Clearly you grew up with more money and spent more time playing sports and not in art or theater classes. Plaster of Paris is cheaper and you can carve into the mold enhance details.
I don't know for sure if this would of worked but maybe squirting some GE silicone in the parts that tore out. to finish the moldings. if cured silicone doesn't stick to uncured maybe super glue the patch?
I think there are other silicone mixes, that would have worked better for the original mold. I have seen others used, that probably would have held up better. Also, could you have made a mold out of plaster, and then just used a silicone coating, spray or brush, to coat the inside, so that the foam could have separated easier?
Enjoyed watching your process and going for it. Could you have used Plaster instead of all the silicone? Maybe paint a few layers of silicone but then for added suport and saving on money, use plaster for the strength and durability. Your project turned out great and Kudos for not giving up. Also, getting your kids involved was awesome. Look forward to next years project. 🙂
search for alginate. my first time here, so if this is the gag, sorry. but you seriously need to discover primary materials. there is a thing in the world called release agent.
@@dadcrafted if you revisit fiberglass. Lay down a layer of clear plastic wrap on the mold and spray the plastic wrap with a little oil before you layer the fiberglass
BTW you can also heavily customize your sculpts with Loctite foam (now GE foam). Loctite uses a slightly different formulation that forms a "skin" when misted with water. You spray out loctite foam and then wait about ~60-90 seconds for it to expand. Then you mist it with water, wat about 2-4 minutes. Once the skin forms (the moment it doesn't stick to your fingers anymore) you can sculpt and use tools to press the foam into any shape you want. It'll start to stiffen in about 5-7 more minutes. You can add on multiple incremental bits of foam as you go as it adheres to itself. Oh also great stuff also cures with moisture, it just doesn't form the same moldable skin effect as loctite. However if you sprits the mold before putting in the loctite (just a single spray bottle spray) and then do the same after you line the mold, you can cure it in about 1 hour or less. Another great cheap material you can use for the inside layer (if you want something) is cling film. Spray foam and cling film can be used to make TONS of things (ropes, vines, tentacles, fake peeling skin, modify masks, etc). Non-Stick PAM cooking spray is also a big go to, or wipe it down with mineral oil. Oh also acetone eats foam. They make cans of acetone that you can clean out the nozzels with. They are designed for the pro foam gun, but they also come with a spray nozzle to use by themselves (the other option is Brake Clean or Carb Cleaner...they are mostly acetone and methel-elthyl ketone which also eats uncured foam)
PLEASE DON'T DO THIS PEOPLE!!!!! THIS SHOULD BE ILLEGAL. YUK. Grow real pumpkins. It's good for you and the world of living beings. Please don't poison us.
God NOOOOOO!!!!! What a horrible toxic wasteland! Have you ever heard of REAL PUMPKINS? Cheaper, and GOOD for living things. ...and natural pumpkin scent adds to the ambiance.
Thanks for the inspiration! I got the candles as well but was struggling with what to do with them... I don't think I'll cover the ceiling but grouping storm clouds seems like a great idea now!
Aww, you missed a great opportunity on those messed up pumpkins for leprosy, warts, diseased skin, zombie, and Frankenstein types of designs. On the bright side, what you did do looks great.
You might have been able to make a mold from plaster since it looked like you didn't have any undercuts. Plaster press molds work well with clay because the plaster will suck out moisture from the clay. Plaster might have been a bit less expensive. You probably could use a "mother" to keep your silicone mold to hold it's shape. I think plaster bandage material can be used for a mother. Try a silicone spatula to smooth the interior. Magic Smooth epoxy like material is nice, too. The end effect was truly awesome!
You might have used the volume of a sphere formula and subtracted from a "larger" sphere to get a rough idea of how much you needed. Buy in volume. Also remember to divide by 2.
"I'm going to do ZERO research and start a project, then record how I complain thats it's not going well......THE ENTIRE TIME!!" Annnnnnnnd your blocked!
Honestly I don't think the silicone mould served you well, it interacted with the foam too much chemically... maybe a fibre reinforced plaster mould with a thin wax lining, that would be super cheap and easy. It would address sticking, longevity, and be a much more solid base to build upon/into.
Did you resaearch any of this before you started? You should have taken the mold out your cardboard box first then pulled the pumpkin out the mold without breaking it.
Not enough silicone. Really anyone could have figured out how big that dang box was a known to get a lot more silicone. How could you even think you’d have enough with one or two or three or even four.
Going to blow your mind. What you want to use for molding large pumpkins is a product from Smooth-On called moldstar. It's cheaper and very durable. They have a mold release to go with their products that is awesome as well. For filling a big void like a pumpkin you want to use a 2 part expanding foam in at least 3LB density. It's expensive for a one-off but if you need to make a lot of them read:many) the gallon or 5 gallon pail kits make sense and yeild something crazy like 20 cubic feet of foam which is a ton. For molds of round things that are sort of mirrored I like coating the whole thing in in basically a cube of it then cutting the cube in half so you get 2 halves and then if they need some support 1/4 plywood or plaster. Fiberglass works graeat too. Just make sure to put mold release on your pumpkin that you're using to make the mold from. Work slow. Once it's hardened you want to reinforce the shell you just made. You're going to add thick chop mat and more resin. Once that's solid pull your pumpkin out that you're using for the mold. Sand the inside smooth and spray it with gelcoat. Wax the mold and pour your foam.
I don’t know if it helps but I carve a lot of cosplay weapons from xps foam with a hot wire and knife. Again not sure if it helps but I save all my spray paints by turning the can upside down and spraying a bit, it runs out fast and cleans the nozzle at the same time. A large sheet of pink XPS foam is less than $20, great for everything; weapons, gravestones, and super lite. Carving with a hot wire or knife is fast and MUCH easier on your wrists.
