The Doll Forum

In the process of looking at the next Eva mod I've decided to try my hand at making some silicone nipples instead of the usual 3d printed ones.
One reason is that I'm also looking at incorporating one of these push button audio units to make her touch interactive!
The goal will be to have a button under each silicone nipple, one near the vag, and maybe one at the end of the Fleshlight adapter somehow.
http://www.electronics123.com/shop/prod ... ation-5322


First step was to 3d print a mold.
The mold is modular, so I just have to print the center part for different styles. The core and foot part don't need to be reprinted.
The nipples have a concave back so they can fit over existing mannequin nipples. This was a little micro silicone molding exercise, so I thought I'd list my steps for others if they are interested.

Here's whats' needed -
1. Tube of Permatex flowable windshield sealant: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Permatex-81730- ... 1054572829
This stuff is great for molding. Acrylic paint mixes nicely for color without needing to thin with Naphtha or mineral spirits.
It's a semi liquid so it flows into all the crevices in the mold nicely. I've also noticed that there's almost no shrinkage if any with this stuff.
With the thinned mixture (silicone caulk/naphtha/paint) I noticed quite a bit of shrinkage.
2. Vaseline as a release.
3. Acrylic paint for tinting. I'm using a sample jar of Behr Premium Plus Ultra flat.
Just a little on the end of the screwdriver is all it takes to get a good color.
4. Flat screwdriver for mixing.
3. Small soft artist brush for applying release and silicone.
4. Plastic graduated medicine cup.
5. Paper towels and mineral spirits for cleanup.
6. Beer optional! First, a light coat of vaseline is brushed on to both mold pieces.
5ml of silicone is squeezed into plastic medicine cup.
With a little paint on the end of the screwdriver, the silicone is mixed with color.
Next, a "detail coat" of silicone is brushed onto the mold to make sure there are no air pockets on the surface, then the rest of the silicone is dumped in.
Core mold is pressed down and tightened evenly making sure there is a good ooze out on all 4 sides... These 1 part silicone sealants require moisture in the air to cure, so soaking the mold in warm water for a few hours helps accelerate the curing.
After a few hours the mold can be separated. For some reason (a happy accident) the casting stuck neatly to the core part when separated ... This stuff takes about a full day to completely cure, so I'll just leave it overnight before handling it.

The next issue will be getting it adhered to the mannequin.
Silpoxy would probably be the best, but I think using the Permatex as adhesive will probably provide a good semi permanent bond. We shall see.

Cool project! It came out great too. Must have been the beer.

1. Did you design the mold w/a gap for the silicone to seep out?
2. What keeps the silicone from squeezing out the center block at the nipple tip? It looks like it's open and the foot piece is open too. But viewing the assembly in the bucket it looks like blue tape? was sandwiched between or the nipple tip is actually closed. Optical illusion?

Will be interesting to see how sensitive the touch sensors are through silicone.

Thanks RK! I'm happy with how this came out.
And yes, a little beer always helps!

I did design the mold with a tapered top.
This does two things - it allows the silicone to ooze out easily and also provides a sharp cutoff around the casting so there's no flash to trim off. The nipple tip is not open, it just looks that way because I applied a little of this stuff
http://www.lowes.com/pd_82418-68-10430_ ... Id=3044204
with a sponge to give the nipple end a little cauliflower like texture. The stuff is very fine grain and holds details well.

The buttons on the audio unit aren't really touch sensors, they're just push buttons, so you'd need to push on the nipples to push the button. The unit can be programmed to play continuously when the buttons are held down, or just once when they are pushed.
There's also a "group" function where you can have it play a different sound each time it's pressed, play several sounds in succession, or a repeating loop. Lot's of options.
The challenge will be mounting them inside the MQ. I have skinny arms so hopefully I'll be able to work through the neck hole to get them mounted.

Here's a super closeup of the nipple casting with a little baby powder to remove the shine.
Color matches the paint chip nicely (suntan glow)...

10-4

MannequinFan, I have read the Q&A page for the push button audio unit and it looks like each button can have a separate recorded wav file .. if I understood this page correctly .. http://www.electronics123.net/amazon/da ... IR_Q&A.pdf .

You have excellent projects and I am always impressed with your skills and look forward to your posts and updates .. have definitely mastered the art of 3D printing.
Thanks for sharing your work, r363b

Thanks r363b! I really appreciate your kind words.

Yes each button can have different sounds. Each button can have different playback options also. The "group" function looks really cool.
Here's a YouTube showing how it works...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieQwOqbtoew

One other thing I found out from Electronics123 is that the PIR sensor does not need to be completely exposed to work, so it could be inside the MQ with a small hole for sensing.
Could be fun to have her say something when you walk in front of her.
Unfortunately the light sensor is set to go off when there is light instead of when the light is obscured, so it won't be very usable I don't think.

looks like an interesting project and will follow as it progresses. the nip-buttons should make for a nice subtle way of activating the voice sounds. i think you are going in the right direction as i think 'touch' buttons wouldn't work through a silicone nipple.

you mentioned vag buttons, i was thinking if the buttons require too much force to activate, you can probably add a lever arm to give more power (like a door handle, but obviously not rotating). you see them on microswitches that need the force reduced.

Thanks KW, putting the button under a hinged arm or plate could be a good way to increase pressure if needed. The buttons appear to be very small so I'm hoping they won't be too hard to press.

I've ordered a new Eva and she should be here Monday or Tuesday. I may start a new thread for the project so stay tuned.

Could be fun to have her say something when you walk in front of her.
Unfortunately the light sensor is set to go off when there is light instead of when the light is obscured, so it won't be very usable I don't think.

You could invert the signal. Also, look at pastie tape while you are testing. Yes, it's for attaching pasties like the ones strippers wear.

Thanks for your input Wunderlust.

I'm not sure how I would invert the signal. It would be nice if I could.
The guys at E123 say that the module cannot be changed to work the other way, but that's OK.
I'm thinking that the PIR sensor will work better for the purpose anyway. The light sensor can just be unplugged and not used.

I'm not sure that the pastie tape would work on silicone. About the only thing I've found that sticks to silicone is silicone. The Permatex bonds permanently to itself and semi permanently to other stuff. In order to get a lasting bond I may have to buy some silpoxy.

This has been a very interesting read. Thank you for posting this.

Thanks MannequinFan, good information. Always have good mods going on.

Cool stuff, as a guy who has some experience with molds I must say that yours looks really nice!

Way cool and using a 3D printer to make the mold absolutely brilliant!!

Thanks for the nice comments guys!
Had a chance to do a little test with the Permatex nipples today.
Here's a little YouTube I made...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKSpiDEqhc4 I have to say I was quite happy with how this turned out.
As you can see, I haven't mastered the art of silicone painting yet, but this was mainly done just as an adhesion test.
In hindsight I probably should have painted over the whole nipple instead of stopping half way. The baby powder works nice to dull the gloss but tends to make the color lighter.

The Permatex stuff is strong and stretchy and bonds fairly well to the painted fiberglass (I used the adapter cutout piece from the last Eva mod). The really nice thing is that, with a little work, it can be removed without damaging the MQ surface so the nipples can be changed or upgraded. The bond is good enough that the nipple actually tears before it will come off the MQ.
I also found that super glue DOES NOT work. It doesn't stick to the silicone and leaves an ugly mess permanently stuck to the fiberglass.

The audio unit from Electronics123 came in the mail yesterday - I haven't had a chance to test the sound with the 808 Thump speaker yet, but everything looks great on it so far.
The buttons are very small and press easily so I think this should work quite well. They have little rubber pads that flex (about 1/4" diameter).
The whole thing with the little panel board and all is smaller than the nipple. I'll need to work the air hole in somehow so I might need to go to a slightly larger nipple.