on in the day.



And finally go the first coat is done.



I have since finished up a tiny section that I removed to use as material in the cape clips. Not shown here.

Things are going nicely, but it's really hard to tell how it will turn out until it's actually done. I THINK the latex is seeping into the diamonds and capturing all the details, but it's impossible to say. I will know more within the next few days.

Getting Ready To Run My First Cape

Conditions are perfect! I've gotten a very good match for the red used on the outer shell, and I'm ready to pour up my first cape.

The only thing that remains is to finish cleaning the mold. I poured in some left over latex from a test batch to cover the remaining surface. Once that is dry, I will peel the whole thing up, and start laying in the correctly pigmented rubber.



That's the next step. I will probably get started on the rubber tomorrow. Too late tonight to do much more work on it.

Fabric Update

Last week, a couple of pieces of fabric arrived, but they stayed in my car for a few days. I finally had a chance to unload them and take a look.



These are the two pieces of cotton interlock I ordered from www.denverfabrics.com. Good news and bad news. Bad news is that the "red orange jersey knit" is too orange. Good news is that the "Red Jersey Knit" is really nice. The extra good news is that both fabrics are a little wider than advertised, and will cover the entire mold quite nicely.

In other news, work continues on mixing up the perfect batch of latex. Color is just right, but it's a little dark. So I'm mixing in a little bit of fresh latex, and then testing. Testing takes a little time, as it requires three coats, with dry time in between. And I usually get distracted after two coats. So it takes time.

BUT, I am getting there. The pieces are really all in place right now for me to produce my first full test cape. Well, I still need to source material for the stabilizer flap, but that's the least of my worries right now. The big thing at the moment is getting that color match.

A Lunatic-Like Persistence

Sometimes, I wonder to myself if I spend too much time obsessing about the details. I go round and round, doing trial after trial, experimenting until I either get it perfect, or until I run out of steam. It looks a whole lot like this project is going to be no different... but I REALLY think it paid off today.

I've been spending loads of time lately experimenting with color and consistency of the latex that will form the outer shell of the cape.

I ordered a big supply of pigments from Burman foam, along with two different types of latex. I went through a variety of brushes and rollers to see which one produced the best results. After weeks of never quite getting the color right, I switched gears and started to explore latex paints. I got some from Aaron Brothers, but the pigment was too faint. I recently got a couple of colors from Michael's, which actually turned out very nicely.

I don't recall the exact time line, but I think the same day I got the paints from Michael's, I ordered these pigments online:



They just arrived yesterday.

In my head, I had pretty much committed to using the balloon rubber with the Michael's pigments. I was getting good results, though the color match was not perfect. Still, I was willing to sacrifice "perfect" in the name of finishing the project.

But then these pigments showed up.

They mix VERY easily into the rubber, and they are very bold in color. My first test involved the use of some red, and a couple of drops of black.

I don't know how much more clearly I can state this, but the color match was PERFECT. And I mean perfect.

All of the subtle tones of the original were there. It's like a deep, dark red with traces of blue and burgandy. I suspect that these may have been the exact same pigments that were used to make the screen used cape. It's just that good.

So I am VERY very very excited today to have gotten such great results. I know I posted before that I had "Nailed It", but that was kind of a "Good enough" nailed it, not a "perfect match" nailed it.

The other funny news is that while I was experimenting, I think I've really decided to switch gears and go with the slip casting latex.



It goes down a little nicer, and tends to fill in the diamonds better. I didn't notice until later how many bubbles I was getting at the tips of the diamonds with the balloon rubber until I really got a close look at it.

So in short, my final recipe for the outer shell of the cape is the Burman Foam Slip Casting rubber, and a mix of red and black pigments from GMFoam inc.

Here's a link to GMFoam. They do not sell directly from that website. I will post the link to the site I ordered from in my next post.

In other news, a shipment arrived from Smooth-on yesterday. It contained some more urethane that I will use for the belt and chest emblem. I'm not in a big rush to get to those right now, as I really want to finish up a working cape. As of this moment, everything is in place to generate a cape. I have a good match for the fabric on hand, and I feel that I've really locked down the techniques and materials for doing the outer shell. So all is good!

Prepping For A Cape Pull

Before I produce my first pull from the mold, I need to clean it up. I also need to figure out exactly how much latex I need to mix up for one layer. What I do not want to happen is to get 3/4 of the way through a lay up only to run out of latex. I could NEVER match a color from a previous batch, hence my dilemma.

So these pictures illustrate these two purposes being executed. I'm covering the mold with a layer of latex to figure out how much I need, and to clean it. The latex picks up every little piece of dirt and dust out of the mold when it comes up.

Here's the mold about half way done.



And here I'm practically finished.



I left a little section around the neck area so I would have some room to experiment further with colors and compounds.

While at Lowe's the other day, I picked up this little roller:



At first, I was VERY excited by the results I was getting. The latex was going down pretty smoothly, and not pulling up much. I was actually starting to think that I would end up using a roller for the project instead of a brush.

But after a few more tests, I realized that the brush kicks up too much of a texture. Way too much. So I'm going back to my foam brush.

However, I'm once again on the fence about which latext to use. I've gotten some good results recently with the Slip Casting rubber, which is much thicker than the balloon casting. So I'm back on the fence about that.

See? THIS is why my projects take so long to finish! I noodle them to death until they are "perfect". So it goes.

We Have A Winner!

After months of experimentation, a few hundred bucks spent on materials, and a lot of pain mixing colors, I think I've FINALLY nailed down the cape.



Hard to tell from this photo,but the colors of both the inner and outer skin are looking really REALLY good. There's a black streak in it where I didn't mix things up properly, but since it's just a test, I'm not worried. I'm really happy with the deep shade of red I got. Almost like plum. Very cool looking. No brown to it at all, like I was getting with the Burman pigments.

But yeah, everything else really came together. Next step is to mix up a big batch of the right color, and go to town on the thing. Great news all around for this project!!

Color Match Looking Good!

Woke up this morning and did another layer of freshly pigmented latex on the cape mold, and I must confess, it's looking pretty darn good. MUCH closer than anything I was getting with the burman products. Stoked!

I've got a couple more tests to run, and then I'm going to move ahead and mix up a big batch of the stuff with the new paint from Michael's... and go to town on the thing. I would say there's a good chance I'll have my first complete pull out of the mold by the end of the week.

Something Good From Michael's??

I hate Michael's. It's like the worst store in the world. I would say nine out of ten times I go there, they do NOT have what I want. I don't ask for much. Just a few popsicle sticks, some foam core, and some water soluble paint.

But it looks like I may have broken the curse. Not only did they have what I was looking for, but it looks like I may actually have the latex pigment problem licked.

Here's the stuff I picked up. I got red, black, blue, and purple.



And here's a little demonstration of the hell I'm in. See that bright, solid red block up on top? That's the dry latex. See that pink/purple looking mess below it? That's the wet stuff. That pink/purple, when dry, turns into that red. So you can see how hard it is to get the color right. It's all just shot in the dark mixing.



The great news about these new pigments is that they mix predictably. If you mix black with red, you get dark red. Not brown. That's where things fell apart with the Burman stuff, and it looks like I'm going to get the results I want with this new stuff. Just need to get the color as close as possible.

In an earlier batch, I got it almost DEAD ON, so I know it's possible. I'm just doing one final test to get a better feel for the proportions necessary.

In other news, a swatch of broadcloth arrived today from www.fabric.com. It's decent. The color is decent, and the weave is slightly imperfect, just the way I wanted it. The drawback is that the stuff is very thin and lightweight. Not sure if it's what I'm looking for. Still, good to know that the broadcloth is the stuff with the slightly uneven weave. That may come in handy in the future.

Giving Up On Burman Pigments

I just can't seem to get the color matched, not even close. When I try to darken the red, it just turns brown. No good.

I'm going to look into some other water based paints, like Tempera, to see if they will work. I read some stuff online that says any type of water based paint should work with latex, so I will give it a try. Not sure if that is true, but I'm at the end of my rope with the Burman pigments.

All I Need Now Are Tears

Tonight was the first time I shed blood for this project! I was moving the cape mold around a bit, and was silly enough to take my leather gloves off for a few minutes. Next thing you know, there's blood everywhere. And by "everywhere", I mean all over the tip of my ring finger.

Not really a big deal, but that means I have now put blood and sweat into this project. Next up, tears! Not likely though.

But on with the show.

Tonight I start in again with the cape. I peeled off some of the leftover rubber from last time around, and MAN does it look good. It really captures the diamond texture nicely. I cannot wait to see this thing finished!

I'm using Burman Foam products tonight, namely their Ballon Rubber. It's very viscous, and is easy to brush into all the little nooks of the diamonds. If it was any thicker, like their slip casting rubber, I'm not sure I would get the same results. Fortunately, I have some of that too in case I want to experiment.



Here's the cape mold, all set up in its new home. Ready for some action.



And here we go again with the endless iterations of color matching, trying to get it to match the tiny swatches I have. I'm not going to go nuts on it this time, but I do want to get it as close as I can without going insane. I think I'll limit myself to say, ten rounds of color manipulation, and then I'll just go with what I have.



And now for something completely different. I was watching a DVD of Remmington Steele, one of my favorite shows as a youngster, and noticed this:



To the untrained eye, this will seem very unspectacular. Perhaps to the trained eye it will appear that way also. What's cool about this picture is it shows our man Steele picking up a camera accessory that was made famous by a little movie I like to call "Star Wars". And not that new garbage that came out a few years ago. I'm talking about the original. Before people called it "A New Hope". Back when it was just "Star Wars". Anyhow, that graflex flash tube is what they used as Luke's lightsaber. Pretty nifty, huh? Kind of one of those "When worlds collide" moments. I guess.