Vacuum forming

Vacuum Forming

The first prop that we are going to be taught to make is a Brodie helmet. The first stage was to make the mould, by making the helmet shape out of plaster and then vacuum forming a sheet of plastic over the top. 

I drew this diagram basically showing how the plaster helmet was made. As the shape is symmetrical you cut out half the shape from plastic, attach this to a piece of dowel so that once the plaster mixture is piled onto a black of wood, you rotate the cut out shape so any excess is removed so you are just left the the symmetrical helmet shape. 

Once dried this is then put through the vacuum forming machine, where a sheet of HIPS is heated and moulded around the plaster, creating a hollow version of the shape, which then became our mould.