How to make a flat iron

As part of my research I have visited several antique shops in which I have fond a few items that have interested me. There have been several large ceramic jugs and other kitchen paraphernalia that I wished to look into further. There is in particular one flat iron that I then decided to reproduce.

For my first attempt, I tried to make the iron out of polyurethane foam in which I carved the different layers out. I decided to do this originally because caving the different ridges and shapes would be easy to engrave with the use of a scalpel. I then had other thoughts as realism is important with this and the idea that the iron would be considerably heavy compared to one that is made out of foam and so that would look quite obvious if it is a tool that is being used by an actor, instead of one that is not going to be used, and is just there to be observed.

I then decided that it would be good to make the iron out of pieces of MDF wood. And so the processed that I have been through to create this are as follows:

Draw out the shape of the base layer of the iron onto a piece of MDF the right depth that is required. Cut this out using a ban-saw and then sand it on the electric sanders so that it is as smooth as you want it to be. At this point it is important to round off the edges of the iron to give it a used look.

Cut the second layer in exactly the same way. Although remember that on this layer it is very clearly sloped and so when using the sander it is best to hold the piece of wood at an angle to the sander so that it gets an even edge at an angle. It is also very important to make sure that both sides are symmetrical.

There is a ridge on top of the iron, which I have created by cutting a smaller shape out of very thin MDF board and attaching this onto the top of the middle layer.

To make the handle, I found a piece of plastic tubing that was the perfect circumference and then cut this down to the right length. I then sanded this. To make the sides of the handle, which has been one of the trickier aspects to make I took a sheet of fairly thick aluminum and drew out the shape of the handle sides. The first thing I needed to do was to drill the hole for the tubing to fit into. To my luck this was the exact precise size for it to fit snuggly. These shapes then needed to be cut out and this required using a metal ban-saw. It is very important that when using this equipment that you wear special Personal Protective Equipment. This includes goggles, overalls (or clothes that cover your skin) work boots and most importantly in the metal workshops, ear protectors as the sound that comes from cutting metals can be so loud that it can damage your hearing.

Once the shape is cut out of the sheet of metal you can then sand it so that it is smooth. Be careful of this however, as doing this creates a lot of heat and as most metals are good conductors the metal gets very hot very quickly. Once it is smooth enough it is then time to bend the metal so that it is in the right shape. This can be done by rapping the piece of metal in a vice and then simply by hand bending the metal. Do this to both pieces of metal and then slot them together with the piece of tubing that was cut earlier.

The next part is to start gluing everything together. Simple superglue should do the trick, or even wood glue so that the 3 layers of wood fit together to look as one.

The embossed letters that are on the top of the original iron could be formed in a few ways. They could either be formed out of molding material, or a cast of the letters could be made and resin poured into it to create a precise copy. Another way is to carve the letters out of polyurethane foam. Depending on how skillful you are with a knife and cutting small letters out relates to how well the design will turn out. The design, once cut out then needs to be glued onto the top piece of MDF. For this I used an all purpose extra strong clear adhesive ad not superglue as I found out earlier that this has a tendency to melt the foam and leave it out of shape. This glue is strong enough to hold everything together but it will not distort the shape of the foam.

Superglue is very useful to glue together the metal sides of the handle and the tubing. For the handle it needs to have a base for the ends to attach to the base. These were also created out of the same polyurethane foam and were glued together using the all purpose glue. Once everything is stuck together it is time to paint the iron.

To give it a rustic and authentic style I felt that the best thing to do would be to mix the paint with some sand to give it texture. However, I didn’t have access to this sand and so used sugar granules. I painted the whole of the iron with matt black acrylic paint. The most important section of this iron to paint is the section with the embossed letters. This is because when all of it is painted the exact same black colour, the letters become harder to read. Therefore make sure that the black paint gets into all of the creases and then go over the letters with a slightly lighter shade of grey. This way it will stand out more.

My prop flat iron

Original flat iron

How to make a grenade

From my visit to the Imperial War Museum I had the idea of creating a replica of a grenade. I was unsure of what would be the best way to create this and was originally thinking along the lines of creating a silicone mould of the grenade from a clay version and then creating a metallic looking grenade from this. This way I would be able to pick up all of the fine detail of the grenade precisely.

The method that you go through I creating the silicone rubber is as follows:

The silicone rubber is a 2 part chemical and is very good at taking exact copies of very intricate detail.

To take a molding you will need:

Some MDF

Silicone rubber (parts A and B)

Mixing pot

Mixing stick

Hot glue gun

The object to be molded

The first thing to do is to create a box to encase the object to be moulded. MDF is a cheap easy alternative to make this but it can be made from any rigid material. You just need to make sure that the box has 5 sides and that there are absolutely no gaps. There should be a 5mm area around the object to ensure that the mould is sturdy. There is no need for there to be any more of a gap, otherwise it will just be a waste of silicone rubber. For an object that has a flat surface, this can be laid down onto the bottom sheet of MDF unsupported. For this it is important to place double sided tape onto the underside of the object so that it does not move out of place. However, only place this tape around the edges of the object because the more tape that you put on the harder it will be to remove from the MDF. Make sure to cut away the edges of the tape as close to the object as you can so this does not distort the mould.

For an object that needs to be suspended, as in it has detail that needs to be moulded on all sides, a small piece of dowel should be attached with the hot glue gun so that the silicone rubber reaches round to all sides. This dowel, should too, be at least 5mm in length.

To make the silicone rubber you first need to place the mixing pot onto the scales and then press the on button. This means that when you are measuring out the rubber it does not take into account the weight of the pot and so is more accurate. Then measure out the amount of the rubber that you will need. You then need to add the catalyst to the mixture. The amount that you put into the mixture depends entirely on what the manufacture suggests. You then need to stir the mixture very well.

The next stage is to ‘de-gas’ the mixture. This is done to get rid of all the air bubbles in the mixture. This would distort the fine detail that the rubber should pick out. You need to make sure that the mixture does not exceed a third of the volume of the pot as, in the ‘de-gassing’ process the mixture does expand. It is important that the lid of the container is tight on top of the ‘de-gasser’ so that it creates a tight vacuum. To make the vacuum work you need to have the lever of the valve pointing in the opposite direction to the pipe. One of the valves (the shut-off valve) needs to be open at all times otherwise a vacuum will not be created. Put the lid on and then turn the pump on. You will find that when the air is being drawn out of the mixture small bubbles will appear on the surface. As the air pressure then decreases the bubbles get bigger and this causes the mixture to expand and may overflow if the pot is filled too high. Once finished you need to be careful when you let the air back into the cylinder as to not let it in too fast. This will cause particles to fly around in the cylinder meaning they will land in the pot. There may be surface bubbles present after you have taken it out of the cylinder but these will disappear easily if you roll the mixture around in the pot carefully, making sure that you don’t add more to the mixture.

You can now pour the mixture into the mould that you’ve created, making sure that you pour it from quite a height and into one corner of the mould and let it spread around the rest of the mould. Although you must be careful not to add in any more bubbles.

Once this is dry the next step is to make the resin to make the object. There are many different types of resin that you can make for this but the best one to use for this type of moulding is a bench-castable room-temperature curing polyurethane. This particular one is very good as it is fairly quick at setting.

To do this you need:

Fast cast polyurethane resin (part A and B)

Mixing pot

Mixing stick

Filler powder (to add a metallic finish to the resin)

To mix the resin together you need to make sure that you mix the exact same amount of both parts of the resin otherwise it will not set properly. Also add the filler powder at this moment. For this the minimum amount to add is a mixture of he amount of the 2 pars of resin together. For example, if you add 50g of part a resin and 50g of part b resin then you will need to add 100g of the filler powder. But this is only the minimum amount that you need to add.

Coat the inside of the mould with a fine coat of the filler powder and then you are ready to start filling the mould with the resin.

This was the original way that I was going to make my grenade but through discussions with my tutors I decided that the better way to do it would be to carve the grenade shape out of polyurethane foam.

The processes that I went through making the grenade are as follow.

To start with I studied an image that I took at the Imperial War Museum and used this to gage the size of the grenade. I then drew this onto the polyurethane foam and started shaping the block of foam into the right shape. Once it is in the right shape I then sand it to a smooth finish and start to engrave the slits into the surface to create a paneling effect.

After this I decided to cover it in a layer of paper maché to give it a smooth and solid finish. The next step is to paint it. For this I made sure that in the grooves is darker paint so that it looks even more 3dimentional. To give it a metallic feel I coated it in PVA glue after I have painted so it is slightly reflective.

The next stage is to attach the pin, which I have created using a keyring that I have painted to make it look old. There are also additional shapes that are part of the grenade that I have created out of the same foam and then simply attached them on.

 

How to make a loaf of bread

Research the type of bread that you want to make. In this case it is a loaf of Abbey Bread which is a typical Belgian loaf of bread.

·      Firstly, draw out the rough shape of the bread onto the block of polystyrene foam.

·      With a Stanley, or a craft knife, cut out the general shape as close to the edges of the outline as you can.

·      File away the sharp edges of the polystyrene until it is in the general shape that you are happy with for a loaf of bread. Shape the foam into a rounded loaf shape.

·      Use sandpaper over all edges of the polystyrene to create a smooth surface.

·      Use a circular file to create grooves into the top of the loaf of bread.

·      Use sandpaper to smooth out these grooves

·      Finally when you are happy with the shape of the bread, this is the time to cover the whole piece with a layer of muslin and PVA glue. Apply the PVA (mixed with 10% water) onto the polystyrene first and then place the small squares of muslin on top and press, with the paintbrush, so the PVA mixture soaks through.

·      Leave this to dry.

·      Once dry paint as you like. I chose to work with acrylic paints but made sure that no water was used, as this may react with the PVA glue.

how to make a fibreglass helmet

Before you start anything, make sure that newspaper is laid down where you are working, that you are wearing gloves, protective mask, goggles and that hair is tied up. The extraction should be on as well.

Once you have a mold to make the helmet from, you need to prepare the mold ready for fiber-glassing. This is so that the resin does not stick to the mold and you are able to separate the two when you are finished.

For this you need either a Universal Mold Release Wax or a Wax Parting Agent. Both is not necessary. Apply this to the inner surface of your vacuum formed plastic helmet, give it a few good coats and buff well in-between coats and allow a good 10 minutes to dry.

Once dry you need to apply a coat of blue gloss and allow this time to dry. Once this is completely dry you need to spray on a coat of mold wax spray.

To make the resin you will need a gel coat and a catalyst to speed up the reaction. These are mixed in a ratio of 100:1. Therefore for every 100grams of gel coat used, 1gram of the catalyst is used. For this helmet, we are using exactly these amounts. Use the scales to measure this accurately. Remember to always zero the scales when you put the pot onto them, otherwise it will calculate the weight of the pot as well as the resin.

Mix these both together very well, and add in any metal powder if you wish to use any.

Paint a very thick coat onto the inside of the helmet mold. This should be around 2-3mm thick. You will need to leave this to dry now, which should take roughly half an hour. Once it is slightly tacky you need to start tearing up pieces of

Fiberglass matting and tissue into small squares.

Next you will need to mix your lay-up resin. This is in the same way as you mixed the resin earlier, as you will use the same catalyst and at the same ratio.

Add in some pigment into the mixture (no more than 5%) and mix this well. Paint a layer of this resin onto the helmet. Place some squares of the matted fiberglass on top of this making sure that they overlap. Press these into the resin so that it soaks through but make sure you do not brush it around as this will make the fibers spread around and leave gaps. Do a few coats of this matted fiberglass.

Make sure that there are no strands that are standing out and then you can move onto applying the tissue in the exact same way. You may need to mix up some more resin. Do this with the same ratios in the same way. Once you are happy with the layers leave it to dry and then cut around the rim of the helmet (not through the plastic) but so that there is no fibers protruding over the edge. This will make it easy to get a good grip on the edge of the helmet to pull it apart from the plastic mold. You need to do this when the resin has set thoroughly. I would recommend leaving it overnight.

Once you have separated the 2 the next part is to cut and sand away the bottom inch of the helmet so that it is smooth and has a flat edge. Using a hack-saw is the best way to get through the resin. Next, use sandpaper until you are happy with the smoothness of the edge.

To smoothe off the surface of the helmet, use a sheet of wet and dry 212 sandpaper with water and buff it until you are happy with the outcome. It is important to note that when you use this sandpaper without water you will need to wear a ventilaton mask as the dust is harmful.

After this, get a small pot and fill it with a solution of T-cut. With a small piece of cloth apply in small circles to the surface and buff off after rubbing it in. do this to the whole layer. This will help to remove small scratches and to bring out the metallic colour from the pigment added to the resin earlier. Buff it with a piece of wire wool inbetween coats of the T-cut. It should only need a few coats of T-cut but it is down to preference. If you are happy with the outcome then stop.

You now need to prep the helmet for painting. Apply a layer of primer onto the helmet and allow this time to dry. This will allow the paint to bind to the helmet and avoid it from flaking off. The next step is easy. Mix the colour you want for your helmet and apply.