Nintendude
Well-Known Member
Ok to all the new members here, this thread will be to direct you to materials, how to build your armor, what to build it with, and so on. For pepakura you need various items.
-Pepakura Designer- To Re-Scale your files with, you may not be able to save until you buy a password but if you are ready to print out your file after you re-scale and ajust it it works fine.
- A Printer- You will want to have a printer that can handle 110 weight cardstock paper 90% of printers can handle that kind of paper but don't forget the other 10% that is left out.
- Cardstock Paper- You will want to use cardstock paper if you are going to work on a pepakura item, preferably 110 weight cardstock which the cheapest place I have found to get it from is Wal-Mart in the paper section for $5-6 for a ream of paper.
- Cutting and Gluing Materials- Once you have your item printed out now it's time to cut it the best thing you can use for this is a cutting board designed for working with paper you can get it in the craft section of most stores for about $3, and you cn get a exacto-knife in the same section for about the same price. Extra Blades for $2 in most cases. As for glue you can use superglue which will cost $1 per package, multi-purpose glue if you look for it at Wal-Mart in the glue section it's in Black and Yellow packaging for the same price, or if you want to actually save money and stuck fingers in the long run you can use a low-temp hot glue gun and glue sticks for about $20 and it goes a long way if you get a big pack of glue sticks.
- Fiberglass Materials- Now that you have your item assembled out of paper you can go on to the fiberglassing stage, you will want a fiberglass respirator mask, I was able to get one for $6 from Home Depot but they also sell the masks at other stores as well. You will also need paint brushes which you can get from Wal-Mart for $1 a brush, I've only used 6 in the past to do a full spartan suit with it. You can wash the fiberglass resin from the brushes using acetone to clean the brush with, do not use it right after washing it to use it for resining again. Now that you have 1 coat of resin on the outside with the brushes now it's time to do the inside. You will want to use fiberglass cloth, and I use chemical gloves which after each brushing I wash the gloves in the acetone and air dry them real fast to clean the resin off, cut the fiberglass cloth into strips with scissors and after you have mixed your resin dip a small portion of the cloth into the resin then rub with two hands the cloth together to get that small amount over the rest of the cloth, now place the fiberglass cloth on the inside of the piece, and if you have a plastic spreader you can use it to get the airbubbles out of most areas and get the cloth on the piece evenly. For a Fiberglass Repair Kit that you can buy from Wal-Mart either in the Automotive area or Hardware will run you about $11 and the Gloves about $3-5 depending on the gloves you will not want gloves that are partial fabric with the latex on the fingers you will want the complete hand Nitrile gloves.
- Bondo and Rondo- A can of Bondo will cost about $10 for a medium sized can, and you will want the same kind of brushes you worked with the fiberglass resin with, you can even use the same brushes as long as they are clean, you will also want to use the plastic spreader or a popsicle stick to mix the bondo with. To make the Bondo material to put on your piece you will want a piece of scrap cardboard, and then you will open the can and put down about the size of a golf ball amount of bondo on the center of the cardboard next open the tube of bondo hardener and squeeze 1" onto the bondo amount mix it up with the stick or spreader and now you should have a pink or slightly red amount of putty, you will not want to see any grey. Now take your brush and carefully pick up a good amount of bondo with it you can also use the spreader to pick it up and place it on your project now with the brush use it to brush the bondo as much as you can to cover the object. Once you have it covered you can either continue to layer it after each sanding or after sanding you can proceed to painting.
- Sanding- For sanding your project I would recommend using a mouse or rotary palm sander it get's the job done a lot faster than regular hand sanding and you can get one at just about any store from Wal-Mart to Home Depot and I have seen them as low as $10 and as high as $30 in some places and it saves your wrists, money and time in the long run but if you wish to hand sand it, I would recommend getting a multipack of sandpaper 100-300 grain and a sanding block this will cost you about $8. If there are any holes you can use Bondo spot putty to fix them and sand a little after it has dried to repair them with it. Rondo is about the same as bondo with a fiberglass resin twist. Most people use a 50/50 mixture of bondo and resin to make rondo, what this is, is 2 ounces of bondo (1/4 cup), 2 ounces of resin,mix those up, if you want it smoother and more resin and resin hardener, if you want it thicker add more bondo and bondo hardener. 12 drops of hardener for resin per ounce and about a 2 second squeeze of bondo hardener per ounce.
- Painting- Now that you have your object smooth you can now paint it, start with primer spraying it 12" away from the project and you will want to coat the entire item in primer they have red, black and grey primer depending one where you look you can get a can of grey at Wal-Mart for less than $1 per can. Next if you want to add good weathering effects pick up a can of silver metallic and what color you want on top of that. About $4 for the metallic and anywhere from $1-$4 for your color you want to use for Master Chief Satin Oregano, or Olive Drab are the best colors. After you spray your metallic put down a light coat of primer then color it what color you want your armor to look now with a very fine sandpaper scratch the surface of your paint to reveal the metallic underneath this will give it a battle appearance.
All together for my Master Chief suit I wore to All-Con 2010 took me 3 months to put together working on it in the Winter time and finishing it in the Spring, and around $300 total for materials to build the suit. This is a average on the cost, if you want a casted item you would be looking at anywhere between 1k-2k for a raw cast complete Master Chief suit. Don't forget to read the stickies in the creation discussion they will help you along the way as well and we also have help topics here in the Noob Discussion area if you have a question you need answered someone will help you there. Do Not use another person's thread such as a WIP thread of someone else to ask your question in this will only get you into trouble. If you have a question involving this topic ask it here and I will answer to the best of my abilities.
-Pepakura Designer- To Re-Scale your files with, you may not be able to save until you buy a password but if you are ready to print out your file after you re-scale and ajust it it works fine.
- A Printer- You will want to have a printer that can handle 110 weight cardstock paper 90% of printers can handle that kind of paper but don't forget the other 10% that is left out.
- Cardstock Paper- You will want to use cardstock paper if you are going to work on a pepakura item, preferably 110 weight cardstock which the cheapest place I have found to get it from is Wal-Mart in the paper section for $5-6 for a ream of paper.
- Cutting and Gluing Materials- Once you have your item printed out now it's time to cut it the best thing you can use for this is a cutting board designed for working with paper you can get it in the craft section of most stores for about $3, and you cn get a exacto-knife in the same section for about the same price. Extra Blades for $2 in most cases. As for glue you can use superglue which will cost $1 per package, multi-purpose glue if you look for it at Wal-Mart in the glue section it's in Black and Yellow packaging for the same price, or if you want to actually save money and stuck fingers in the long run you can use a low-temp hot glue gun and glue sticks for about $20 and it goes a long way if you get a big pack of glue sticks.
- Fiberglass Materials- Now that you have your item assembled out of paper you can go on to the fiberglassing stage, you will want a fiberglass respirator mask, I was able to get one for $6 from Home Depot but they also sell the masks at other stores as well. You will also need paint brushes which you can get from Wal-Mart for $1 a brush, I've only used 6 in the past to do a full spartan suit with it. You can wash the fiberglass resin from the brushes using acetone to clean the brush with, do not use it right after washing it to use it for resining again. Now that you have 1 coat of resin on the outside with the brushes now it's time to do the inside. You will want to use fiberglass cloth, and I use chemical gloves which after each brushing I wash the gloves in the acetone and air dry them real fast to clean the resin off, cut the fiberglass cloth into strips with scissors and after you have mixed your resin dip a small portion of the cloth into the resin then rub with two hands the cloth together to get that small amount over the rest of the cloth, now place the fiberglass cloth on the inside of the piece, and if you have a plastic spreader you can use it to get the airbubbles out of most areas and get the cloth on the piece evenly. For a Fiberglass Repair Kit that you can buy from Wal-Mart either in the Automotive area or Hardware will run you about $11 and the Gloves about $3-5 depending on the gloves you will not want gloves that are partial fabric with the latex on the fingers you will want the complete hand Nitrile gloves.
- Bondo and Rondo- A can of Bondo will cost about $10 for a medium sized can, and you will want the same kind of brushes you worked with the fiberglass resin with, you can even use the same brushes as long as they are clean, you will also want to use the plastic spreader or a popsicle stick to mix the bondo with. To make the Bondo material to put on your piece you will want a piece of scrap cardboard, and then you will open the can and put down about the size of a golf ball amount of bondo on the center of the cardboard next open the tube of bondo hardener and squeeze 1" onto the bondo amount mix it up with the stick or spreader and now you should have a pink or slightly red amount of putty, you will not want to see any grey. Now take your brush and carefully pick up a good amount of bondo with it you can also use the spreader to pick it up and place it on your project now with the brush use it to brush the bondo as much as you can to cover the object. Once you have it covered you can either continue to layer it after each sanding or after sanding you can proceed to painting.
- Sanding- For sanding your project I would recommend using a mouse or rotary palm sander it get's the job done a lot faster than regular hand sanding and you can get one at just about any store from Wal-Mart to Home Depot and I have seen them as low as $10 and as high as $30 in some places and it saves your wrists, money and time in the long run but if you wish to hand sand it, I would recommend getting a multipack of sandpaper 100-300 grain and a sanding block this will cost you about $8. If there are any holes you can use Bondo spot putty to fix them and sand a little after it has dried to repair them with it. Rondo is about the same as bondo with a fiberglass resin twist. Most people use a 50/50 mixture of bondo and resin to make rondo, what this is, is 2 ounces of bondo (1/4 cup), 2 ounces of resin,mix those up, if you want it smoother and more resin and resin hardener, if you want it thicker add more bondo and bondo hardener. 12 drops of hardener for resin per ounce and about a 2 second squeeze of bondo hardener per ounce.
- Painting- Now that you have your object smooth you can now paint it, start with primer spraying it 12" away from the project and you will want to coat the entire item in primer they have red, black and grey primer depending one where you look you can get a can of grey at Wal-Mart for less than $1 per can. Next if you want to add good weathering effects pick up a can of silver metallic and what color you want on top of that. About $4 for the metallic and anywhere from $1-$4 for your color you want to use for Master Chief Satin Oregano, or Olive Drab are the best colors. After you spray your metallic put down a light coat of primer then color it what color you want your armor to look now with a very fine sandpaper scratch the surface of your paint to reveal the metallic underneath this will give it a battle appearance.
All together for my Master Chief suit I wore to All-Con 2010 took me 3 months to put together working on it in the Winter time and finishing it in the Spring, and around $300 total for materials to build the suit. This is a average on the cost, if you want a casted item you would be looking at anywhere between 1k-2k for a raw cast complete Master Chief suit. Don't forget to read the stickies in the creation discussion they will help you along the way as well and we also have help topics here in the Noob Discussion area if you have a question you need answered someone will help you there. Do Not use another person's thread such as a WIP thread of someone else to ask your question in this will only get you into trouble. If you have a question involving this topic ask it here and I will answer to the best of my abilities.
