Strong plastic for human sized fairy wings

Beyond the Manual
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I’ve been cutting these wing veins out of cardboard and then painting and covering with iron on vinyl. To be human sized they need to have a piece of wire to help support the weight. I haven’t managed to make the wire look that good and it does mess up the seal when sandwiched between the iron on vinyl.

I’ve seen professional versions with thin aluminum powder coated veins and wanted to try to do something similar but with material cut on the glowforge.

Are there some strong and not super breakable plastics that can be laser cut? I was thinking about 1/16" acrylic but worry that would be too easy to break. The vinyl is ironed on with a heat press at 310 F for 12 seconds so it do need to be a bit heat resistant. Extra points if it can be easily spray painted.

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Polypropylene might be a nice option here - it’s the plastic they make cutting boards out of. It melts a bit, so fast and light does better, but it does cut and you can get it in 1/8" thick pretty easily. Ikea sells it as cutting boards.

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what about Gym mat material, its 2AM, so I am blanking on the name of it :slight_smile:
you can cut it, and engrave it on a glowforge, and if you give it a bit of heat it seems to stiffen
you can also engrave detail into it so it has a LOT more personality (I did that with dragon wings)
can be painted…

Jonathan

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EVA FOAM (after sleep)

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Detail I was talking about

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I have used the 1/16th plastics for intricate cuts and it is flexible enough to bend and not break in those thin cuts.

However, it does not do well in a heat press at all. It almost immediately starts to melt. So i cannot recommend it for your wings if you are looking for a good support.

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This is EVA foam? I’ve used it for cosplay horns but it doesn’t seem that siff when its thin. Yours looks much stiffer.

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I have found that this clear 0.02” polyester cuts like a dream on the laser. Maybe you can find it in larger sheets:

Grafix Ultra Clear .020 Plastic, Durable and Archival Film, Perfect for DIY Crafts, Stencils, Journals, Cards, 3D Embellishments, and More, 12 x 12
by VirVentures
Learn more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001K7N66W/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_X7GX0H0T6DJSJAWY0152?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

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no, i used wood, but you can add ‘texture’ to eva foam as well.

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Back in the day, 'round aught 5, there was a human-sized fairy wing craft where you would use nylons stretched over a wing-shaped frame, then holes melted into it, paint, glitter, ribbons, and flowers added. It sounds crazy, but it turned out amazing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUNPKBGi_7o

Now I have gone down that rabbit hole again, this wing tutorial might give you ideas on iridescent materials to use, plus, they flap! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4wJ42akriA

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