Fosshape and Wonderflex at Solarbotics

Solar botics
July 12, 2016

With our recent experiences with the costuming and cosplay communities, we've learned a lot about new materials that cosplayers use for making masks, props and armour. That added a few new words to our vocabulary and awesome new items to our inventory.

First, Fosshape. It is a felt-like polyester fabric that can be stretched and formed over a mold with heat (ideally a steamer). It collapses in thickness and sticks well to itself, forming a firm but pliable surface. It comes in two thicknesses, 300 and 600 which is double the weight. Easy to cut and paint, does not fray.

Fosshape 600 is a heavier, thicker and denser version of the 300, better for more rigorous and structurally intensive pieces of work. Takes dye quite well, mildew resistant.

Wonderflex is another heat-activated material that has a texture of 1mm thick lightweight plastic rather than fabric. It is pliable and sticks to itself while heated and becomes tough but flexible after cooling down. It is very popular in making prop armour and other rigid costume pieces.

Here are some samples of what Fosshape is capable of. It cuts well with scissors and Xacto knife, and can be formed around various objects and hold that form after cooling down.

59050-IMG_0110

It can be painted and formed into relatively simple...

59050-IMG_0114

... or quite complex shapes:

59050-IMG_0118 

MORE POSTS

January 5, 2021
Creality Parts are IN, and Filament stat...

As great Creality Printers generally are, it's still a hassle to get parts and pieces to fix or enhance your printer. This explains why we were quite thrilled to see some BIG boxes come in from Creality the other day, containing: Replacement Ender-3 24V Hot Ends CR Series Inductive Leveling Kits BL-Touch Kits Ender-3 1.1.5 […]

December 14, 2000
Jeff de Boer on CBC Radio

If you came to the BEAM/WCRG Millennium Games in Calgary last summer, you may have seen Jeff de Boer's lecture on the aesthetic component of robotics. Jeff is a local Calgary artist (recently inducted to the Royal Canadian Order - a huge honor, considering his age), and was interviewed on CBC radio Monday with Shelaugh […]

February 20, 2009
Weekend tidbits

Greetings my fellow humans! And salutations to my not-so-fellow alien amigo! There are a few small tidbits of news this weekend: First, we received our shipment of new Herbie PCBs! Hurray! This means that you can now get Herbie the Mousebot in all four colours - red, black, blue or white.  They're all in stock, […]

January 20, 2025
Creality K1 Hot-End Comparisons

Let's play "Spot the differences"! We received some new inventory, and one of these things ...was not like the other (Sesame alumni, we are!). FYI, here are some differences between the K1 series of hot-ends. I don't believe them to be "OMG!" differences, but just worth noting. We've had good results with both styles, but […]

Solarbotics Ltd Logo
Solarbotics has been operating for more than 25 years, bringing electronics know-how and supplies to both the electronics professional and hobbyist. We'll be happy to help you too!

Solarbotics, Ltd. is not responsible for misprints or errors on product prices or information. For more information, please see our Terms and Conditions.

Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.