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

[stormtrooper95]

Just remember fiberglass cloth is hard to get into corners and angles. It's good for large areas but fiber glass mat is better for angles and corners as it can be shredded and ripped into little bits to get into tight spots.

Where might i be able to get fiber glass mat at? Sorry for the complete newbie-ness. lol

 

[misfitjh]

Any auto parts supply store or walmart, canadian tire if you live in canada. Pepboys just check the phone book under autobody suppliers.

 

[stormtrooper95]

Alright cool thanks, i'll go look for it tomorrow

 

[Seth Knight]

Hey, I was wondering what would be the best way to get rid of the stickiness of my resined helmet, applying more hardener (with glove on) by hand, or baby powder (suggested by Ceriel Kill3r in his tutorial) and if the baby powder, would plain corn starch work?
A quick answer would be much appreciated.

 

[Carpathia]

Hey, I was wondering what would be the best way to get rid of the stickiness of my resined helmet, applying more hardener (with glove on) by hand, or baby powder (suggested by Ceriel Kill3r in his tutorial) and if the baby powder, would plain corn starch work?
A quick answer would be much appreciated.

Baby powder would work, I think corn starch would as well, as long as it's some kind of powder with a similar consistency of baby powder. Later, when you bondo and sand it, it won't really matter anyway, just make sure the helmet is powder-free before you start to bondo, otherwise you run the rist of the bondo coming up.

In the future, add a tiny bit extra hardener to the resin mix. I've got it down to where I just squirt a stream of hardener into the resin (I don't count drops anymore) and can tell when I've added enough.

 

[Seth Knight]

Thanks! I tried the cornstarch and it worked like a charm, I wasn't really worried about the outside, because of the bondo that will go over it, just the inside. I think I've got the resin mix down, thanks again!

Seth

 

[Shrouded Maribel]

I got a couple of questions:
1) How much bondo and resin should I buy to be on the safe side. Or would 5kg of resin be enough for some time?
Something like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Polycraft...UK_Crafts_Other_Crafts_EH&hash=item4aafe6ccd0
I won't order it by ebay btw.
I'm going to (layers) 2xresin outside, 2xfiberglass + rondo for inside of helmet, then a resin + rondo for smaller pieaces.

2) Do you / can you clean brushes after applaying resin? with aceton / paint thinner?
3) Can resin eat throu plastic gloves?

Thanks!

 

[Carpathia]

1) That amount of resin will keep you going for some time. A similar amount of bondo will as well.

2) It's possible, but too much of a hastle with no guarantee of getting the brush clean enough. It's advisable to by the cheapest disposable brushes you can find. I purchase a box of 1" disposable brushes, the cost of which equates to only a few cents per brush.

3) Plastic gloves? I've never heard of this. What type of plastic. Most use either latex or vinyl gloves, both of which hold up very well against resin.

 

[TheRabbit]

Carp, where do you get your brushes from? I don't think I've found any that are as cheap as a few cents per brush.

I have PVC gloves, which could be considered plastic gloves, they're for handling more corrosive things, but I wouldn't use them to resin/bondo with, they're way too bulky.

 

[Carpathia]

Carp, where do you get your brushes from? I don't think I've found any that are as cheap as a few cents per brush.

Harbor Freight has 36 count box for around $8. That is around 22 cents/brush.

 

[Siefl]

^places like home depot and lowels SHOULD have brushes from 59 cents to like $1.50 for cheap use. Im sure any local painting store would sell cheap ones as well as artsncraft stores such as Blick. I have visited those stores too many times to know c:

 

[Carpathia]

Here is the exact kind of brush I buy...

http://www.harborfreight.com/pack-of-36-1-inch-industrial-grade-chip-brushes-4181.html

 

[TheRabbit]

Ya, those are the same brushes I use. I wouldn't consider $0.25 each to be a few cents, so I thought maybe you knew of ones that were even cheaper.

 

[Carpathia]

I wouldn't consider $0.25 each to be a few cents

Ok, a little exaggerated, but compared to the $0.59 - $1.50, it's a huge savings.

 

[SergantTinkers]

Hey guys. I have seen some people apply primer to their pieces before using bondo. What does this accomplish and how important is it to do this?

 

[TheRabbit]

It helps you see irregularities prior to applying the bondo. Looking at cardstock (especially when it has lines drawn all over it) it can be difficult to tell where humps and voids are. Making the entire thing a single solid shade of gray improves your eyes ability to see those small deviations. Just make sure that you lightly sand it before applying bondo so that there is good adhesion.

 

[SergantTinkers]

Oh, that makes sense. Thanks!

 

[ODST479]

Hey, How should a resined piece feel after 2 coats? My piece is still flexible, isn't it supposed to be rigid? I know fiber-glassing it makes it hard by the way.

 

[Katsu]

Resin will always be flexible. It's meant to be a stepping stone to fiberglass. If you go straight from paper to fiberglass, there's a high chance of it collapsing. But with the resin layers, they strengthen the paper enough to be able to handle the weight of fiberglass or rondo.

 

[ODST479]

Thank you! I'll keep that in mind