Silicone Mask for Animatronics...

custom-adventurescustom-adventures ✭
in General
Hey Guys,
some time ago i made the first silicone masks. For this I followed the tutorial "Silicone Mask Making 1-3". This system works wonderfully, but I would like to avoid some rework in the future by making masks without "bleeder holes". Is there a way to inject the silicone into the mold with pressure? What do I need for this? Are there any instructions for this?

Here you can find a few photos of one of our masks.

Thank you in advance :-)


Answers

  • Chris EllerbyChris Ellerby Admin
    Awesome work on your molds and castings!

    You can inject the silicone similar to how you would with foam latex, however, this does not really do away with the need for bleeder holes.  Trapped air under pressure of injection is still trapped air.  It needs some way to escape, and that's what the bleeders help with.  You can try running your mold without bleeders to find out where air is trapped, then add them only where needed, and even start with very small bleeders and increase their size as needed, but you'll use up silicone in those test runs.  Another option is to use gelatine for your test runs since it can be melted down and re-used, and is less expensive than silicone. 

    /Chris
  • custom-adventurescustom-adventures ✭
    Hey chris,
    Thank you for the kind words. I am very happy if you like my work.

    I understand what you mean. the gelatine is a great idea! I will definitely try that out.

    what do you call a machine to press the silicone or latex into the mold?

    Greetings
    Felix
  • Chris EllerbyChris Ellerby Admin
    For forcing the material into a mold a syringe is normally used.  For foam latex injection these syringes are often custom made out of plumbing parts.

    /Chris
  • custom-adventurescustom-adventures ✭
    Okay, that sounds easy :-)
    Thank you!

    Felix
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