I've been brainstorming a bit on materials since making my first fursuit, and today was thinking about how I might construct a head base differently.
My head is made from using the traditional resin + filler, which forms a rigid, somewhat brittle shell. Presumably this will last a long time as long as it's not crushed or bounced around.
There are those occasions, however, that having a more flexible base might have its advantages where concern of damage may present itself (snowboarding?). It was actually Jill's recent post to FA that got me thinking about this.
Perusing Smooth-On's site, there's a number of materials that may give both advantages of a sculpted base and a foam base:
- Urethane foam. Even at its highest density, it's half the weight of resin, and comparable to the density of a resin + filler mix. This material would require an insert into the sculpted head for the foam to fill between as you probably cannot slush-cast it with such a short working time (50-60 sec).
- Urethane rubber. This stuff has about the same density as resin, comes in a shore hardness around 80A (harder than the typical resins used), and remains flexible. Some have little or no odor (when cured), and some are phthalate free. It's about 10 times the viscosity of resin (about that of corn syrup), but a 5-10 minute working time may be just long enough to slush-cast with. It costs the same as urethane resin, but cannot be used with fillers.
- I would mention silicone rubber, however none listed have a low viscosity and high enough hardness to make it viable. I'm not considering it.
The material I'm interested in most is the urethane rubber. It's hard, which should keep its form with sufficient thickness, and flexible, which aids in durability and opens the possibility of sculpting "living hinges" for the jaw if the material proves to last. I'm guessing that it'll last at least 10 years, which is about how long polyurethane foam lasts (same material, but without the air).
Any thoughts?
My head is made from using the traditional resin + filler, which forms a rigid, somewhat brittle shell. Presumably this will last a long time as long as it's not crushed or bounced around.
There are those occasions, however, that having a more flexible base might have its advantages where concern of damage may present itself (snowboarding?). It was actually Jill's recent post to FA that got me thinking about this.
Perusing Smooth-On's site, there's a number of materials that may give both advantages of a sculpted base and a foam base:
- Urethane foam. Even at its highest density, it's half the weight of resin, and comparable to the density of a resin + filler mix. This material would require an insert into the sculpted head for the foam to fill between as you probably cannot slush-cast it with such a short working time (50-60 sec).
- Urethane rubber. This stuff has about the same density as resin, comes in a shore hardness around 80A (harder than the typical resins used), and remains flexible. Some have little or no odor (when cured), and some are phthalate free. It's about 10 times the viscosity of resin (about that of corn syrup), but a 5-10 minute working time may be just long enough to slush-cast with. It costs the same as urethane resin, but cannot be used with fillers.
- I would mention silicone rubber, however none listed have a low viscosity and high enough hardness to make it viable. I'm not considering it.
The material I'm interested in most is the urethane rubber. It's hard, which should keep its form with sufficient thickness, and flexible, which aids in durability and opens the possibility of sculpting "living hinges" for the jaw if the material proves to last. I'm guessing that it'll last at least 10 years, which is about how long polyurethane foam lasts (same material, but without the air).
Any thoughts?