C
Cerberus
Guest
I need a material that can be easily shaped but is fairly sturdy, something easier to work with than wood but not nearly as weak as wax/clay. Any suggestions?
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Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.
I need a material that can be easily shaped but is fairly sturdy, something easier to work with than wood but not nearly as weak as wax/clay. Any suggestions?
H
harleyman
Guest
YUP...A big block of foam..That is what the designers use for cars anyways....
Terry
SOH-CM-2016
If you buy polyurithane as components A=resin, B=catalyst. Place the item you want to package in a light plastic bag. Mix the components in a container and as it starts to expand put the bagged item into the foam and it will form around it. When its done blowing cut around the perimeter of the foam to give yourself a top and bottom.
Hey Jesse,
I used to do prototyping and found that working in foam and then painting it with a ton of resin (fiberglass style resin) will do the job nicely, creating a glass like surface if done right. The foam really absorbs it well.
Great designers like Guigarro have even used old bread as it acts like foam. Coat it with plaster, then sand and finish with regular surface materials/paints, etc.
Some use foams. Aircraft tend to use 'plastic' like foam that bends (like childs toys), while surf boards tend to use core foams that are more solid and easily sandable. This is the material I have made cars with. Great stuff. You can sculpt with your hands with this stuff, but the dust is horrible, gets into everything. Wear a plastic jump suit if you work with it, and work in an area you dont mind it getting dirty with foam dust.
In the new prototype shops, they make a clay (or similar) model, then make a vacum formed model from that, that is cleaner and all. Their ways are much more cleaner now and lower in dust. Nicer to cool environments that have books, computers, etc.
You might go to the library and look up books on 'model making' and 'industrial design'.
Bill
LHC
I used to do prototyping and found that working in foam and then painting it with a ton of resin (fiberglass style resin) will do the job nicely, creating a glass like surface if done right. The foam really absorbs it well.
Great designers like Guigarro have even used old bread as it acts like foam. Coat it with plaster, then sand and finish with regular surface materials/paints, etc.
Some use foams. Aircraft tend to use 'plastic' like foam that bends (like childs toys), while surf boards tend to use core foams that are more solid and easily sandable. This is the material I have made cars with. Great stuff. You can sculpt with your hands with this stuff, but the dust is horrible, gets into everything. Wear a plastic jump suit if you work with it, and work in an area you dont mind it getting dirty with foam dust.
In the new prototype shops, they make a clay (or similar) model, then make a vacum formed model from that, that is cleaner and all. Their ways are much more cleaner now and lower in dust. Nicer to cool environments that have books, computers, etc.
You might go to the library and look up books on 'model making' and 'industrial design'.
Bill
LHC
Also....... Balsa...
By the way, you can make a large model (lets say a brief case size model) by finding a mock-up core (old box, etc), then covering that with bondo, and shaping to finish. You can also go with surf board foam, sculpt it to roughly the shape, and then coat it with resin and bondo, and they finish, then pull a mold from it.
If you have never worked with resin and fiberglass though, you'd probably not want to do this.
If you create an amazing exterior mockup, you can go to a fiberglass shop (really look hard at finding a good shop, like a boat shop that builds boats, etc, and are reliable), and have them make molds and a model from that.. Then you only need to paint and finish.
Plaster is really amazing. You can sculpt it well with sand paper, blocking, etc. Then coat with primer and then use spray on bondo coatings and finish. You can make plaster molds, but plaster 'super heats' when it goes off and turns solid, so you have to be careful as it will burn/warp your plug (part you make the mold from). But its far better then using fiberglass. There are some cool new pour type mold materials you can buy at hobby stores, but they are flexible, so you need to have them in wooden former boxes to keep their shape. After a while, they deteriorate, so you need to keep your plug in a safe place so you can remold from it..
Bill
By the way, you can make a large model (lets say a brief case size model) by finding a mock-up core (old box, etc), then covering that with bondo, and shaping to finish. You can also go with surf board foam, sculpt it to roughly the shape, and then coat it with resin and bondo, and they finish, then pull a mold from it.
If you have never worked with resin and fiberglass though, you'd probably not want to do this.
If you create an amazing exterior mockup, you can go to a fiberglass shop (really look hard at finding a good shop, like a boat shop that builds boats, etc, and are reliable), and have them make molds and a model from that.. Then you only need to paint and finish.
Plaster is really amazing. You can sculpt it well with sand paper, blocking, etc. Then coat with primer and then use spray on bondo coatings and finish. You can make plaster molds, but plaster 'super heats' when it goes off and turns solid, so you have to be careful as it will burn/warp your plug (part you make the mold from). But its far better then using fiberglass. There are some cool new pour type mold materials you can buy at hobby stores, but they are flexible, so you need to have them in wooden former boxes to keep their shape. After a while, they deteriorate, so you need to keep your plug in a safe place so you can remold from it..
Bill
jmig
SOH-CM-2026
Bill, Your two posts above are very helpful and informative. You have provided me with much information, I wish I had when I was building the parachute box on top of the ejection seat for my cockpit.
In fact, I may use some of your info and go back and redo parts of it, of which I am not satisfied.
Thank you!
In fact, I may use some of your info and go back and redo parts of it, of which I am not satisfied.
Thank you!
Most welcome. Glad I could help.
For making prototypes, remember, you mainly need something that is a plug and that you can make the mold and then parts from it. So wood even makes a brilliant 'core' to make plugs from.
Wood, you can create strengthener lines in the surfaces via a router.
I have made wings for cars (rear racing wings) and control yokes and little toys from wood, (and foam and balsa and plaster), then finish with primer and laquere, wet sand and polish to a mirror finish.
Bill
For making prototypes, remember, you mainly need something that is a plug and that you can make the mold and then parts from it. So wood even makes a brilliant 'core' to make plugs from.
Wood, you can create strengthener lines in the surfaces via a router.
I have made wings for cars (rear racing wings) and control yokes and little toys from wood, (and foam and balsa and plaster), then finish with primer and laquere, wet sand and polish to a mirror finish.
Bill
C
Cerberus
Guest
Thanks for the info. I want to make a small enclosure out of foam before I design it in cad and begin looking for someone with a CNC machine to make it out of T6 Aluminum.
Actually sometimes its better to make a quick rough prototype to get an idea of the area and fit.
For instance, car companies make sketches and art first, then the cad and models, and sometimes the models preceed the cad and the cad is made from the models.
A person, when actually having the model in front of them can sit there and change alot of minute details and things where you wouldnt really see them in a cad screen.
Bill
