# Vacuum Forming



## BobC (Aug 23, 2005)

Hey all, I got to brain storming today on how to make duplicate body parts and skulls etc, and the ways around having to use foam to cast them. And Plastic Vacuum Forming came to mind. has anyone tried this process or know of any good books/videos or how-to's on the subject? I would really like to give this project a go. Later all. :jol:


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

I did a little research a while back on this..While vacuforming is a great tool, it wont create parts with undercuts...meaning, a whole skull would be impossible. It would only do the upper half of the top part of a skull, or just a face, as you wouldn't be able to remove the plastic off of the "buck" or positive mold otherwise. It WOULD be great for making halves of parts that you could glue together to make a whole piece, or for making plastic molds.


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## BobC (Aug 23, 2005)

I have seen some pretty detailed skulls done with vacu form, and I cant remember there is a Halloween business on the internet that only sells vacu formed props pretty cheap. I was just looking at a page before about vacuforming a storm troopers helmet from star wars it had alot of undercuts and detail and still worked pretty well. I can see there is no way you can get a skull out without cutting the plastic I wonder how they did the ones I saw? :jol:


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

They must be 2 pieces seamed together somehow.


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

Yep. I just ran across a neat link yesterday on making your own vac. machine: http://www.halloweenfear.com/vacuumformintro.html


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

I tried to make one..I couldn't find an electric grill ANYWHERE. Just gas. Maybe if you're lucky, you can find one at a fleamarket/second hand store.


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

I wonder if a barbeque starter would do the same thing?


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## Dr Morbius (Sep 21, 2004)

Hehe..I tried that too...Not hot enough, if you can believe it. I even tried using two.


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## SpectreTTM (Aug 22, 2005)

I think this is the site you are refering to.
http://www.tk560.com/stormtrooper.html

And they do make the helmets in 2 pieces.


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## Fangs (Jun 6, 2006)

That was cool!!!! Now I know what you guys are talking about! :googly: LOL Thanks for that link SpectreTTM!


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

*BUMP*

I just saw this thread... I have a book called "Do It Yourself Vacuum Forming For the Hobbyist" by Doug E. Walsh; if you Google it you'll find a dozen places selling it. Absolutely _every_thing you need to know about vacforming; temperatures, different plastic types and thicknesses, comparative vacuum sources, etc etc. Gives plans for building vacform rigs from little bitty breadbox size ones built for couch change to professional standalone rigs. If you're even remotely interested in vacforming, buy it... for 15 bucks you'll have pretty much all the info you'll need to get your self set up and forming.


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## Sickie Ickie (Jun 20, 2006)

thanks for the tip!


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## The_Caretaker (Mar 6, 2007)

here are acouple of sites for vacuum form tables from the monster list of halloween projects; 
http://www.halloweenfear.com/vacuumformintro.html
http://www.studiocreations.com/howto/vacuumtable/index.html


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## Revenant (Mar 17, 2007)

Cool! Thanks caretaker!

There's also detailed plans for a pro-sized stand-alone (oven and former) machine in Thurston James' _The Prop Builder's Molding and Casting Handbook_, which is an all-around awesome resource I think every stage manager, FX man, and haunter should own.

I dug out my copy of that vacforming book I mentioned earlier and I was wrong; there are no actual plans for building a big machine. But it gives you everything you need to get started with small equipment on the cheap. I know a cpl guys who do RC cars who have that book and they make some very cool pro-looking stuff.


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