The Making of a Mascot Part 2: Shaping MDF to Mold Fiberglass

Before you get to pull any fiberglass parts from a mold, you need to build the object that the molds will be created from, otherwise known as the prototype. In the second installment of our video series about making a life-sized costume of Make’s robotic mascot, Makey, Shawn Thorsson is working hard at creating the prototype body parts. The parts are largely built from MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) using basic construction and carpentry techniques, but these materials only get you so far.

Makey is full of rounded corners and geometric curves, and these just can’t be created in wood with any particular ease or efficiency. Instead, these shapes are built up using expanding foam and body filler. Shawn goes into great detail about the techniques he has learned in working with these materials as Makey’s various parts begin to take shape.

Be sure to read Part One of this series!