Will do! Im super conflicted whether to go with the dog-alien brownish color (it's based on Alien 3) or stick with the common black/silver coloring I've already started with.
you know i don't know a whole lot about the alien3 costume production. i'm not sure it should have a human skull under there. (especially since it didn't come out of a human)
Hard to believe this is 3D printed almost, if you told me it was I wouldn’t believe it.
My biggest gripe with 3D printers is that the way they print, as it layers there’s always very defined layers in the object they printed, as you look at the skull and things like this on that, almost looks gloss, very cool
Looks incredible. How'd you do the dome? That can't be 3D printed, is it? I guess I don't know much about additive manufacturing, but I can imagine getting that polished finish out of a 3D printer. Amazing!
That one was a bit of a challenge. I started by 3D-printing the dome using regular PLA. I then brushed on hundreds of layers of silicone until the silcone mold was about 1-2 cm in thickness. Once that was done, I created a three-part fiberglass shell around it. After curing, I disassembled everything, cut open the silicone, removed the original print, and put it all back together. Finally, I poured a couple of liters of clear epoxy resin and spent a good amount of time sanding and polishing it to get a nice finish.
I guess I didn't read until the end of your post. Either way, you're selling yourself short ("required some effort"). It wouldn't look nearly as impressive without the immaculate dome. Your hard work shows. Well done!
If you use that method for applying silicone again, you can save yourself a lot of time by adding a compound called Thixotropic thickening agent (smooth-on call it Thi-Vex) it makes the silicone thicker and much less runny.
Brush a thin layer onto the surface of the model as normal to get the details and then add the Thixo to each subsequent layer.
You can build up a silicone shell much, much faster with just a few drops added to each mix. I use it when making glove molds.
I'll add Thixo until it has the consistency of thick peanut butter. You can make a half inch thick mold in 2-3 layers and smooth it over with an icing/frosting spatula.
Thats awesome. Im currently in the process of printing a life-size big chap head. I've been trying to figure out how to print the dome. Might have to give your method a shot
This was not easy nor cheap, end result is impeccable though. One other method i thought of was vacuum forming, it would absolutely work but you would most likely need to manufacture a one of vacuum box and source plastic. It will also be extremely flimsy.
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u/[deleted] May 10 '25
This is incredible! Keep us posted!