Silicone Valley
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Important Note About Armatures And Silicone
Discussion started by Ron Cole , on 08 January 08:02 PM
Something I've unfortunately discovered is that you need to be mindful of what the silicone has to grip onto on your armature. I recently cast a puppet that has a Human type head but the mouth never needs to open so the scull was just a basic smooth scull shape. I got a nasty surprise when turning it's head today... the silicone skin can just slide around on it!
Silicone has no adhesive quality so, unless you give the armature something to grip on to, it will be able to freely slide around smooth shapes.
In order to solve this problem, I slit the head open and peeled the silicone away to completely expose the scull. I epoxied some cloth to the surface of the scull and then gave it a coat of silicone caulking adhesive before replacing the silicone head back in place.
I'll post here again tomorrow after it's had an overnight cure and let you know how it worked out.
Silicone has no adhesive quality so, unless you give the armature something to grip on to, it will be able to freely slide around smooth shapes.
In order to solve this problem, I slit the head open and peeled the silicone away to completely expose the scull. I epoxied some cloth to the surface of the scull and then gave it a coat of silicone caulking adhesive before replacing the silicone head back in place.
I'll post here again tomorrow after it's had an overnight cure and let you know how it worked out.
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Ouch, it makes sense when you say it but I probably wouldn't remember to add something to grip either.
Thursday, 11 August 2011 08:13
It's best to use something really absorbent, maybe yarn? I would coat the yarn on the armature with silicone prior to placing it in the mold and allow it to cure, that way you don't have to worry about the yarn showing trough to the surface of the skin in the finished casting.
Wednesday, 20 July 2011 20:17
what would you put on some wire limbs? I wrapped some thread around my puppet's legs before I cast them but it took forever and I don't know if it's worked right or not yet. (I'm making the legs, upper body and head seperately)
Wednesday, 20 July 2011 20:11
After an overnight cure on the silicone caulking repair, it looks like it worked. I never want to mess with a puppet too much but, I did twist the head into the position that messed-up on me yesterday because of the sliding silicone and this time the silicone is staying in place! Yay! :)
Sunday, 09 January 2011 08:52
Thanks for the heads up!
And great timing, I finished an Ultracal 30 mold today for just such a character.
And great timing, I finished an Ultracal 30 mold today for just such a character.
Saturday, 08 January 2011 23:56