How To Make a Silicone Brush-Up Mold!

We turn back the clock to before Comic-Con, as Frank and his team are prepping the Lich King armor made for Blizzard. Frank walks us through how to make a silicone brush-up mold of foam fabricated armor parts. These waste molds can be used to make clay castings to give costume parts additional sculptural detail!
Find more episodes of This Old FX Shop here: vrv.co/series/...
See the full costume here: • Making The Lich King A...
Shot by Joey Fameli and edited by Norman Chan
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Tested is:
Adam Savage / donttrythis
Norman Chan / nchan
Simone Giertz / simonegiertz
Joey Fameli / joeyfameli
Kishore Hari / sciencequiche
Frank Ippolito / frankippolito
Sean Charlesworth / cworthdynamics
Jeremy Williams / jerware
Gunther Kirsch
Ryan Kiser
Thanks for watching!

[@isaiahdaniels5643]

The audio sounds like they put silicone over the mic.

[@quicktutsdiy2821]

Sounds like it's the Adaptive noise reduction in Adobe Audition to me

[@nebel_banane2349]

Brandon Burrows yep

[@ianc4901]

Sounds like a cyclic flanger, couldn't watch the whole thing !

[@TK-11538]

A few of the recent tested videos have sounded wonkey

[@djmips]

I noticed it in the on location videos and it was bad but maybe understandable. But generally in these studio videos we expect better audio. I guess they think it's adequate and maybe it saves time in microphone setup.

[@HarrisonsFord]

I loved this, now I'm making an official request for more process videos like this! As someone outside looking in, learning the basics is fascinating.

[@granfo]

Thanks Tested for another awesome tutorial. I hope we get a part 2 on how to mold and cast the final pieces! Super excited!

[@pirobot668beta]

Ah, the memories! I used to make molds using latex, cotton gauze and plaster. Same basic work-up, but after the detail pass, the second coating would get gauze pressed into the still-tacky latex. Once that had set, another layer of latex, more gauze. Basically a rubber/cotton composite structure. I usually went for 4 layers of latex/gauze over the detail layer. I would then encase the rubber mold with a plaster-gauze shell or 'mother' mold. The rigid mother aligns and supports the rubber molding. And yes, these were 20+ impression molds! Never have used silicone con-carne.

[@Captain_MonsterFart]

I bet that is a lot cheaper than silicone.

[@sentinelmoonfang]

You know, I really felt for a while like this channel and others were just plugging Smooth-On. Recently at work I had to make up a ton of brush on molds using silicone from some random local supplier and it was a nightmare. I'd have coats with precisely the same silicone to hardener ratios, and they'd just take completely random amounts of time to cure enough to add subsequent coats, anywhere between like 20 minutes and 5 hours. Quality silicone matters, kids.

[@pirobot668beta]

Brush-on estimator 5000: find/cut a thin terry-cloth rag that just covers the area to brush-up, wad that cloth into a ball, drop the ball in the bucket. Eye-ball the volume of the rag in the bucket, mix up slightly less than the rag-volume. You are welcome. Old fiberglass resin trick.

[@The_Curious_Cat]

Thank you Tested and Frank for this, very helpful tutorial. :D

[@alexbraun6904]

when talking about the thickness of the silicon you can save silicon by making it thinner, 1/4" clear silicon you get from the hardware store in a caulk tube is what i generally use. you can then use a plaster mother mold to get the rigidity you need, this is what i use to make my wax positives for metal casting in investment molds. really the method i use takes WAY longer than this does but its also WAY cheaper, a tube of construction silicon is like $5 and the plaster is even cheaper when you get a big bag of it but you'll spend a good long while making the molds.

[@Matt_E_96]

Wow, you sir are awesome ... I could not even hope to build the foam base lol

[@bluetea1400]

I'd love to see some of the sculpting process between the molds!

[@getorvillized7499]

It did look like bean dip, or refried beans. Before he said that, it reminded me of frosting a cake with chocolate frosting. :) Yum! That sounds good!

[@cakastas]

This was very informative and I would love to see the next step in the process. I recently made foam armor for a Nameless King cosplay and this would have been a nice way to make the armor more like how it appears in the game. Thanks Tested for sharing these builds!

[@yansommi9047]

Im willing to bet that they used the mic on the camera to record the audio for this video and just through in a denoise plugin and bumped it up to maximum.

[@c0pyimitati0n]

The Y Network they definitely used some heavy denoiser on the audio.. they probably had a mic failure. It's happened to me a couple times.

[@Fuzzycat16]

it's funny how nobody cares =3 . Good .

[@rzkruspe666]

It's not denoising, it's just both mics picking up the voices at different phases. Simply cutting out one's mic when the other person is talking would have solved the issue.

[@c0pyimitati0n]

rzkruspe possibly... But to me it sounds like too much noise reduction..

[@user-lr8mi1bi9p]

c0pyimitati0n a

[@lasarith2]

The timing for this video is perfect for my R&D

[@monniebrentart8842]

Wow!..very impressive process...totally getting some new ideas that I would love to try out ....

[@JimBarryBrooklyn]

The sped up footage of the first layer going on looks like you're melting velveeta over the piece :)

[@MegaMasher-ub3pt]

they should do an episode on how to paint silicones and urethane rubbers

[@Violett5712]

Looks great.

[@TrishhMakes]

I had no idea you could mold foam! thank you so much! this looks AMAZING!

[@us3rnam3144]

i am amazed this started with just foam, floormat foam even

[@alexfiftyem]

That signature tested audio though

[@rawson74]

Nice video.... but that audio needs work.

[@c0pyimitati0n]

Jamie Rawson sounds like they used some heavy noise reduction. But I don't think it's unwatchable at all...

[@lasarith2]

Jamie Rawson strange sounds perfectly fine on iPad 🤔?

[@thechef7478]

ya no, everyone is having audio issues and i just check with my ipad and it still sounds off. don't be an apple fan boy

[@lasarith2]

Even Wheat no fanboying- just I have/hadno problems with sound on the video

[@Games_and_Music]

I just finished watching the video and went to look at the comments, but i have no idea where the sound issue comments come from. Nothing wrong here, but maybe it is because i'm on a Mac. !! (im serious though, i had no sound issues)

[@cuongwashere]

I was just waiting for that Lich King armor to move at the end.

[@MorrisonEnterprise]

Hey Tested editor - from one to another - ProTip: if you duck the levels back & forth for each person speaking (only use one mic at a time), it will take an extra 20 minutes in post, but sound a whooole lot better. Bistfump.

[@DaedalusProps]

Ayyyy Gary at 19:14!

[@Dingdongtime]

I was actually really disappointed that that second layer wasn't another pleasant neon color

[@Andrewjcm]

Hey Tested! I noticed you tried to get rid of some of the noise and echo in this video. Quick recommendation! Look into DeVerberate by Acon Digital or SPL De Verb Plus by Plugin Alliance. It'll help with room echo so you don't have to go so harsh on the noise reduction.

[@ESPViper100]

So, is there a second part to this? The video is amazing and I'd love to see the rest.

[@guidancebeats]

So if you did intent to have the is as your final “ perfect mold “ what would you have changed ?

[@Jesterclown17]

Thanks for making this, guys. I have a Chucky doll I'm working on to give him swappable faces and adjustable eyes, and I've been trying to figure out the best way to go about making a cast and what material to cast the faces in.

[@justanotherdayinthelife9841]

So, I personally apologize to Grank for possibly misjudging his character.

[@Ragnarok043]

another good material to create a flange is a deck of playing cards

[@jedifyfe]

I can see that there are not a lot of people who know how props are made that are commenting here. This is the easiest way to get these pieces cast in clay. Sculpting the base pieces in clay from scratch would've take WAY longer.

[@andromedaAndy]

If these are pieces that are meant to be worn, why would you want them in clay at all? Doesn't that add weight and limit flexibility? Or is that what they're going for?

[@jedifyfe]

Skyfyre2007 the final pieces won't be clay. I believe they are Fiberglass. The Clay allows sculpting details to be done prior to the final mold being made.

[@logansmith9437]

jedifyfe He just proved your point that people have no idea on how things are made.

[@ImagineeringTheCog]

Jedifyfe, helping explain things on The RPF and youtube. Your job will never be done.

[@jedifyfe]

ImagineeringTheCog it's a public service lol

[@grafikal100]

Suddenly I'm craving chocolate pudding

[@simpsonsfan6248]

I hope they do more halloween technique videos as we get into October

[@holdengreene9717]

love th SFX Stuff! Keep it coming.

[@charlottebunnett3510]

Great video, can you please do a video using a three part mold? That would be so awesome if you could.

[@hughmcgown]

I prefer Norm to Adam, Adam has an ego Norm is enthusiastically humble and asks the right questions, Adam already knows everything/has seen it all and you can see him try to take over when people are showing him things, I liked this video, as one who probably won't go to uni for this stuff these videos are immeasurably valuable and I don't care about audio if I can understand it it's fine.

[@KurtisJoseph]

Well, this solved my problem! I have an EVA foam muscle suit that I want to make molds of and cast in expanding foam. I was wondering how I was gunna get a thigh piece to lay flat. Now I know to just build flanges on all the pieces. Poster board. Fiberglass jacket. Done deal.

[@keitagawa88]

Has anyone else noticed the fact that Frank Ippolito, BIll Doran, and Michael Stevens all look alike?

[@SimonChristensen]

Yessssss

[@Qthedude16]

so, if I understand this correctly, the silicone isn't going to be the final casting? its just going to be used for another mold? Sorry, but they wern't really clear about that part

[@zippypop34]

No idea what I've watched but I lieked it

[@DavidVonRiesen]

I thought this video was cool, and am able to live through some sub-par audio. Y'all are missing the point if you jusrt complain.

[@anive6918]

nice video!

[@CluelessDude101]

Hey guys. I'm a fire spinner and I'm thinking about using something made like this for a costume. My main question is, I know silicone itself is heat and flame resistant, but once you add the rest of the stuff to it, does it still retain that resistance?

[@itsyaboi5861]

You can bend foam core by removing the paper

[@thanosboomba4545]

I luv this thanks

[@MikkoPaakkola]

I bet there was some kind of noise in the background that they've canceled out in post production. That's why it sounds so weird.

[@webdevvy]

Question for Frank or other model makers. Making a mold and castings of very tiny things. like your own designed (3d printed) figures. For example war gaming figures at 28mm scale or buildings for those type of games .How would you go about and make a casting run of those figures /scenario buildings while preserving the small details you put in. Any tips on that ? I tried making some and had nothing but bad experiences. Tiny figures are hard to cast and fiddly bits get lost quick and the original gets damaged in the mold making.

[@lasarith2]

Webdevvie I saw a video on a Mold called Blue stuff - might be something to look at for what you’re after.

[@user240485]

Production casting are a different beast. Small fine details in a cast are a pain to not screw up. I would suggest you invest in a pressure casting pot and a vac chamber. While it's not exactly necessary to have those things they make it way easier and you get less miscasts, air bubbles, void etc. How is the master damaged? Is it made from a material that gets damaged easily? Need more details here. Aside from that some casting resin are more suited to smaller parts than others. Polyester resin for example while cheaper has never worked for small casting for me since heat is required to harden which in small casts is hard to do without exterior heating. Investing in a proper casting resin will help. Bad experience are learning experiences. If your doing small swords or guns (aka real small stuff) there are easier ways like using that low temp shaping stuff you reheat in hot water and some greenstuff. Whole figures are harder because of all the undercuts you have to consider. I would cast the main body then the arms separately. About all I can think of without asking more into what your doing.

[@lasarith2]

Webdevvie PS: try giving Smooth-on a email detailing what you need and they should reply back with (hopefully) one of there product that is suited to that kind of moulding /production

[@benkinkead]

I would look into tin/lead soldiers and how those guys do it. I had a friend whose father was into them and I know guys make their own molds. Materials would be different but as a resource for the process and how they go about making a mold that catches the details it could prove useful. Hope that helps a little.

[@chiokli1765]

What he said. A vacuum pump and a cylinder capable of sustaining a vacuum is almost essential if you want to make a silicone mould of tiny things with details. The moulds I've done are almost always one part moulds with the figure attached by sprues to a lollistick and put upside down in a small cup of silicone. Placed in the vacuum chamber to suck out all the air from the mould ensures full detail capture. Then the mould is carefully scalpelled open to remove the master and then taped back together. Urethane resin is used for casting and that's also done in a vacuum chamber to pull the resin into all the details. Using a low durometer silicone like 15 will give you easier removal of complicated figures, but you'd only get 10-15 copies before the mould failed. Higher durometer; more casts harder to remove. Baking the cured silicone mould at 60-80degC for 2-3 hours can help further cure the silicone to make it more durable too.

[@grizwoldstad9956]

very interesting, the finished product, how ridged? I'm thinking using that technique to form special door panels for a tricked out car.

[@bcostell69]

Great content

[@GoodPunishment317]

Awesome technique Frank. Was this process used for making action figures also?

[@Captain_MonsterFart]

Yes, you can cast wax into the waste mould to sculpt the really fine details. That's the process described in the Pop Sculpture book.

[@halsti99]

is there a video about how they continue with the clay piece?

[@lasarith2]

halsti99 probably upload it later

[@staffbrooks]

Was there ever a follow up? I've done this to get to a clay version of a Deadpool shinguard that I've now sculpted, but I need to steps to now mold and cast this to get a finished version, rather than a waste/junk mold

[@traxx4650]

Wait was he showing us how to make a reusable mold or just a one-off (throw away-type) mold? He never specified.

[@DingDongDaily]

"you want the first layer thinner" * douses in silicone while it's dripping like a waterfall...

[@dinocrisanti2181]

Absolutely fantastic work from your team, I've enjoyed all your videos. You mention a truck bed liner in one of your videos that was used to cast some of the parts for this armor. Would you please post a link to the brand and type used. Thanks, in advance. Dino

[@woodengamer]

Great content in recent videos (as usual) but audio quality has been an issue lately. Guessing it is an issue in post , since you are using your lavs.

[@MrMittens1974]

If you're making a one off mould for clay or plaster that's going to be resculpted why use a very expensive silicone like rebound 25 instead of just alginate.

[@WegmansLover]

That was so awesome and informative. Thanks! Can you use a regular air dry clay if you wanted to just make clay forms or would the silicone stick to the air dry clay?

[@Captain_MonsterFart]

You can.

[@chrismofer]

11:40 "rigid ditty"

[@craigj20]

Looking to do a large project like this. How do I buy a large amount of silicone? All that I can find on Amazon is smaller Trial Units

[@automatichiatus8475]

Where does Frank get his hat? I want one

[@niklashalonen9296]

Why are you using backup audio?

[@rdoetjes]

Why use silicone if it only needs to serve one cast? Wouldn't cheaper alginate not do as well?

[@mason3307]

Was that Eddie?

[@Divedeepb4usleep]

Echo, Echo, Echo

[@samwest9152]

Question: Would it be possible just to fill a mold like this with smoothcast 300 or a similar liquid plastic instead of the monster clay? Perhaps if you didn't need any more detail in the finished product?

[@badvermin]

Absolutely. You could also pour in resin, then distress it, or even add metal powders for neat effects. The way this guy make molds has always bothered me.

[@samwest9152]

badvermin This gives me so many ideas!

[@PJPEE]

Potato mic

[@GilOsborne]

I want that hat.

[@gandalfandferg280]

that audio quality damn

[@hob976]

What do you use for pigment in the seperate silicone layers?

[@dan-crum]

Are Tested hiring?

[@jjcarter6539]

i wanna ask for ur help, i have a flight stick joystick for Fligh Sims which is for right handed... and i wish to make it left handed... how can I invert the handle?

[@epideebepidee96]

They should see what kind of Bows they can Make strictly out of PVC pipe🤔 just an idea though

[@austinnadeau8756]

could I make a mold of foam carving of threes & some props for movie or my own movie

[@CDawg4198]

Audio sounds like the mic was encased in a brush-up mold...

[@ashurgeorge4604]

nacho cheese and bean dip ^_^

[@bagenius5970]

I'm thinking about doing this with my 3D printed Iron Man Mark 85 so I can cast another suit to battle damage

[@mikededmon]

Ok - around 19 minutes, they clarified... Finally.

[@The-Beaten-Saint]

Wait.........was this a waste mold?

[@NickThe3n3my]

I can't understand how this is still an issue that is being run into with the Audio.... this is probably the 20th video they have published with this audio problem. Im sure at least someone would have been able to notice it in the editing team right? Just can't wrap my head around it -_-

[@DaedalusProps]

I always over complicate my life and de-gas my silicone first.

[@alexwalton9490]

Odd reverb on the audio

[@rockfidi]

Wow... Audio issues

[@abrandnewtom7]

Should've Tested the audio 😂

[@NinjaDroopyEyes]

Anyone know what he used to tent and make the second layer a brown color? Thanks in advance

[@F2Dcombat]

what is with the weird audio - sounds like it is overcompressed or something...

[@buckaroosan5571]

What brand hotglue gun is that?

[@justanotherdayinthelife9841]

Frank rubbed me the wrong way on Face off, but I love him here. Probably a bit if showbiz bs enhancement from the tv show.

[@CallMeTess]

WHY does it have to look like chocolate

[@AndrewPRoberts]

I see that bust from Face Off DON'T THINK I WILL FORGET no but you were great

[@HomeTrees]

Screeech

[@TYDYv2]

why did tested start making the music so loud?

[@ralpholynyk5321]

Hi Tested! my question is about the odor, vapors of these silicone's..ive talked to smooth-on, and so far, looks like there isnt any strong toxic vapor with " mold-max stroke" product...not 100% sure about the resin (smooth cast 320)...but, can i get away with both making molds and casting in a garage, or my living room without concern for vapors? I suspect the quick release 'spray' 200 may have issues as its an aerosol, but any guidance on this concern would be wonderful!- about to plunge into several mold making-casting items this winter!

[@AlienArteStoreMX]

Maybe too late but it is relatively safe not using a respirator mask while working in your living room with their silicon, you need to use gloves though, it is a different story with their resin, you NEED a respirator mask, specially one made for filtering chemical vapors, it releases toxic vapors when curing, when it turns from clear liquid to white it makes a chemical reaction that generates heat, sometimes you can see this vapor, with adequate ventilation this vapors dissipate quickly, don't use this in living room at night with no wind to "clean" the air in the room. You need to read the included instructions carefully before use.

[@Slikx666]

Wasn't there something missing? The brush......

[@jedifyfe]

Slikx666 did we not watch the same video? He brushes the silicone on...

[@generichouse]

I know everyone else is probably saying it. But the audio....

[@Fiifufu]

How to make a *Waste Mold*

[@Wiktorion]

What is going on with the audio here?