I have no idea where this goes, but I'd first like to read some opinions on what might go wrong.
I thought of a possible alternative to fibreglass. Like some others I am not allowed to use fibreglass due to its price, toxicity, messiness, smelliness, etc.
Epoxy and acrylic sheets.
While it may take more effort to cut using a special perspex blade and Styrofoam cutter, it costs about the same as fibreglassing, perhaps cheaper.
US Plastic Corporation
The 1/16 sheets should be best.
Pepakura: Cutting
The tagged pep pieces can first be printed on normal all purpose paper, cut out without the tabs, but have the mountain/valley folds marked with coloured markers.
Do one small section at a time, every piece that needs to be folded has to be cut off to be an individual piece. In example, if a piece has to be folded twice, you have to cut it where it needs to be folded.
Fit all the pieces on the acrylic sheet, take as little space as possible but leave enough room for cutting. Glue the paper faced up on the bottom side of the acrylic with a small amount of hot glue. [The paper has to be arranged faced up, and then place the acrylic on top of it.]
Then cut it out using a Styrofoam cutter. I'm sure these can cut through thin acrylic but it might melt a little. If it melts too much and forms a thick layer of acrylic in one area, that can be sanded or cut off with the [super!] sharp perspex knife.
Pepakura: Attaching
Remove the paper on the inside by wetting it [with a spray] and removing it with your nails, a coin or toothbrush. Scratching it on the inside is fine.
Hold it together using hot glue or super glue on the inside. Use modeling clay to hold the pieces together temporarily while gluing.
Use hot glue for larger areas, but super glue for smaller areas. Be careful with super glue. The [toxic!] fumes will change the colour of acrylic to white, but don’t worry about it. Super glue dries quickly, and if you make a mistake you can’t fix it.
Coating
I do realize that when you glue two sheets of thick material together at a different angle, there'll be a gap between. So first epoxy all the joints on the outside. When dry, epoxy again on the inside. A few layers of epoxy can be used on the inside for more strength.
Spraying
Use plastic spray-on paint or sand the entire thing and paint it with the normal aerosol paint.
Padding
Padding should work as usual. Spray-on truck bed liners will stick to it, because it's plastic too.
Usually after the fibreglassing process, the pieces get padded up a bit on the inside. However with this method, there is only a few layers of epoxy. Bulk it up a little with those cheap washing up sponges. Just glue it to select places using hot glue to achieve a comfortable fit. High density foam should do fine, but I believe washing up sponges are cheaper.
Strapping
This acrylic should be quite strong, drilling holes with a low RPM drill to fit whatever bolts should be fine. High torque is not necessary because it's quite thin. If using nylon straps, maybe a tab can be built on the insides of the pieces [ie. Bicep piece] and thread a strap through, then tighten with one of those "Tri-Glide" buckles from the
Complete Noob List
You know what? Just glue the strap on. [Lazy ftw.]
It's definitely not suited for sitting on--as is a normal fibreglassed piece--so the butt piece should be removed before sitting. In one of the stickies, I remember someone mentioned using a tactical vest that had a seemingly redundant piece of material on the butt. It was used to hold the butt piece when it’s removed for sitting.
What do you think?
