My first custom piece

[Hinckley]

Here is my first attempt at making a custom element-a hairpiece. What do you think?

Right now it is just sculpy but I would love to make a resin cast of it. Is there a friendly expert customizer out there who might be willing to point out some good articles about producing elements? Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Trudop561]

Very cool hair 8-

[Lord Of Pies]

I my self am not an expert on this subject, but I would like to say that you have done a very good job for your first attempt!

[LuxorV]

Nice custom, Hinckley. I take it you'll use it in the Book of the Ancients, right?

As for help, I fear I can't give you any on this subject :-$

LuxorV

[Batbrick]

Thats a really good job for a first time there Hinckley! *y*

I can't help much about the production process, but I'm pretty sure it is better and cheaper to make parts that can be made via a two-part process when two half molds are put together and filled with hot plastic. I didn't explain that well, but thats how I make my own sinkers for fishing, just think of sandwich with molten plastic in the middle :-$

I say this because, if there are a lot of inverted edges and cuts, it may be harder to create, using a more tricky method.

Hope that helped, I don't know a lot about it, so take my advice with a grain of salt, it made sense for making sinkers with hot lead, so I assume it would wwork with plastic :-$

To the Brickmobile! >:-)

[aayla-secura]

Thats very cool hinckie!!

But i think you can do that better , it looks a little bit " un hard" so not like plastic!

But for the first -? - its verrryy awesome!

[Hinckley]

Thanks guys. I took a couple of sculpture classes in college, so I like working with the sculpey, but I'm afraid to fire it as it's really thin along the edges. I'm wondering how long I would have to dry it in the sun to make a good prototype out of it. I think I need some molding paste and a resin kit to make copies but I don't know enough about it. There are some articles on classic-castle. I'll check those out and report back on my progress...

[iamded]

Very good, especially for a first try! Only it looks too bowl-cuttish for my taste. It would work well in a Castle theme though, or your Book of Ancients. :-)

~Peace

[Scouty]

That looks very good!

I work with silicone and resin. This is a good peace to us for casting, I think. So here are some tips from a semi-experienced resin caster...guy:

1) Smooth it up, if you can. If you harden the sculpy, you could use fine graine sand paper to smooth it out.

2) Look at RecluceMage's tutorial on mold making.

It's a really neat hair piece *wub* .

[Hinckley]

That looks very good!

I work with silicone and resin. This is a good peace to us for casting, I think. So here are some tips from a semi-experienced resin caster...guy:

1) Smooth it up, if you can. If you harden the sculpy, you could use fine graine sand paper to smooth it out.

2) Look at RecluceMage's tutorial on mold making.

It's a really neat hair piece *wub* .

Thanks IS! Where is this tutorial located?

[SirNadroj]

What a coincidence Hinckley! I just made my first peice too (Max Rebo!)

Good job! *y*

If you want to make a resin cast, what you'll want to do is this:

1. Make a mold box. You can make it on a baseplate. Make a box on the baseplate with carboard and hot glue it together. Next, you need a 'pour spout', which is where you'll pour the plastic/resin. This is hard to explain, you may have to look that up, since I can't put it into words! Sorry! :-$

2. Once you make said pour spout, SECURELY place it ontot he bottom of the mold box.

3. Next, follow the instructions on the silicone rubber package, mixing each part (A & B) evenly. Pour it into the mold. Once it's done (wait 24 hours at least) you need to take the cardboard sides away, and Wa-La! A rubber cube!

4. Now here's the trciky part, you need to cut zig-zag about half-way down the side, but up to the sculpt. Also hard to put into words, look at this picture I took:

5. Now take the orinigal sculpt out (not salvagable) and there's your mold.

6. When you are ready to cast your first cast, place rubber bands around the mold to keep it together.

7. Follow the instructions on the plastic package and pour equal amounts of part A & B, mix them together, and quickly pour them into the mold. The plastic I use cures VERY QUICKLEY, so do this step fast.

8. Wait 15-20 mins. before taking the elastic bands off and take the cast out.

9. Congrats, you made your first cast!

Yeah, my instructions aren't that clear, but I wanted to offer as much advice as possible. You may want to check this out: http://www.minifigcustomizationnetwork.com/howto/3975

(EDIT: Compliments of SW4J :-P )

Plastic:

Mold Box:

I hope that helps! *sweet*

Edited December 1, 2007 by SirNadroj

[Vader]

Right now it is just sculpy but I would love to make a resin cast of it. Is there a friendly expert customizer out there who might be willing to point out some good articles about producing elements? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Kinda makes you wish that we had a whole section devoted to this sort of subject dosen't it....... :-P X-D

Seriously though here's are link to some good info:

http://www.minifigcustomizationnetwork.com/howto/3975

[Hinckley]

Thanks Sir Nadroj and Vader! That's incredibly helpful information. X-D

Kinda makes you wish that we had a whole section devoted to this sort of subject dosen't it....... :-P X-D

That could be nice...

[SirNadroj]

Seriously though here's are link to some good info:

http://www.minifigcustomizationnetwork.com/howto/3975

Copy-Cat! :-P :-D ;-)

Anyway, no problem Hinckley! I'll be sculpting Droopy McCool next! ;-)

Edited November 30, 2007 by SirNadroj

[Scouty]

Yeah, what Vader just posted was what I was refering to. So there you go!

I'm not sure if it's relevant, but you can see my failed Shako mold here. The reason it is failed is because, in the third picture on the right mold part, the tube thing you see which is for the tube conections for the shako, kept breaking. I just left it. I do want to look for other things to make. I'm not that good with clay though.

Good luck with your quest anyway.

[Vader]

Copy-Cat! :-P :-D ;-)

Anyway, no problem Hinckley! I'll be sculpting Droopy McCool next! ;-)

Strange before posting your response wasn't there, i guess i failed to refresh EB. Oh well at least Hinckley can't say he didn't see it X-D

[Bonaparte]

For a first attempt this looks very good.

This is something I've never experimented with, but I'm eager to try once you know how this works and told me :-)

[Starwars4J]

Copy-Cat! :-P :-D ;-)

Anyway, no problem Hinckley! I'll be sculpting Droopy McCool next! ;-)

He's a copy cat after you copied the link I gave to you as your own? :-P Not to mention that you shouldn't just use a ready-made kit like you did...giving advice like you know what you're talking about :-D

Also I'm editing your post to get rid of a couple of pics. They're very big and tend to slow the thread down when you suddenly run into so many

[SirNadroj]

He's a copy cat after you copied the link I gave to you as your own? :-P Not to mention that you shouldn't just use a ready-made kit like you did...giving advice like you know what you're talking about :-D

Also I'm editing your post to get rid of a couple of pics. They're very big and tend to slow the thread down when you suddenly run into so many

:-D You've got a point. ;-) It's not a ready made kit! I don't know what you mean by that ~ the plastic comes in 2 parts that I mix and the silicone is another two parts. I have no idea what you mean ~ it can't come any less ready! :-D

Those pics may have not been resized, I'm not sure, but edit what you like! ;-)

Oh God, there's something in my eye again! ;-) :-P ;-)

[Lord Admiral Helden Ravensdorn]

Hello,

I have been doing a limited form of casting for some time, but have not yet attempted Lego parts. I hope to do so in the future, and, if it is successful, I'll help you with yours :-)

Also, rather than Sculpey for hair, I suggest Games Workshop two-part Epoxy. Its *way* better than Sculpey, and dries like hard rubber - ie, its practically unbreakable as it isnt fragile nor bendy.

But still, very nice!

[ZeekyBoogeyDoog]

The hair piece looks great! Best of luck with any future molding process!

[Starwars4J]

Hello,

I have been doing a limited form of casting for some time, but have not yet attempted Lego parts. I hope to do so in the future, and, if it is successful, I'll help you with yours :-)

Also, rather than Sculpey for hair, I suggest Games Workshop two-part Epoxy. Its *way* better than Sculpey, and dries like hard rubber - ie, its practically unbreakable as it isnt fragile nor bendy.

But still, very nice!

What you're talking about is called "Green Stuff", not Games Workship two-part epoxy :-P I know a few reliable sites where you can buy it, so let me know if you want any ;-)

The only downside is that it's very cohesive, and dries too quickly to make things on a larger scale. I do manage to make hairpieces fairly easily though, but you're best served using a normal hairpiece as a base, because it will stick to the head and be almost impossible to remove.

[Siegfried]

I think it's pretty good! *wub* I wish Lego sold more hair pieces that looked less flat... Very good for a first attempt! *sweet*

[Asuka]

A very nice work indeed. Balding off! :-P