Check out this KS:
That would making the molds for a memory foam interface a breeze.
Check out this KS:
That would making the molds for a memory foam interface a breeze.
What a spectacular machine, although it has a very high priceâŚ
True, not exactly cheap.
How is the invention going? Is the putty you bought on Amazon good? We look forward to seeing your progress
Iâm not sure if this is the same stuff or not. It does dry to a foam but the foam seems a little harder and dryer than yours. But then again, I wasnât sure why you were adding the extra layer of green foam: if your stuff is as hard as mine, that would explain it. Itâs not a hard foam, itâs just harder than my face, lol.
So far, Iâve just made a donut for testing. I found a tub of it so Iâve got plenty for wasting, hopefully Iâll get to it this weekend. I donât know about pictures, tho: you did a really nice job on yours and Iâll probably make a mess!
Although mine seems softer, when you put on the HMD you notice that it is hard, it does not cushion but does not bother, so I put a thin layer of very soft foam. I think that our shaping foam has to do the job of offering the correct distance in all areas of the face, but if we want cushioning, we have to add that extra soft foam. So the mold has to be slightly thinner than you need to increase its thickness with soft foam and soft fabric.
I have been delayed.
I was getting everything together to start this and realized that I donât have enough âvelcroâ for even one pad, much less the 2-3 that I intend to make for testing. I also donât have any soft foam, yet.
Just as well, the weekend is the only time I have to actually use the thing. Iâll be happier taking it apart during the week when I canât VR in sessions anyway. Hopefully a little later this week. That should give me the time to come up with a thin layer of soft foam, too.
On a side note, that face cover that I linked wonât work for the âcomfort kitâ: donât waste your money on that particular cover. Iâve got some soft flannel that should be a good as a substitute. Or Iâve got other options, weâll see.
Update:
Now Iâm having issues getting some soft foam. Which is really irritating as, in the past, Iâve thrown out exactly what Iâm looking for but now I canât find it anywhere!
Turns out that this stuff actually dries rather hard. At least as far as my face is concerned. Iâm now up to 3 different types of âmodeling clayâ. They donât have ingredients listed so I canât tell if theyâre the same until I use them.
Iâm looking at an alternative application where I will be creating a âbufferâ pad. A pad that goes between the foam supplied by Pimax and the comfort kit.
No matter how I look at it, this is looking to be a âprojectâ.
Iâll post as I progress.
Foamclay for making cosplay stuff may work. Though it still dries hard.
After making a hard clay/foam that works as per what you said may need to create a new mold or perhaps a 3dscan of the piece you formed and decrease the thickness of your hard insert and 3dprint. You could then use pimax foam or cut foam gasket to attach via velcro for comfort to attach to your facial adapter.
I just made the second unit, pressing more towards the lenses and to the sides, giving it the necessary slack so that the foam layer and the fabric fill that distance. This time it was white, although they were of the same material, it took about 3 days to dry completely, I even put it in the microwave to remove the moisture from the putty, but it has to be at minimum power, as if you were defrosting bread, why else it swells and explodes, . It is still a very light and flexible putty but it is true that the touch on the face is hard. But the soft foam layer and fabric make it feel great.
But I think the V3 will be taking advantage of the plastic and vercro base of the original foam, it can even be detached without breaking it.
So the idea would be:
Separate plastic and foam from the original Pimax (the 11mm thin foam).
-You put the plastic with velcro in the comfort kit
-You put an abundant layer of putty as we are used to,
-You put the foam that you have taken off on top.
-You crush your face to the ideal position of vision
-You let it dry for 3 days, or you can try to speed up the process in the air and in the sun.
-Then it only remains to trim the excess of putty and I am almost convinced that the 3 parts will already be joined without the need for contact glue.
In this way, as soon as the mold is made, you can remove it from the conford kit and it will maintain its shape while it dries. And you donât have to have the Pimax âhijackedâ one day before you can remove the putty.
I think this streamlines and makes the process easier.
Scanning a mold and reducing it is the ideal project, and to be able to print it in 3D with flexible material, although we are already verifying that it will always be to fill and mold your face in front of the comfort kit, then a foam and softer and smoother finish.
The downside is the 3D scan of the mold. Although the apk of the mobile gave good results in front of the screen, when the 3D design SW passed it, it had very inaccurate shapes, in addition to measuring a few millimeters, you have to do a lot of work in 3D to get to have a correct mold to be able to print . Therefore, the part for the printer is large and needs a lot of supports, which makes it difficult to print success. Also sure that the first time you do not get it right, you would have to retouch the 3D model and print again.
But of course, when you have it correctly scanned, modeled in 3D, printing is only a matter of machine hours and with already professional results.
And since we are thinking about optimizations of the facial foam, does anyone know if there is some type of textile spray? that is, it contains textile fibers when applied. Seeing how the velvety layer of the original Pimax foam is disintegrating, it seems that it is some textile coating sprayed directly on the foam that appears under that layer. It doesnât look like theyâre two layers bonded together, foam and velvet (or whatever).
Look at the image, or their facial foams, they surely have areas where the soft part has disappeared and the black foam, somewhat rougher, is exposed.
I had come up with those synthetic hair sprays to cover baldness , but I donât see it clear.
Do you believe that the âclayâ will adhere to both the plastic and foam without the need for additional glue?
It would be nice not to deal with adding extra velcro. Or glue!
I canât believe you pulled that foam apart, nice thinking!
I believe that if all the parts will be joined to the putty, when it is just taken out of its packaging it is very sticky and it filters very well on porous surfaces. In my second mold, the velcro strips stayed attached to the putty without adding glue, since I put them in before putting the putty in and the mold was made over those velcro strips.
Therefore, when separating the foam from the plastic, both surfaces have a foamy feel and the putty will catch on there.
I have to try it, but I donât have any more putty now and Iâm not sure about using the fine pimax foam, itâs deteriorated and I donât know how to restore the parts that have lost their velvety coating.
Hello again, as they say, the third time lucky(at least in Spain). This time I used the velcro plastic part of the original Pimax thin facial foam as a base. It was worn out and I wasnât wearing it, it needed too much thickness for me. As I also have the original thick foam, I stick with that one.
So here are the steps:
We separate the foam from the plastic:
We add the âmagic puttyâ on the plastic with velcro, On the inside, where we have removed the original foam. And put soft foam on top. I have used this time, the one from a gymnastic mat, but this is quite soft and cheap. ⏠10 2x1 meter.
You place the sandwich in the Pimax and put it on, tighten until you get the ideal vision and you can take it off, remove it from the comfort kit and let it dry.
As a recommendation, after one day of drying, I removed the mat foam to facilitate internal drying. And I was also able to verify that I needed very little putty to fill in the gaps in the shape of my face.
When it has completely dried, do not be impatient. I have left it for 3 days, you can rejoin the foam and the putty / plastic / velcro mold with contact glue.
We trim the excess and sand a little around it.
We cover it with thick, soft, resistant fabric and if it is elastic, the better.
I have used the same type of cotton thermal shirt, but in black. Glued everything with the same contact glue, but applying glue on both sides to the entire edge so that the union around is instantaneous and resistant.
The result, in my opinion, better than the original facial foam, it will not wear out in a short time, it is soft but has more consistency and since it has the exact shape of your face, you do not need to apply any pressure to find the optimal point . You put it on and everything looks great, just a little tension on the rear nut of the MAS so it wonât move, but no discomfort. This time I think it is the final one.
I have managed to find the balance between, simplicity to make it, quality and comfort. All looking very professional.
Fantastic job, well done!
The interface looks very professional.
Very clean work on the last iteration.
LOVE seeing mods like this. Youâve intrigued me enough that I might just try this.
Thanks for posting your work.
Lol, I really donât think that Iâll post the pictures of mine! Chumet is good!
I made my first one on Monday and I have a few things to add.
@Chumet: IF you bother making another, Iâve found that the foam is sticky while wet. You may not have needed the contact glue between the âclayâ and the foam. Wet and apply. When it dries, itâs âgluedâ. Worked surprisingly well.
This is a lot harder than Chumet makes it look. I have no modeling or upholstery experience and it shows! I still have to wrap it and see how it fits before making another. But I will never get a result as pretty as Chumetâs!!!
I was using small packages of foam, kneading them together. This is a pia. They do not like to join without a lot of kneading which will take you out of the âbefore it driesâ window. If you can, get something that allows a lot of one piece of putty. And thatâs another thing: you need a LOT! A lot more than I expected.
Get a spray bottle of water. A little water goes a long way towards keeping it âwetâ while you work with it andN helps the âjoiningâ if youâre joining pieces. It will also glue anything to the clay. It will also make a real mess if you overdo it.
With the cloth and foam, make the eye hole a lot smaller than you think youâll need. I made mine too big and had to redo them. Make slits to start, like Chumet did.
For me, getting hold of a decent selection of foam to play with is extremely difficult. I found nothing in the craft or hardware stores, Walmart or Amazon. Well, I found one type of cloth covered foam that I have to work with. I do have a lot of aftermarket foam inserts, one of which is soft enough to use. Iâll save that one for after Iâve worked out the bugs in my âmanufacturingâ process. Lol!
At the moment, Iâm not willing to sacrifice my comfort kit foam piece.
Edit: it looks like Pimax sells the comfort kit foam for $20us. Iâll have to get one to sacrifice: having the proper âbaseâ to apply the clay to would probably make things a lot easier. And better.
At the moment, Iâm working without any glues. Contact cement would probably make things easier but smellier.
I was thrown by the fact that the clay dries harder than I expected. However, with a little added softness from the added foam, the fact that the clay conforms to my actual face means that this does not appear to be an issue.
As a conclusion, Iâd say that this is a lot more difficult of a project than it appears, but I think that itâll be worth it. I have a narrow face and the added pieces to my existing face pad, while functional, are a pain. Even without any skill at making it, the rough piece that I made seems to have the potential to make this a much better experience. If I can get something a little better, this will have been worth it.
My suggestion would be to bribe Chumet to make it for you: unless you have experience in clay modeling and upholstery, you will NOT get anything as pretty as he made!!!
On a side note, the most comfortable material that Iâve ever found to have against my face is âfleeceâ. VREliteGear sells the covers but the site is unsecure. If you try this method, I would recommend fleece over the 'Tâshirt material. Easily available at your local Walmart or crafting store.
Lol, I canât stop comparing what I did with what Chumet came up with: what a difference! His actually looks professional! Nice work, Chumet!!!
Thanks for your compliments, they make my work on this mod look more professional, LOL. But as you have already seen, there has been a progression in order to improve and make it easier. I think the key is to find the right putty in your locality or online point of sale. Luckily, I found the one that I have shown you next to home. Mine joins each other as soon as you put them together without having to knead them. And if it is true that when applied on a porous surface such as the outer foam, it already stays together without the need to use contact glue, which is very odorous, but the smell disappears when it dries. Another point that has given it a professional touch is to use the original Pimax foam as a base. I had 2, as I have commented and the 11mm thin one, was the first one I had and it already had a lot of wear, the quality of the soft outer coating is very bad, so I was not sorry to break it, and as you have seen neither I have even used that soft foam part to complete the mold. But the plastic part with velcro is of great help, since applying the putty on that part makes you use much less quantity and it joins without the need for contact glue and you can remove it from the comfort kit almost instantly, it also makes keep the desired shape until it dries completely, and then you have practically the mold made with its velcro face and the perfect shape to hook into the comfort kit.
The foam to put on top of the putty, in my opinion, does not have to be very soft, the gymnastic mat that I have used this time is ideal for me. Since the purpose of this mod is that it fits perfectly on your face and you do not need to exert pressure on the MAS so that the HMD does not move in your face and that it goes to the correct place as soon as you put it on, if you do it very padded, you need to press to improve restraint and find the optimal point of vision.
Regarding the final coating, I have continued in my line of thick fabric from a t-shirt, because I already had it at home and it seemed to me to have the correct touch and elasticity so that it molds to the dry putty of a good finish, but the âFleeceâ seems to have more softness and thickness, it can provide more cushioning.
I have several blankets at home that look like this material, but the label says 100% polyester. Maybe I will remove one from my wife and use it as a covering, LOL
It would be something like this?
No, donât do that: Happy Wife = Happy Life! LOL!
That does not look like the âcorrectâ material. Although I have a picture of the label, it doesnât say what the material is made of. Iâll post a picture of the label and the material later today. I just need to attach the velcro and this one will be done. No glue.
Edit: this is the site that has fleece covers. I do NOT recommend buying from an insecure website, this is just to get you an early picture of the material in question.
Turns out that a little water and any material sticks like it was glued. Imho, you do not need the contact cement. I dip a finger in water and wipe the clay where I want the material to stick and then press the fabric against the dry âclayâ and hold it for a minute or two and it sticks fine. The only thing is that I let the one side dry before pulling on the other side to tighten it, so it takes a little longer. But it sticks very well!
This would open up a lot more possibilities! I was trying to get a very soft foam, something like that green stuff you had. Not needing to be so critical of the foam would open my choices tremendously. The craft foam that I have may end up working fine. Which would be nice, it only comes in large sheets!
I ordered another foam for my comfort kit so I will destroy my existing one this weekend (sob, lol). I agree that the plastic backing would simplify and improve the construction.
Since weâre covering the foam with fabric, you could actually re-use the worn out foam that came from your comfort kit. That would have the clay sandwiched between the two layers, covered with soft fabric. I guarantee that both pieces will stick to the clay just fine! This will be one of my attempts, weâll see.
I actually have 3 different types (brands) of clay. Although I expect them to all be the same material, weâll see. Iâve got a LOT of colors, lol.
When covered, my new face pad doesnât look too bad, so I will post some pictures a little later today, lol. But it doesnât look anywhere near as nice as Chumetâs!
Edit2: one flaw that I have not worked out is how Iâm going to clean that nice soft cover when I sweat on it! 'Cause it ainât coming off! So to clean it I throw out the old one and make a new one? Ummm⌠I think I need to cover my cover, rofl! This should be interesting!