We reached that point in the semester project where we need to find out how to reach our set goals in costume making. What are the best materials to use – what are the best model building techniques and methods – what is doable with the small budget we have?

To get ahead I went to our synthetic material workshop/ model building workshop in the design faculty. I looked at all these material samples we have there, talked to the workshop staff who are as usual a great help to figure out how to implement your idea.

Acrylic sheets for the helmet would be great! Dark in the back, clear sheets in the front. Unfotunately that stuff is expensive! It is a thermoplast though which means you can shape it when heated. It´s really easy to get folds into the material. Organic forms is a different topic. That is much harder since the material doesn´t strech or compress so easily.  Alternative material might be a lower grade clear plastic from the hardware store.

That rubber I described in the pictures would be great. It is still see through transparent, but has this organic colour. It also has the right kind of elasticity to rigidity. I´d love to use that material for the fron side of the oxygen tanks. Problematic is the amount of work and material I would have to put into the mould buliding. You can only pour that rubbery stuff, since it comes luiquid which means I would have to first built an inside and ouside mould for it. Alternative idea that I still have to develop would be to pour large flat sheets from that material and glue or weld or sew it into the right shape.

I will keep you posted on how the model building is going!

material tests possibly for the tank