Bondo Alternatives?

[City Static]

What are some lighter alternatives to bondo? I heard that it gets really heavy if you have a lot of detail, and I don't want to strain my neck.

Anyway, I'm just wondering if there are any great alternatives to bondo? I plan on adding quite a lot of detail.

 

[scandomfo]

To me, I still think that bondo is still the way to go. Though when I finished my helm, it didn't seem all that heavy. Maybe you need to wear your helm often to build neck muscles

 

[thorssoli]

Bondo is essentially just polyester resin with talc added in to make it thick and sandable. If you need a lighter option, you can use epoxy resin with microballoons (sometimes called "microspheres") added in to make it thicker and sandable. They're essentially tiny little hollow spheres that you mix in to add volume and viscosity to your resin without much weight. That way you can make it as light as you like, but the more filler you add the softer the finished product will be.

There are other fillers you can use as well, but if weight is your primary concern microballoons are the way to go. If you're too cheap to buy epoxy resin, you can use polyurethane resin just as easily. If you're too cheap for polyurethane resin, you can still use hardware store polyester resin (plain fiberglass resin) instead. In any case, you'll have to add a lot of microballoons before it will be thick enough to use as a filler, so buy a bunch.

It's worth pointing out that all of these other options are more expensive, harder to work with, and harder to find than Bondo. My recommendation would be to either build a better pepakura model to minimize your bondo work or to buy a rotocast molded helmet from one of the makers here who can give you a nice, strong, resin helmet and save you a lot of time.

 

[ninjaspartan]

when your finished the weight is evenly distibuted and it only seems heavy when you hold it, but so far bondo is the best remember thin coats

 

[chipscolaman]

I don't think you're gonna strain your neck of you use bondo. Also, if you don't find anything that works for you, you can still take the extreme high detailed peps, so you won't have to use a lot of bondo^^

 

[Malechei]

As much as I hate to say it, I'm with SoullessSin on this one. If a bondo-built helm is heavy enough to strain your neck, you desperately need to bulk up before a rogue tumbleweed takes you out.

Seriously, bondo is light. Really light. Well, compared to what the helmet would be made out of if it were going to be real armor.

 

[chipscolaman]

If it was a real armour, we would all have to have been kidnapped with 6 years and drilled our whole lives.

We would'nt have strained necks-

but we also wouldn't be making fun props.

Also, what I wanted to say about the neck-

how long are you planning to wear this helmet? yeah, maybe on a cocktail party, but not all evening! maybe like 5 min at one time max, right?

or maybe if you had a proud walk on the streets, then max half an hour. seriously, your neck is not made of paper, unlike you pep

 

[City Static]

If it was a real armour, we would all have to have been kidnapped with 6 years and drilled our whole lives.

We would'nt have strained necks-

but we also wouldn't be making fun props.

Also, what I wanted to say about the neck-

how long are you planning to wear this helmet? yeah, maybe on a cocktail party, but not all evening! maybe like 5 min at one time max, right?

or maybe if you had a proud walk on the streets, then max half an hour. seriously, your neck is not made of paper, unlike you pep

LULZ. I don't know how heavy bondo is and I read that it's heavy. I just assumed a large amount would be a problem. My neck is pretty strong.
Sorry for the bump. I've been gone all week.