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

[JayOneSeven]

Nah I don't think I'd glue them together, it's nice having that nice V shape, rather than Y if I glued them. I may jut have to test it out with teo pieces of scrap, go and msking tape them together and resin it to see if it holds up If it does then problem solved!

 

[morkar78]

The only reason I can think of why you would not want to rondo over the fiberglass cloth is because that is a bit of a backwards process. The reason why you rondo first is for two reasons. 1. It fills the gaps that you will not be able to get the glass to sit right in, thus making air pockets that may affect structural integrity and is really difficult to correct, and 2. By filling said gaps, when you go to equal out the symmetry of the helmet, you may find that you have to sand through the cardstock from your original pep design. If there is rondo there, it is much easier to sand and will have almost zero possibilities of air pockets (see reason 1).

Yes, rondo does add weight. If you stick with Cereal Kill3r's method of a 50/50 mix on the first coat, that one will be very thin. Then if you do your next mix at 75% bondo, 25% resin, you will have a thicker mixture that you can use to just fill any low spots that would be difficult for the fiberglass to lay flat on. Don't do the whole helmet with that mix, and don't mix too much rondo because you will be tempted to use it all... which would just be adding more useless weight. Then you can go to your fiberglass layer. Hope this helps!

Thanks...I'm a little worried now: yesterday I glued a layer of fiberglass cloth on the inside. My plan was to bend and cut the fiberglass to leave access to the small details and then apply the rondo on it. Now I'm worried that in this way the coat of rondo will stick on the layer of fiberglass cloth rather than on the surface of the helmet...

 

[RangedAssassin]

Aqua resin and slush casting question

So I have 1 layer of aqua resin on the outside of the helmet, and it is sturdy enough for me to work with on the inside. My question is, should I do 1 layer on the inside by slushcasting it, then do a couple of layers of fiberglass or just do fiberglass in the first layer then more layers of fiberglass?

 

[EVAkura]

Slushcast first, then fiberglass. This will fill in the pockets and corners and such that the fiberglass has a hard time going in.

 

[RangedAssassin]

Thanks EVAkura,

Worked like a charm and thats exactly what i was hoping for was so the fiberglass was a little easier to put on!

Just a note for everyone, if you do slushcast with aqua resin, keep slushing it around till it stops moving!! I let some pool and then cure in the brim, lets just say there was a little warpage! oops!

 

[recon313]

i've been doing a project for making an assault rifle and after slushing the inside with resin i find it preety sturdy. the queion is should I do rondoing too for strenght as I find rondo preety heavy and I dont want a very heavy weapon to carry

 

[Katsu]

It depends on what YOU want. I personally think just resin is not strong enough and it will crumple eventually.

If you are worried about weight and don't want to use rondo to reinforce it, get expanding foam. It will solidify the gun but is foam based so it will be much lighter than rondo.

 

[morkar78]

Hi guys,
there is a crack in the shins that I have just finished to cover with bondo:

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/40504-My-first-armor-master-chief-mark-VII?p=689534#post689534

Any suggestion about how to repair it?

Thanks!

 

[AGENTREGENT]

Does anybody know of any resins that are safe to dry indoors? I like in a cold area, and I only have a radiator style heater, not a space heater, and I'm about to start the hardening stage of my first build. So any fume less/safe to dry indoors input would be good. Thanks guys!

 

[EVAkura]

Hi guys,
there is a crack in the shins that I have just finished to cover with bondo:

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/40504-My-first-armor-master-chief-mark-VII?p=689534#post689534

Any suggestion about how to repair it?

Thanks!

Sorry I did not get back to you last night Morkar, I was dead tired. I noticed that the crack happened on what appeared to be the lip of a piece. If that is the case, a quick coat of resin with woven fiberglass on the underside (so it won't be seen and will not require much clean up sanding) will be your best bet in my belief. That will stop that crack from going any further and will allow you to fill it with what ever you want.

Does anybody know of any resins that are safe to dry indoors? I like in a cold area, and I only have a radiator style heater, not a space heater, and I'm about to start the hardening stage of my first build. So any fume less/safe to dry indoors input would be good. Thanks guys!

Agentregent, good to see someone else from the Seattle area! From what I have seen, aqua resin will work, but is very expensive. It is a water based resin that emits no fumes. Personally, I use SC110 by ResTech. It is a two part low odor resin. I love it for two reasons. One, with a 2/1 mix ratio, you would really have to try to screw up the portions... and Two is because they call it low odor, but I (nor my super sensitive family) can smell it at all. One gallon cost me $70 to have it shipped to me (about $20 more than your everyday epoxy) and came in two one gallon containers, 2/3 full of resin, 1/3 full of hardener. It seems to cure warm, which is great because it will not warp most things due to the high heat cure that most epoxies do, but it does take a bit longer to cure. I put my pieces in front of a space heater and they usually cure in 3-5 hours, but I always leave them overnight just to be sure. Hope this helps!

 

[AGENTREGENT]

Thanks, it mostly does! I have one of those radiator heaters [http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/63/03/26/16/0063032616010_500X500.jpg], would that work too? And if I'm not able to get my hands on that stuff, I still take a trip to TAP Plastics and get some fiberglass resin. I was thinking of setting up my big tent outside, lining the inside with cut black plastic bags, and putting the heater and pieces in there. Do you know if that would work?

 

[Kryios90]

Does anybody know of any resins that are safe to dry indoors? I like in a cold area, and I only have a radiator style heater, not a space heater, and I'm about to start the hardening stage of my first build. So any fume less/safe to dry indoors input would be good. Thanks guys!

I have the same problem also. I use Smooth-on 320 for almost all my resin work both inside and out. Its a 1 to 1 mixing ratio and you can get it in a variety of amounts, the 1 gallon (1 gal of resin 1 gal of hardener) for about $70. It also does not have a high heat cure temp so it typically does not warp.

 

[AGENTREGENT]

I have the same problem also. I use Smooth-on 320 for almost all my resin work both inside and out. Its a 1 to 1 mixing ratio and you can get it in a variety of amounts, the 1 gallon (1 gal of resin 1 gal of hardener) for about $70. It also does not have a high heat cure temp so it typically does not warp.

Thanks for the input! I would use that, but I kinda live in the North West of the US, which does not provide ideal curing temperatures, and I don't have a space heater. Thanks anyway though!

 

[Kryios90]

Thanks for the input! I would use that, but I kinda live in the North West of the US, which does not provide ideal curing temperatures, and I don't have a space heater. Thanks anyway though!

I know your pain, I'm in the north east. I do my resin work in my kitchen so no space heater is needed as long as it is above 45 degrees. But if you are forced to work outside then it might be best to wait until spring.

 

[AGENTREGENT]

I know your pain, I'm in the north east. I do my resin work in my kitchen so no space heater is needed as long as it is above 45 degrees. But if you are forced to work outside then it might be best to wait until spring.

I might build a heat box with a strong desk lamp or radiator heater, or use my big tent, line it with plastic, and make a workspace with the heater.

 

[EVAkura]

Thanks, it mostly does! I have one of those radiator heaters [http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/63/03/26/16/0063032616010_500X500.jpg], would that work too? And if I'm not able to get my hands on that stuff, I still take a trip to TAP Plastics and get some fiberglass resin. I was thinking of setting up my big tent outside, lining the inside with cut black plastic bags, and putting the heater and pieces in there. Do you know if that would work?

Your radiator heater should produce enough heat inside to do the job. I would not do anything outside, even in a warmed up tent due to the high humidity we have here.

 

[AGENTREGENT]

Your radiator heater should produce enough heat inside to do the job. I would not do anything outside, even in a warmed up tent due to the high humidity we have here.

Ah good point, totally forgot about the humidity! With the outdoors out of the question, maybe a heat box? I have a bunch of big card board boxes around my house that I could line with tin foil and then use the radiator or my strongest desk lamp?

 

[EVAkura]

What is the temp inside with the radiator heater? If you place your project around the heater (6-12 inches away should be sufficient), use the SC110 resin I told you about (I ordered my online through Amazon), and the temp is at or near 60-65 in that immediate area, you will have no problems.

 

[AGENTREGENT]

What is the temp inside with the radiator heater? If you place your project around the heater (6-12 inches away should be sufficient), use the SC110 resin I told you about (I ordered my online through Amazon), and the temp is at or near 60-65 in that immediate area, you will have no problems.

Awesome! I'll see what I can do and soon enough, I'll probably be starting my build thread!

 

[Jason 078]

I live Northwest of normal, too. And the temperature is usually too cold for me to think about doing anything outdoors. Heck, I practically Dexter my bathroom for painting.

I use two coats of EpoxaMite 101 inside and out to strengthen. For "rondo" I use the EpoxaMite and Ure-Fil 11. The Ure-Fil thickens it, but lets it keep its own strength. The EpoxaMite is actually stronger than Resin and Bondo, so there won't be as much cracking. The reason I am using the more expensive EpoxaMite rather than Bondo-brand resin products is to prevent death. It is too cold outside where I live for Bondo to cure and I would rather not kill myself, my wife, and our cats with toxic fumes. I may be hardcore, but I’m not that hardcore.

For the shaping, rather than use Bondo, I plan to use Freeform Air epoxy putty. Like the EpoxaMite, it is free of death-inducing fumes and an be thinned with water before it cures. It is fully sandable and, when thinned, works in a similar fashion to spot putty.

Hardening for me will be different too. I plan to use Kevlar/carbon weave patches rather than fiberglass. The reason is three-fold. First, it is much lighted than fiberglass is which does make a major difference. Second, it is much stronger than fiberglass is. Third, it is more flexible than fiberglass is. The flexibility is the main reason as it can bend a little more before it snaps than fiberglass can, which is a bonus as it means I might actually be able to sit down and lean back without worrying about hearing a snap followed by tears (snap from the armor, tears from me crying).

Yes, it will be pretty much bullet proof (and drop proof). A friend did this with some Mandalorian armor and ended up weathering it with .22 caliber bullets at about 10 meters… there was no penetration and minimal denting. I plan to weather using more sanity, though.