"Help!" for: Fiberglassing, Resin, & Bondo

[relaxis]

Hi guys, just wondering if this process would be viable at all, seems to me that the resin and fibreglass methods of creating armour pieces out of pepakura are quite complex, would it not be possible simply to coat the pieces with PVA glue and then spray Styrocoat or some other form urethane/polyurethane onto the card stock? Or would this not make the piece durable enough?

Also just wondering if anyone has any tips on using expanding foam in armour, so that it doesn't warp?

 

[relaxis]

Today i came across a problem with my fiberglass. I resined my mrk vi shin piece and I let it dry, and it dried fine. Then I came back and fiberglassed it, and let dry. The next day, over 24 hours later, I came out and the piece was still wet. I'm absolutly sure I added enought hardener, and its over 100 degrees (Farenhight) outside, so what could have happened? It wasn't my very first piece I fiberglassed, and my previous pieces dried just fine. My dad used to work in an auto body shop, so he had worked with resin and fiberglass before, and even he was puzzeled. Any ideas why this happened?

If you used latex gloves or got the resin contaminated in any way it could have that effect. But think, did you really use enough hardener? The simplest answer is usually the right solution.

 

[BuildsByBaz]

Hi guys, just wondering if this process would be viable at all, seems to me that the resin and fibreglass methods of creating armour pieces out of pepakura are quite complex, would it not be possible simply to coat the pieces with PVA glue and then spray Styrocoat or some other form urethane/polyurethane onto the card stock? Or would this not make the piece durable enough?

Also just wondering if anyone has any tips on using expanding foam in armour, so that it doesn't warp?

Complex? Once you have done it once, you should understand that it's really quite simple.

Glue your pep together, paint the outside with resin, slush some rondo on the inside, then lay in the fibreglass mat. Bondo the outside then sand and shape until you are happy. Prime and paint. Win.

It's not just the strength, it's the finish. There's just no better way (especially on a budget like most folks here are) to do it better and achieve such a detailed and beautiful surface for painting.

tell you what, try it your way, then post the results. If your method works and produces better results for the same price or cheaper, I'm quite sure we will all convert.

 

[relaxis]

Complex? Once you have done it once, you should understand that it's really quite simple.

Glue your pep together, paint the outside with resin, slush some rondo on the inside, then lay in the fibreglass mat. Bondo the outside then sand and shape until you are happy. Prime and paint. Win.

It's not just the strength, it's the finish. There's just no better way (especially on a budget like most folks here are) to do it better and achieve such a detailed and beautiful surface for painting.

tell you what, try it your way, then post the results. If your method works and produces better results for the same price or cheaper, I'm quite sure we will all convert.

Sorry for making you so testy, I just wondered if anyone else had some experience with using spray polyurethane...

 

[BuildsByBaz]

Sorry for making you so testy, I just wondered if anyone else had some experience with using spray polyurethane...

Not being testy dude, I am all for finding new ways. Just sayin' that if you want to go against the tried and tested ways, I and many more would be very interested to see your results.

 

[Katsu]

Fiberglass and bondo is the go-to method because it's so tried and true. It gives amazing results on a very short budget (You can make a helmet for about 40 bucks when you nail the technique down), results that come close to machined pieces, and it can be incredibly strong (this is the stuff they make boats out of). There are some people at the TechShop who are going to be 3d modeling, MakerBot Routing, and then vacuum forming some armor soon. Sure it gives you perfect symmetry and cuts down working time but... You DO need that multi-thousand dollar makerbot, a high quality, large vacuum forming table, and quality 3d modeling software...

As for alternatives within the realm of hand-making armor, there are plenty of things out there. Spray urethane is similar to plasti-dipping that foam armor uses. The reason why people will go pepakura is because, once you pour the rondo inside the helmet, you can do a LOT of post modifications to the helmet. A lot of the files are rather low-def, even ones ripped out of Reach, and so things like vents, detail lines, and even custom mods, require you carve into the piece, and really spray-ons aren't going to give you the thickness required to do that. If you are okay with how a pep piece looks after you assemble it, go ahead and spray on a finish, it might be strong enough but I can't say personally. If the blockiness and lack of detail bug you, then you're going to have to use rondo. It's really totally up to you how you wanna try it. Someone on this site layed kevlar instead of fiberglass inside his ODST piece. He made a bullet resistant chest plate! It looked pretty bad, but it was actually stopping pistol rounds.

We won't discourage you experimenting, it may work for you, it may end it horrible failure, it's hard to say! The bondo/pep method is born out of trial and error (that's what birthed rondo actually), so it's always good to try new things to see what you can do, just prepare yourself for some failures on the way, it's part of inventing! If you'd prefer a safer route, bondo and fiberglass. Good luck either way!

 

[Skullptura]

Just a thought here, Has anyone seen that episode of mythbusters when they spray that sheet with the stuff that lines ute trays and detonated C4 and the sheet wasnt even damaged from the close range blast? What was that stuff called and could we use it??

 

[surename]

Hello everyone, I'm going to start bondo on the exterior of my helmet soon any tips?

 

[Katsu]

My tip would be Read the site's stickies and look at the armor videos section? There's a wealth of knowledge here, nothing that hasn't been said a thousand times over.

 

[surename]

hi everyone, I have a quick question, I am making a army of two mask for a friend of mine and he is going to wear it bull riding, how could I reinforce it so it can withstand the punishment and hopefully be a part of his safety equipment

 

[PigBenis]

hi everyone, I have a quick question, I am making a army of two mask for a friend of mine and he is going to wear it bull riding, how could I reinforce it so it can withstand the punishment and hopefully be a part of his safety equipment

Step 1:
-Pep it

Step 2:
Resin it ( 1-3 layers the more u take the more room you have to sand it down but take ur time with it. dont rush it and work with sections to resin)

step 3:
Fibreglass it from the inside and "glue" the fibreglass with resin. 1 layer is enough to make it hard enough. u can add 2 or 3 if u want to make it more durable. AS you need it

Step4: Mix 50% resina nd 50% bondo . then add the both hardeners and mix it . fill it inside of the mask over the fibreglass layers to fix it .

Final step bondo the outside for your level of smoothness.

Hope it helped :$ if not ask me what you need so i can answer more accurate

 

[TheSlammerss]

hey guys so im about to go and barrow ,my neighbors orbital sander to sand the bondo layer of my helm. what grit sanding disc do i need? 360 right ? or 320?
then do i need a quick pass with 1200?
thanks guys

 

[BuildsByBaz]

hey guys so im about to go and barrow ,my neighbors orbital sander to sand the bondo layer of my helm. what grit sanding disc do i need? 360 right ? or 320?
then do i need a quick pass with 1200?
thanks guys

The bigger the number on the sandpaper, the finer it is. Try 60 grit first to rough out the basic shape, then go finer to finish it off. I prefer to use the very finest one last by hand.

 

[TheSlammerss]

ok well the roughest sand paper he has is a 320 so would this be a good idea or go buy some rougher sanding discs

 

[BuildsByBaz]

ok well the roughest sand paper he has is a 320 so would this be a good idea or go buy some rougher sanding discs

320 is very fine. I think the finest I have is 120. Yes, I would start with a course grit to move more material quickly, then use the finer stuff to smooth it off once you are happy with shape.

 

[Katsu]

Woah, yeah... don't try 60 grit with an orbital. It will eat a hole straight through bondo. I use 120 if I want to grind stuff off, higher if you want to polish or smooth.

 

[BuildsByBaz]

Woah, yeah... don't try 60 grit with an orbital. It will eat a hole straight through bondo. I use 120 if I want to grind stuff off, higher if you want to polish or smooth.

I think the roughest I used on the bondo with the orbital sander was 80 grit. Finished by hand with 120 grit. Results:

 

[TheSlammerss]

That's awsome btw

 

[Skullptura]

That iron man mask is awesome..... I would like to admit, in light of this AWESOMNESS..... I tried to make this one but stuffed it somewhere and ended up sitting on it in protest for it being so stuffed up.....LOL I will try again one day though.

 

[TMC]

Hey guys! So I have a pretty broad question, but it should fall into this thread. The thing is... I'm just lost. I've bondoed the top of my MK VI helmet, and now I just find myself going to the garage, sanding a bit, and then just wondering it's actually necessary to bondo EVERY PART of this helmet... It seems like bondoing everything is impractical, as you'd lose all the edges and such... Any help would be appreciated.