"Help!" for: Fiberglassing, Resin, & Bondo
- Thread starter 23Magnum
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Its the right stuff, the resin itself is like a liquidy gel type stuff and the hardener is more like a paste. the bondo variant is pretty much the same though
I sanded the glass down, if you laid it down strongly enough it shouldn't be too hard.
Covering it is up to you. Plastic sounds good if it's the final product. I did rondo because I have no intention of wearing mine (having that toxic crap (resin or bondo) can't be good to touch bare skin!)
Covering it is up to you. Plastic sounds good if it's the final product. I did rondo because I have no intention of wearing mine (having that toxic crap (resin or bondo) can't be good to touch bare skin!)
Hey we all die someday but anyhow I used smoothcast 320 instead of resin and I'm havering trouble deciding whether to uses plasti-dip, something like memory foam, or some sort of felt or other fabric? Opinions?
For the whole suit?
SergantTinkers
Jr Member
Hey, guys, got a question:
I know chest pieces are usually cut in half and given a hinge device, as they often conform too tightly to the body otherwise. But what about helmets? Sometimes the helmet is the same, so how could you do the same (or similar) with a helmet? Are there other ways?
Thanks!
I know chest pieces are usually cut in half and given a hinge device, as they often conform too tightly to the body otherwise. But what about helmets? Sometimes the helmet is the same, so how could you do the same (or similar) with a helmet? Are there other ways?
Thanks!
Depends on the helmet. The ODST and mk6 helmet can easily be trimmed to fit your head, since the design is more of a bucket than anything. Some of the reach helmets get pretty tight, but I've not seen anyone from my time here hinge their helmets, it may be that the one you made is just too small for your head, because it is meant to fit over your head with room for the padding, if it's tight enough that you need to cut it in half, then you probably wouldn't be fitting any padding in.
Yes, just remember that most - if not all - need a good long time to cure and in a warmish place. Best bet is to test it in the morning, then leave it in a warmish area for 7+ hours. It's easy to tell if you added too little, but if you do too much it'll be harder to tell, but it'll either catch on fire (I guess that's an obvious one) or harden too brittle.
Cheers dude
if ive added to much it will probably harden alot raster too wouldnt it? too little means itll be still wet right?If it's like the stuff we have in the states, too little leaves it tacky, too much will either harden too fast leaving it brittle, or too hot making it burn the paper.
If you have the brand name of the stuff, it'd be easier to know, since there are different types out there.
If you have the brand name of the stuff, it'd be easier to know, since there are different types out there.
I found a very good article on the topic, and learned some things myself!
There are two types of hardener, MEKP (what I use) which is a little eyedropper style, and then the paste I think you mentioned.
10mL is something you can measure out. Hardware stores here sell little wax paper cups that have tick marks for mL at like 10cents a cup.
So the idea is you measure out 10mL of the resin into a cup, then add 2cm in warm weather, 3cm in cold weather of the paste and mix it REALLY well into the resin. You may need to experiment with it, resin is a temperature reliant chemical, so it will never be exactly the same amount. After it has started to set (about 20-30 minutes) you can lightly touch it with a gloved hand, and if it feels scorching hot, you mixed too much which means it'll be brittle and can crack. It'll take at least a day to fully set before you can determine if you mixed too little hardener, because it'll still be tacky or slimy.
If you mix more than 10mL at a time, obviously scale up the paste appropriately! 4-6cm per 20mL etc.
source:
http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=printpage;topic=12084.0
There are two types of hardener, MEKP (what I use) which is a little eyedropper style, and then the paste I think you mentioned.
10mL is something you can measure out. Hardware stores here sell little wax paper cups that have tick marks for mL at like 10cents a cup.
So the idea is you measure out 10mL of the resin into a cup, then add 2cm in warm weather, 3cm in cold weather of the paste and mix it REALLY well into the resin. You may need to experiment with it, resin is a temperature reliant chemical, so it will never be exactly the same amount. After it has started to set (about 20-30 minutes) you can lightly touch it with a gloved hand, and if it feels scorching hot, you mixed too much which means it'll be brittle and can crack. It'll take at least a day to fully set before you can determine if you mixed too little hardener, because it'll still be tacky or slimy.
If you mix more than 10mL at a time, obviously scale up the paste appropriately! 4-6cm per 20mL etc.
source:
http://www.modelboatmayhem.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=printpage;topic=12084.0
I don't really know if there's a clear answer to this question...
I see many people don't go the route of mold casting their armor pieces. Does this mean they're wearing the resin/bondo'd piece on their head directly? I've been airing out my first draft odst helmet for a while and I can still smell the resin and bondo inside the helmet when I put it on, that can't be very healthy to inhale, especially over a long period of time. The resources I've seen here don't reference really what goes on inside the helmet, other than padding, fans and lighting, so the question is if there are any steps one would take in protecting themselves from the resin and bondo inside the helmet...
I am still going to try and mold cast my second draft ODST, but I figure the first draft is just sitting there collecting dust.
I see many people don't go the route of mold casting their armor pieces. Does this mean they're wearing the resin/bondo'd piece on their head directly? I've been airing out my first draft odst helmet for a while and I can still smell the resin and bondo inside the helmet when I put it on, that can't be very healthy to inhale, especially over a long period of time. The resources I've seen here don't reference really what goes on inside the helmet, other than padding, fans and lighting, so the question is if there are any steps one would take in protecting themselves from the resin and bondo inside the helmet...
I am still going to try and mold cast my second draft ODST, but I figure the first draft is just sitting there collecting dust.
fireburner80
New Member
I had a thought about using a form of "hairy bondo". I've seen the product for sale but not in stores near me. I was wondering if it would be a good idea to resin the outside of the pepakura base to make it smooth and then take long strips of fiberglass mat/cloth. Then I'd cover up the strips with rondo and let it harden. This way, all of the cracks would be filled in nicely by the rondo, the process would be pretty easy to do, and the armor would still be supported by fiberglass. Thoughts on this method? Would it be better to put down the rondo first to create a smooth layer and follow it up with a few large pieces of fiberglass and resin like normal? It would be much easier to fiberglass on the now smooth surface.
I don't personally know about that. The resin is meant to kind of lace through the fiberglass cloth, with the cloth acting as the matrix, but if it's rondo then the bondo is acting as the (weaker) matrix. And you're still limited because you really want to lay the fiberglass cloth first, which would still mean it wouldn't be going around the cracks anyways. You need the resin to soak into the fiberglass, and it won't do it as well if it's mixed with bondo.
A method I'm testing right now, is to fiberglass the broad flat parts of the inside (like the top of the helmet), then rondo, and then do another layer or two of fiberglass over the rondo. Rondo is pretty brittle, some people on here have had it crack from dropping, and while it's good coverage and strength for detailed parts, it doesn't strengthen as well as fiberglass on big areas. The first glass layer strengthens the broad areas, the layer of rondo smooths out the details of the inside so that you can easily lay fiberglass down over it to further strengthen the rondo.
But at the end of the day, this craft is 90% experimentation, so you could very well get good results with the method you are thinking of. I personally don't think it'll work, but it could work and I could be wrong! Do what you think is best after gathering as much information as you can.
A method I'm testing right now, is to fiberglass the broad flat parts of the inside (like the top of the helmet), then rondo, and then do another layer or two of fiberglass over the rondo. Rondo is pretty brittle, some people on here have had it crack from dropping, and while it's good coverage and strength for detailed parts, it doesn't strengthen as well as fiberglass on big areas. The first glass layer strengthens the broad areas, the layer of rondo smooths out the details of the inside so that you can easily lay fiberglass down over it to further strengthen the rondo.
But at the end of the day, this craft is 90% experimentation, so you could very well get good results with the method you are thinking of. I personally don't think it'll work, but it could work and I could be wrong! Do what you think is best after gathering as much information as you can.
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