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

[Ghost Bear 027]

Yo guys just reading this ^^^^ Super useful.
Though I was wondering if there is an alternative to using fiberglass cloth and resin to line the inside of my armor.
I don't want to use hot glue, i've tried rondo but it's too brittle. I've seen people slush-casting their armor with some sort of casting resin but because I am in the UK I have no idea what the equivalent is.
Any suggestions? Thanks

Yeah mate. Take your average golfball of bondo, drop it into a cup that has the 6 tablespoons of resin already in there, then add the appropriate hardening agents for each at the same time and whip them up good. I've not had any brittle issues with that combo and it's performed great to date.

 

[Rancid Musk]

I have the opposite issue. After resin and fiberglass it seems too flexible. Is this a problem? Did I not add enough resin or hardener?

 

[Kyre]

If you're only doing one layer of fiberglass, it will likely be pretty flexible still. More resin won't change much on its own, but another layer of fiberglass will make a large difference, and two will make it rock solid.

 

[XTROOPERJ14]

Hey all... Do I have a problem if my bondo is blue? I bought a can of bondo from Walmart a little while ago and when I opened it up, it was a blue/green color. The hardener is still the redish color, but the bondo itself is an odd color. Kinda like this color

 

[Katsu]

Give it a stir, sometimes it separates too much when it sits too long.

If it's still that color, it might just be. Some bondo is lime green, some is gray, maybe there are blue ones! Best way to be sure is to get a small glob of it, mix in hardener and test it on a piece of cardboard or whatever, make sure it works. I've gotten bad cans of resin before, and good companies will exchange if it's clearly something weird.

Is it bondo brand?

Edit: I just thought of something, Bondo also makes fiberglass resins, do you have a picture of the can? Make sure it's bondo body filler like this:
http://3mcollision.com/media/catalo...e95/2/6/262-bondo-lightweight-body-filler.jpg

 

[XTROOPERJ14]

It is the Bondo brand stuff. But I mean, if I mix things up and all wouldn't they be able to just say "nope, you used it sucks for you"?

Also, that is even with a stir. And I bought the same can that I used for my last helmet, and the colors are different (IDK if that changes anything).

 

[Gokussj5okazu]

I've always used the Walmart bondo brand, and it has always been a gray/blue color, so that's perfectly normal, it dries fine. I have one of the big cans that's two years old now and it still kicks just fine if it's stirred well.

 

[kdbar]

Hi, I had a question regarding how hard the piece has to be before I can move on to the bondo/detailing stage. I put 2 coats of resin on the outside and one layer of fiberglass cloth + resin on the inside. The piece seems to be firm and doesn't budge with decent pressure, but it isn't "rock hard". I was wondering if it needs to be harder for the bondo stage?

 

[Carpathia]

Hi, I had a question regarding how hard the piece has to be before I can move on to the bondo/detailing stage. I put 2 coats of resin on the outside and one layer of fiberglass cloth + resin on the inside. The piece seems to be firm and doesn't budge with decent pressure, but it isn't "rock hard". I was wondering if it needs to be harder for the bondo stage?

That's usually enough to move onto the bondo stage.

 

[Ghost Bear 027]

Hi, I had a question regarding how hard the piece has to be before I can move on to the bondo/detailing stage. I put 2 coats of resin on the outside and one layer of fiberglass cloth + resin on the inside. The piece seems to be firm and doesn't budge with decent pressure, but it isn't "rock hard". I was wondering if it needs to be harder for the bondo stage?

I'd say that as long as the piece holds its shape while you're handling it, it has enough support built into it. Should you decide to reinforce it with another layer, do it on the inside so you don't lose any more outside (visible) details. I mixed up a batch of rondo and slathered that across the inside of a piece recently, and it worked out very well for me. But like I said, no movement means you won't crack any bondo or resin layers if the piece flexes while being handled.

 

[kdbar]

Perfect! I think I may just put a layer of rondo on top of the fiberglass just to seal the deal. Thanks guys!

 

[Redshirt]

Perfect! I think I may just put a layer of rondo on top of the fiberglass just to seal the deal. Thanks guys!

The rondo over the fiber glass helps tame the sharp edges left by the fiberglass. For the best results, do your best to remove any major sharp edges or protrusions inside the helmet before rondoing.

Redshirt

 

[Rancid Musk]

Thanks Kyre for the tip. I think I am going to try to add another layer of fiberglass cloth /resin on the inside of my larger pieces. My glaze bondo putty is cracking in a few areas.

 

[Jason 078]

The rondo over the fiber glass helps tame the sharp edges left by the fiberglass. For the best results, do your best to remove any major sharp edges or protrusions inside the helmet before rondoing.

Redshirt

So, follow Cereal Kill3r's tutorial for hardening with rondo before detailing, then glass it, and then rondo it back over? A little weighty, but it would definitely cover it good enough.

 

[Jason 078]

I have a resin question that I am a little unsure of.

I am looking at a good way of doing some sliced weapons and have two ideas opened to me. The first is using 1mm sintra (PVC foam board), but I have to cut each piece out by hand. The second is using 110# cardstock that I can cut out with my cutting printer.

If I were to cut out the sliced pistol using the cardstock, can I coat it in resin to get it as a viable prop that won't come undone and be generally waterproof? Do I just paint on three layers like I would with pep armor work then primer, paint, and finish?

What would you suggest?

 

[Carpathia]

There's always mat board; of course, like sintra, you'd have to cut it out by hand. Usually the slices of sliced files are around 1/16" or 3mm, so you'd need quite a few layers of cardstock to match the thickness of a layer.

 

[Katsu]

You could always come down here and use the laser cutters at my shop! Acrylic like Justinian does it, baby!

 

[Kibiri Foxx]

Jason, the faces of the card stock shouldn't be a problem, its mainly the edges that are cut that could pose a problem. One solution you could do to prevent that is to seal the edge areas (the sliced exposed areas) with a glue. This would then create a barrier from the resin seeping in and causing a general pain in the rear.

 

[Jason 078]

What about using a self-etching primer to give it a couple of layers of sealed paint?

 

[Kibiri Foxx]

Hmmm good question. That *should* work in theory. Never done it before. But, might be an option.