3D Printing Foam Muscles - DIY Cosplay Muscles

[@arudanel5542]

If you make another attempt, try mold silicone. Make a mold of your actual front, to make an insert that has your body shape, then fit the insert to the acrylic, and make a mold that fits together. End result would be a reusable mold of your front and a muscle chest, so it would give you a perfectly fitting foam muscle suit anytime you needed a replacement. I have a relative who does stage costuming, that's how she does it. It might work for you, if I managed to explain it right.

[@UncleJessy]

Heck yeah that would be cool

[@visioncorp5228]

@@UncleJessy you should do it man!

[@jmunkki]

@@UncleJessy I have worked a bit with silicone (including silicone foam), but silicone is not cheap, so big shapes end up being quite expensive and then of course you have the "learning experiences" that end up wasting a lot of expensive material. I know at least one Chinese company that says they use Smooth-On silicone that makes, among other things, muscle chestplates. At the price they are selling the finished product, I couldn't even buy the raw silicone to make one. I tried silicone foam for a larger piece, but my first experiment was pretty close to your first attempt (not enough material), so I stopped there, knowing I didn't have enough foam to complete the project. Making your own is definitely more fun and of course you learn a lot, but it's an expensive hobby.

[@TheBreakingBread]

It’s perfect for the Rob Liefeld Captain America cosplay

[@HELLEKSONART]

lol he still gets a pass for Deadpool,New Mutants.and X-Force. and He's a really nice dude.

[@xalwine]

Is it just me or is the voice audio pitched up a bit in this video?

[@UncleJessy]

Hahahaha I just looked at my video and somehow all of my footage is sped up by 104% speed. No idea how the heck that happened

[@xalwine]

It's all good! I wasn't sure if it was my speakers, that you had a cold, or something entirely different. Still a fun video and interesting experiment.

[@jose350794]

Caffeine and excitement is a STRONG combination. 😂

[@3DRyleigh]

lol i was like he sounds alot dif haha

[@UncleJessy]

@@jose350794 😂🤣

[@poodlescone9700]

I would love to see more use of 3d prints for molds. This is very cool.

[@UncleJessy]

Done and done!

[@khaderach19]

check out the robinson foundry channel. He 3d prints a lot of molds for casting

[@DALILOMODIY]

how about do a plaster bandage mold or 3d scan print of your own body, line that up with the 3d muscle mold, foam it, then the foam should fit you perfectly?

[@chopsworth3833]

For future reference, and for others watching, Smooth On also makes a brush on mold release wax (Sonite Wax) It does a good job of covering up porous surfaces.

[@SpaceGringos3D]

love the Los Pollos apron!

[@peternieves4958]

I’ve been doing this technique with platinum silicone in the mold, comes a lot dinner and a lot more definition. Plus you can use latex in the mold and just brush it in there.

[@Stealthamster]

Well this is the coolest thing I've seen all week

[@Ratteler]

You had a perfect Liefeld Cap'n America chest at the beginning!!!!

[@UncleJessy]

Haha exactly!!

[@TheCreativeCollector]

One of the coolest projects you've done in a while!

[@UncleJessy]

Thanks!! Going to be attempting a new variation of this soon!

[@TheCreativeCollector]

@@UncleJessy Can't wait to see what you come up with.

[@collinchapin805]

6:30 learning experience. Always a good idea to hit a 3d printed mold surface with a couple runs of Clear coat or paint to give it a smooth surface for molding. Clear is better than paint, I've found that paint peals up with the silicone or whatever you're molding with.

[@Simply_put_it]

Reminds me of the halloween costume website from the 2000's. Absolutely loved that site as a kid and seen foam muscle chest pieces that came with it.

[@chrishechtl8330]

I was amused by some of the antics in the fitting phase. I too had issues with 3D print molds. I learned the trick of filler primer and sanding after a test of latex gave me subpar results for my animatronic reindeer project. It looks like you had enough or nearly enough foam in the first batch if you'd used the positive instead of the clear plexi. Good learning experience though! The interesting thing is you can use this to custom make a mannequin for your own body. Or bulk up the 3D print or cut foam muscles to do the Hulk or whoever. :)

[@UncleJessy]

Yeah lots of possibilities with this! Will for sure be doing a little more trial with this

[@JustRoy11]

3D print the muscle part the same way as the mold. That way you can clamp them together making the foam spread out evenly, and you’ll be able to use it on other cosplay projects in the future.

[@FEBRIZIOtv]

maybe scale down the male insert copy by a couple percent so it fits snug?

[@UncleJessy]

Ohhhh love that idea!

[@UncleJessy]

@@FEBRIZIOtv exactly, could also create a top overlap so it press fits together

[@Luke101]

LOVE this! So creative. Great work dude. I love that you showed the failure as well. That would have driven me up the wall!!

[@UncleJessy]

60% of the time, it works everytime 😂🤣

[@jb0078887]

I have been searching for a method other than meshmixer to thicken models. Finally!

[@ChrisBoshProps]

Great Job sir! 3D printing the mold itself was a fantastic idea. Brushing the Flex Foam IT also works well, you don't get as much back pressure but it helps you control the material a little better and it will still expand just might take couple coats. I primarily use Flex Foam IT 15 so the 3 might be a little different. It took a few brush coats of Flex Foam IT 15 for a Robocop Midsection I did and it expanded quite a bit still. Hope you have a blast at Comic Con!

[@UncleJessy]

Ohhh didn’t even think about brushing it! Yeah I for sure want to try out some of the other materials

[@Wallace19711]

I would love to be able to learn to use a a 3D printer to make a mold like that. And using expendable foam inside the mold is an excellent idea.

[@maxs-lz4pn]

This is really cool! Always fun to learn about new ways to tackle a project. A muscle suit has been on my to-do list for a while so I'm always hyped to see new ways of doing it

[@smerk85]

I used to design vacuum forming mold bucks for after market automotive. I think this poses a good opportunity for a vacuum formed piece. Get some foam rubber sheet, clamp it into a frame, and warm it up in an oven until soft and saggy. Your back mold piece could be the mold or the negative could work. You apply a good amount of paste wax as several coats, and then use a shop vac to pull the air out with your sheet of foam sealed in top.

[@trashfirefuneral]

Oh wow man your magneto is very cool! I've only ever seen your thumbnail before

[@atrixma]

VERY WELL DONE. LOOKS GREAT

[@UncleJessy]

Thanks!

[@wongy81]

Good job Clayton!!

[@jjfordingpoursoulstudios8581]

Cool vid. Chest piece came out pretty nice. Oh, and that apron rules by the way. 👍

[@UncleJessy]

Haha thanks! I gotta start using that apron again

[@johnrazvaliaeff]

You should have printed the chest separate from the abs. Putting all that foam in the ab section gives off a bigger gut look. You only want your abs showing not the whole stomach bulging out.

[@TheIcemanModdeler]

Cool experiment, you can use a hot wand or a hot wire to easily cut the foam.

[@UncleJessy]

Heck yeahn

[@serennosquadcast8297]

looks great. awesome technique!

[@neileddy6159]

I wonder if adding 1 step to the process would help, put down a super thin layer of hot resin to help seal the surfaces.

[@UncleJessy]

Oh damn!!! Now we are talking! 100% trying that next. Not sure if it will react/come up with the casting material but worth a shot!

[@offearth3d]

Badass man! I like the concept. For your mold you should shoot it with some clear coat next time. That should help seal it.

[@UncleJessy]

Haha yeah the primer for sure helped a good bit with the cast release. Will try some clear coat next

[@MrNinjq]

I wonder something like this, though with a two part mold, could be used for making custom foam cushions. Like for car upholstery. I may look into trying this out once my bambu labs printer shows up.

[@cutmandesigns8463]

Very interesting idea. Might try this with my batsuit

[@lazyman1011]

Many 1000€ printer has problems with runout filament and bed adhesion. We have it but I use a Prusa instead, others that have both also use the Prusa more. Funny story and it will be better if PrusaXL comes out;).

[@UncleJessy]

Can’t wait for the XL!!

[@skippythemagnificent8103]

You never fail to make me smile with your videos, .... but 3D printed wonderbra for men, lol 😂,.... oh my eyes... oh no i cant unsee this... the comment ' you wont see any videos on this, Trust me I looked for them' ... finished me off 🤣lol, many thanks... you trend setter you, keep up the good work 😂. Havent laughed like this for a while, thank you...

[@OldCurmudgeon3DP]

I've found, when drilling thin or brittle plastic, that a step bit works much better than a twist bit.

[@angelmorales8874]

Why not make thinner muscles with maleable(may not be correct term) resin? Like what is used to make normal molds

[@UncleJessy]

Oh that would totally be doable now. This was back in 2019 and I don’t think I had a big enough printer yet for anything like this

[@angelmorales8874]

@@UncleJessy that also works, probably better XD, but i meant like a "peel off" coat of a bendy resin like the one used for casting molds, on top of the 3d printed part. Similar to making hollow resin casts

[@StudioRevoct]

This would be perfect for a Rob Liefeld Captain America cosplay, just upscale the thickness a bit more and you can have the ultimate barrel chest.

[@UncleJessy]

😂🤣 you see what I was going for there

[@kerricaine]

one thing i've wondered but have yet to try; would it be possible to make a 3D printed rotocasting mold? for larger props like helmets and blasters, instead of printing many copies, print one mold you could use for resin casting? obviously the mold would need to be in at least 2 parts that could be seperated, but i think you could get good results like this with it.

[@YardenTheobald]

This is amazing I must know more about this liquid foam.

[@miatakid2]

When drilling acrylic put the drill in reverse it will prevent cracking. And all around just be a better part

[@UncleJessy]

🤯🤯🤯 okay now that’s awesome

[@miatakid2]

@@UncleJessy the term I think is called friction drilling. But when you drill normal it creating "chips " that stress it what causes cracks( the chipping action)..

[@Justin_North]

If you want to try again, print the base chest piece again but as a block like you did with the negative. Then use a little less foam and clamp both blocks together. The foam should come out much thinner and hopefully with less flash (excess material). At least that's how we do it in manufacturing.

[@DymoPolska]

Dude! I was working on it right now 😂

[@UncleJessy]

🤣😂💪💪💪

[@harthfire2]

did you try the "mold mode" in cura before all the tinkercad to see if that would accomplish the project?

[@BrainSlugs83]

I would definitely dremel out the top unless you're planning on going as Spider Gwen. 😅 Still though, cool project, definitely interested in more foam content. 👌🏻

[@manuelcruz2256]

Great video and cool apron, los pollos hermanos 🐔 🍗😁👍

[@TheAlldrops]

Man I love your videos but I gotta say: this is by far one of, if not THE most valuable video I’ve seen here. All the info here is so great and detailed. I’ll definitely try steps when making my muscle suit later this year. Also, when you first popped up your spider suit, I was like “damn, Uncle J is looking swole with them muscles”, til you said you weren’t wearing it hahahaha

[@trugbilddrachen]

Awesome Vid. Love the suit… !!!!!

[@limpx336]

Chest brought to you by Rob Liefeld lol

[@Preske]

the foam muscles make you look like that iconic Captain America picture of Rob Liefeld.

[@ronm6585]

Looks great, thanks.

[@brandonrobinson1603]

Awesome video! You're unbelievably skilled in problem solving and 3d printing! I feel like the Spiderman suit looked better without the foam though, you looked more lean and in shape- the foam insert made your whole torso too thick, looked bulky instead of muscular. But that's just me. I think it's a great proof of concept though and could be refined into a useable result through further trial and error

[@chrisx6991]

I love this and definitely love the apron! Bahaha, but I've thought about something like this but didn't know how to go about it. Nice to see you did. Here's my two cents. If you could 3D scan your torso are with some help and then print that to go inside the mold then you would have the custom muscles actually formed to fit your body. Because I got a little belly. I would need the ab area super thin with more foam for the pecks. But in the end as you say, time and cost may be best to just cut up foam myself. Though I love the idea of custom formed muscle suit

[@chrisx6991]

Or I just thought, may be really expensive but less time. Use some of that rubbery style resin and just 3D resin print the muscles. Could hollow out for extra squish! *Emperor Palatine* "Do it!'

[@grinningtiki220]

Isn't there a foam like filament you could have used on the first print and saved a few steps?

[@DukeDuel]

How on earth did you print the chest mold in 2.5 days? Is there a video on that?

[@ChrisOsberg]

Holy cow, that is a BIG 3D printer.

[@UncleJessy]

Haha yeah! I gotta get my N2+ back up and running in the new studio space

[@smittysbuilds]

i think for venom this would be great, he has a very large chest size, and black would show definition more.

[@SandyCrack69]

Nice video, Quick question what was the name of the iPhone scanning software you used ..

[@CostalCreator]

Why not sandwich like you showed but maybe a different medium like silicone?

[@Matthew-jv1ee]

Could always try using the esun lightweight PLA it's a pla foam type filament.

[@johnmichael_]

Awesome video!

[@Plastic3D]

so cool!

[@darren990]

what model of iPad size do you use Jess

[@UncleJessy]

I have a 2021 iPad Pro M1… a bit overkill but I love it

[@jim2386]

What if you scan your actual chest as the negative and have the muscles as the positive instead of using the muscles as the negative? It might fit closer!

[@barewitness627]

I need your HELP! I want to start 3D printing. My question is what is in your opinion your most FAVORITE, (Largest) resin 3D printer. Money isn’t a problem. It’s the quality of the prints and how large I can get them. For example, a Bust of a character or an animal.

[@sarunthepoly4017]

Can i use Blender 3D instead of Nomad Sculpt to do it?

[@DanNewYoutube]

what 3d printer did u use to print the mold?

[@awesomeinmortal3499]

Very cool J

[@thndrcatcsc]

Is there a helium leak somewhere in the building?

[@MikeGalosi]

Drag Queens rejoice!

[@UncleJessy]

🏳️‍🌈

[@ChrisSmith-mp6pj]

Coat the form with Flexseal or plasidip then the mold release would work better

[@Mobile_Dom]

this is so awesome. but imagine how much easier this project would have been if that EVA foam filament was able to be mass produced

[@UncleJessy]

Now we’re talking! I’m actually thinking about heat pressing Eva foam into my muscle molds

[@Mobile_Dom]

@@UncleJessy oh fuck yeah!

[@ggdail]

And now I am ordering a Los Pollos Hermanos apron...😄

[@GregAtlas]

Your voice sounds higher pitched than usual. Are you using a different mic?

[@emergeprosthetics5870]

Perhaps it could have been printed directly in TPU as well

[@UncleJessy]

Ohhh that for sure is an option!

[@emergeprosthetics5870]

@@UncleJessy Right?! The right firmness TPU and infill, a gyroid pattern, and no shell does really well with compression and torsion movements. Since it will be worn under a suit or fabric, Also, great for reducing heat on the body since the infill pattern replicates a large open cell foam!!

[@MrPeter924]

Very good sounds show 👍

[@roofoofighter]

Dude you got Rob Liefeld muscles 😜

[@r3d777]

I am sorry but I can not stop laughing 🤣😂🤣

[@UncleJessy]

🤣😂🤘

[@Fleeem69]

You should try to spray the print with clear coat

[@tqqqspxl5590]

Why not just print the positive thicker in TPU? maybe you can just use it right away

[@dannyrosario3003]

Dear Uncle Jessy, I demand you add about 4-7 inches of foam before you add the muscle layer on top. Make it lopsided so one peck sticks out further than the other. Then do Liefelds Captain America as cosplay.

[@KrustyKlown]

Foam over your abs, just makes your waist look Bigger. How about just doing the foam pecs alone .. consider adding shoulder muscles (to thicken and widen up your shoulders) and some biceps.

[@3DJapan]

This is basically the same thing they do for monster movie make up. You can see a lot of that on the, now sadly canceled, SyFy show Face Off.

[@michaelwilson2497]

Why not silicone? Weight, I guess?

[@ge2719]

For a good second step after this experiment , idimagine id be far easier to work with, more practical and more effective to print individual muscles, get a 3d scan of your body and the desired muscle shape over it to print a individual two part moulds, That way the gaps between the individual pieces act as space for definition in the spandex. A lot more work but i think the finished look would be movie quality.... Not that muscle suits in movies have always looked good 😂

[@UncleJessy]

🤣😂 yeah could definitely use some improvement but it’s a starting point. And love that idea

[@TBudgetAngler]

is it me or does the your voice sound much higher pitch

[@Torey3D]

That looks great, and so fun to watch the whole process, totally agree though the chest area needs a bit more of a grad from the top of the shoulders to sell it more, but even without that you're totally getting very super looking chest and abs, 🦸‍♀️

[@F1NNJA_Industries]

“Halloween is just around the corner” wait what? No not really💀🤣

[@joannot6706]

I think this would work even better for someone underweight

[@HenryCreations]

Hahahaha great project man

[@UncleJessy]

Thanks mate! No where near as awesome as your molds 🤣😂 not bad for 2019… will have to attempt this again

[@HenryCreations]

@@UncleJessy i loved the video! Wish more people actually experimented with printed molds, there is so much going on and the potential is huge.

[@RainMakeR_Workshop]

Individual muscles works a lot better that a single piece of all the muscles. Like have each peck and the abs all as individual pieces.

[@djtokimi]

nice,but would work better if you used a casting of your actual chest as the back of the foam casting

[@johnholidayVFX]

The costumes in movies range from $40,000 to Shazam which was $300,000. Impossible to get from home.

[@TormaTOS]

"Yo Mr White, Mr Fringe says there's a guest here."

[@robgeib1723]

Did something happen to the audio? Your voice seems higher and really nasally. Still a great video and I really enjoy your channel. Subbed, liked and rung the bell.

[@mirophew7164]

Work out and exercise nahh I'll just print my own abs haha 😸

[@tedcogley1939]

Maybe next time use the silicon as the muscle suit so it flex with you body more

[@Hilmi12]

Now you can start manufacturing implants 😂

[@sybaritesphynx8057]

Add some Deltoids, triceps and biceps too for better proportionality. Would love to see a video of that. PS - you have a great body to begin with 😉

[@shaunramkissoon2]

I would make air holes. Lots of air holes.

[@HDany-El]

Better for Captain America ;D