Cowl Mold Making w/o Foam Latex
in Lab work
Hi guys,
Really curious as to how people are making a larger cowl piece without using foam latex. It seems like the information on cowl making seems to be limited, though you see them used so much on programs like Face Off. I've heard that using a latex or silicone skin w/ polyfoam for the body of the cowl is preferable than just straight silicone because of cost and also weight issues, but I'm not understanding how a hollow mold is achieved w/ expanding foam. Do you have to use a core inside the two-piece mold? I've heard you might be able to brush in a light layer of polyfoam after the silicone so that it doesn't completely fill the inside of the mold, but without a core that could seem a little uncontrolled. Am I wrong in that? Also, because silicone doesn't tend to stick to polyfoam, I've heard you have to add a cotton fiber layer between to adhere the two layers. Does that mean that it'd go:
1. Brush-on Cap Plastic
2. Brush-on layer of Silicone
3. Stick a layer of cotton fibers on
4. Brush on layer of Polyfoam
I would love any info on how a non-foam latex cowl is made that negates the weight of pure silicone. Thank you!
Really curious as to how people are making a larger cowl piece without using foam latex. It seems like the information on cowl making seems to be limited, though you see them used so much on programs like Face Off. I've heard that using a latex or silicone skin w/ polyfoam for the body of the cowl is preferable than just straight silicone because of cost and also weight issues, but I'm not understanding how a hollow mold is achieved w/ expanding foam. Do you have to use a core inside the two-piece mold? I've heard you might be able to brush in a light layer of polyfoam after the silicone so that it doesn't completely fill the inside of the mold, but without a core that could seem a little uncontrolled. Am I wrong in that? Also, because silicone doesn't tend to stick to polyfoam, I've heard you have to add a cotton fiber layer between to adhere the two layers. Does that mean that it'd go:
1. Brush-on Cap Plastic
2. Brush-on layer of Silicone
3. Stick a layer of cotton fibers on
4. Brush on layer of Polyfoam
I would love any info on how a non-foam latex cowl is made that negates the weight of pure silicone. Thank you!
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Comments
A polyfoam cowl could be skinned with latex or silicone, but how you do that will change based on the design and materials. Often you would apply the skin material inside the mold before the polyfoam, and sometimes you can embed fibers into the skin to help the foam bond mechanically to the skin. In that case, you sill want a core if you want a specific internal cavity shape.
Your list of steps would work. If you don't have a core you can just build up the polyfoam and carve away excess to get the right fit and movement. It would just be a bit more manual work.
/Chris