"Help!" for: Papercraft or Pepakura

[Spurs027]

Hi guys, I'm a noob at this and attempting my first build, unfortunately I started the build with 80gsm paper which is 55lbs as that was all I had and I'm impatient, I'm halfway through the build, do u know if there is a possible way to reinforce the paper? as I want to spray paint it but if I do that I'm worried the paper will warp. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Ps I'm building iron man mark VI helmet

 

[cKryptic]

Hey guys! I am starting to get interested in building armor. I have all the suplies and im ready but I don't know how much to add to the scale. The helmet im building is a mark V from halo 1. My head is about 8 1/2 inches from my chin to the top of my head and about 6 1/2 from ear to ear. How much extra should I add? I plan to add padding and everything but if I feel creative I MIGHT install lights, fans, etc. Any help would be amazing as I am wanting to start this build tonight.

-cKryptic

 

[Katsu]

Hey guys! I am starting to get interested in building armor. I have all the suplies and im ready but I don't know how much to add to the scale. The helmet im building is a mark V from halo 1. My head is about 8 1/2 inches from my chin to the top of my head and about 6 1/2 from ear to ear. How much extra should I add? I plan to add padding and everything but if I feel creative I MIGHT install lights, fans, etc. Any help would be amazing as I am wanting to start this build tonight.

-cKryptic

The amount of space you add is subjective, but also take a careful look at the helmet. Some helmets, like the mkV, have rather large ear stuff that increases its width, but when you wear it your head obviously won't be going into those spots. So I'd look at the helmet from the front, but tilt it upwards (in pep viewer), and estimate what percentage of the helmet's overall width is going to be actually available for you head to be in. It takes some visualizing.

As for padding, you have to toe a line between good padding and a helmet so big you look like a bobble head. I'd add an extra inch to be on the safe side personally. But there's no telling if that will work for you or not! The best way to do it is to enter in the numbers as best you can, and then test it out. Some helmets are offered in HD and LD versions, and you can slap together the LD one for a test fit.

Hi guys, I'm a noob at this and attempting my first build, unfortunately I started the build with 80gsm paper which is 55lbs as that was all I had and I'm impatient, I'm halfway through the build, do u know if there is a possible way to reinforce the paper? as I want to spray paint it but if I do that I'm worried the paper will warp. Any ideas would be appreciated.
Ps I'm building iron man mark VI helmet

So long as you are VERY careful when handling it, you will be okay. the lighter paper is more prone to crumple and pinch when you hold it too roughly. Once you're done building it, you want to do one layer of resin on the outside, and you HAVE to do two layers of resin on the inside. This will protect it decently until you can pour rondo inside. The other thing to be wary of when working with light paper is that rondo and fiberglass can push it out, so a part that was meant to curve inwards may curve out instead from the weight of the rondo. So long as you take all of these steps into consideration, you should be okay.

And what size would be considered A4?

A4 is... A4 sized, it will literally say "A4" on the package, its measurements are 210 x 297 mm.

 

[goboy3133]

If I'm looking for a specific piece of Armour, where would I post it? Would I post it in a new thread or in one of the Stickies?

-goboy3133

 

[Katsu]

There is the official thread:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/13671-Pepakura-Requests/page259

Assuming you're looking for a specific pep piece. I don't know if you can also post here, but really that's the official place to ask it.

 

[Spurs027]

So long as you are VERY careful when handling it, you will be okay. the lighter paper is more prone to crumple and pinch when you hold it too roughly. Once you're done building it, you want to do one layer of resin on the outside, and you HAVE to do two layers of resin on the inside. This will protect it decently until you can pour rondo inside. The other thing to be wary of when working with light paper is that rondo and fiberglass can push it out, so a part that was meant to curve inwards may curve out instead from the weight of the rondo. So long as you take all of these steps into consideration, you should be okay.

Is there a specific resin and rondo I should be using?
Cheers for the help

 

[dodineslay]

Hi I am Dodinas Lay. I am from Pakistan. I really very happy to join this forum for disucssion. I found this forum very interesting and informative about discussed topics. I like it.

 

[Katsu]

So long as you are VERY careful when handling it, you will be okay. the lighter paper is more prone to crumple and pinch when you hold it too roughly. Once you're done building it, you want to do one layer of resin on the outside, and you HAVE to do two layers of resin on the inside. This will protect it decently until you can pour rondo inside. The other thing to be wary of when working with light paper is that rondo and fiberglass can push it out, so a part that was meant to curve inwards may curve out instead from the weight of the rondo. So long as you take all of these steps into consideration, you should be okay.

Is there a specific resin and rondo I should be using?
Cheers for the help

Depends where you live. Since you said gsm, I'm assuming it's a european/au country. If you're in the UK you have some good options, but really any marine grade laminating fiberglass resin, + fiberglass mat/cloth + automotive body filler, will do the trick. We throw around the terms "bondo" and "rondo" a lot here. Bondo = auto body filler resin, rondo = auto body filler resin + fiberglass resin. If you head to an auto store, they'll be able to point you in the right direction for these. And be absolutely sure to buy a full respirator (not the flu masks, but one with cartridges), as these chemicals are toxic to humans, you will need a ventilated garage, or outdoors to do it, and the temperature to be over 10celsius (I think? It's 50F)

Here are some links related to getting started with resins:
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/14613-Complete-Noob-List
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/1572-Resining-amp-Fibre-Glassing-Tutorial-How-To
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/24086-*The-Official*-Halo-Reach-Pepakura-Files-Thread/page257
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/1525-Pepakura-Fiberglass-and-Smoothing-Tutorial
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/2814-Tutorial-Using-Bondo-for-Detailing
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/1034-Tutorial-How-to-use-Pepakura-to-make-your-Mjolnir-Armor
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/7551-The-Complete-Respirator-And-Safety-Guide
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/13333-Extra-Tricks-For-Smoothing-And-Detailing

Hopefully some of those will point you in the right direction, good luck!

 

[Pink Punnisher]

Is there a specific resin and rondo I should be using?
Cheers for the help

I used Halfords for everything. the stuff is in a yellow box called "Fastglass"

No worries mate

 

[Green Theorem]

What type of glue should I be using for this process?

 

[gamemaster111]

i suggest going with a hot glue gun, nearly every one i ask said the same.
and there isnt anything special about hot glue other then that it: dries fast, is very strong, and cheap
i highly reccomend using a hot glue gun because when i made any mistakes on my helmet i was able to remove the
pieces and try again.
hope this helps

 

[Green Theorem]

I was under the impression that hot glue would be ineffective for small gluing areas for heavily detailed sections.

Also, some of the pep files I received will not open in pepakura viewer on the premise of "the file does not exist." Any thoughts?

 

[Katsu]

The type of glue is up to you. A lot of people love hot glue. The main reason for hot glue is... you can undo mistakes easily, which is fantastic for newbies.

I prefer PVA glue over hot glue because it sands a LOT better, hot glue frays and globs when sanded, and I like to heavily mod helmets, so I cut into the glue often. If you are just starting out, I'd stick with hot glue and not mess with the first helmet too much.

As for DNE pep files... Is that the exact error message? There are some error messages for when no work area has been created or something, basically saying that the file was never unfolded, which is a bit different. If it flat out does not exist... then it doesn't exist? Redownload I guess....? A screencap or exact quote would help better.

 

[Green Theorem]

Short, sweet, and to the point. Unfortunately it gives no other info, but the files do, in fact, exist. Re-downloading might be an issue since they were sent via email.

 

[Katsu]

Oh... is the file still in the zip archive? Usually when things are sent via email, they're downloaded as a zip. When the download is complete it will open the zip as if it were a folder. You need to extract the files from the folder first before trying to open them.

If that doesn't work, you should try opening the files with pep designer and see if it's a compatibility problem. But it sounds like it might be the zip thing.

 

[gamemaster111]

I was under the impression that hot glue would be ineffective for small gluing areas for heavily detailed sections.

Also, some of the pep files I received will not open in pepakura viewer on the premise of "the file does not exist." Any thoughts?

pva glue isnt anything special, actually elmer's glue happens to be a brand of pva glue. some are arguably better, so it wont hurt to find out if one brand
is better then the other.

personally i didnt have the patience for pva glue, hot glue hardens in about 10 seconds compared to maybe a minute with pva glue ( i could be wrong about that ok)

about glueing in small high detail areas i think some might reccomend hot glue, some glue guns have very narrow tips and with
the trigger you can apply small amounts.its pretty much the same thing with pva glue ok

also if you gonna spend money on a glue gun you might as well spend the extra dollar and get a nice one
the price difference for me that was 16.00 dollars instead of 8.00 dollars could be different else where ok

 

[Green Theorem]

Oh... is the file still in the zip archive? Usually when things are sent via email, they're downloaded as a zip. When the download is complete it will open the zip as if it were a folder. You need to extract the files from the folder first before trying to open them.

If that doesn't work, you should try opening the files with pep designer and see if it's a compatibility problem. But it sounds like it might be the zip thing.

I checked and none of them are .zip files... they're all .pdo files. The ones that are working included.

 

[Katsu]

I checked and none of them are .zip files... they're all .pdo files. The ones that are working included.

I meant that the pdo was IN the original zip, not open the zip in pep. Send me the file so I can give it a try?

pva glue isnt anything special, actually elmer's glue happens to be a brand of pva glue. some are arguably better, so it wont hurt to find out if one brand
is better then the other.

personally i didnt have the patience for pva glue, hot glue hardens in about 10 seconds compared to maybe a minute with pva glue ( i could be wrong about that ok)

about glueing in small high detail areas i think some might reccomend hot glue, some glue guns have very narrow tips and with
the trigger you can apply small amounts.its pretty much the same thing with pva glue ok

also if you gonna spend money on a glue gun you might as well spend the extra dollar and get a nice one
the price difference for me that was 16.00 dollars instead of 8.00 dollars could be different else where ok

 

[Spurs027]

Hi guys, just a quick question about fibre grassing, I keep reading contradicting opinions of how to fibre glass, whether to fibreglass the inside and outside or outside only?

 

[Katsu]

I really doubt there are contradicting opinions on FIBERGLASS. You may be reading other people asking the same question about whether some do in some do out. The answer is always the same, though. No one ever fiberglasses the outside ever (Unless they want a laugh, or are making a boat). For pepakura, you only fiberglass the inside, ever. Fiberglass obscures details and drapes poorly over corners, so if you fiberglassed the outside, it would completely ruin the pep piece.

The confusion could be with the resin. There ARE people who only fiberglass resin (which is different than fiberglass) the outside, and others who do out AND in. I am of the latter group, as it helps reinforce the paper, but it is time consuming, and faster to only resin the outside.

"fiberglassing" usually (99% of the time) refers to laying fiberglass cloth, and then laminating it with fiberglass resin onto a surface. "resinin" usually refers to laying ONLY the fiberglass resin, which is a common practice in armor making. "bondoing" refers to using automotive body filler to smooth out the sharp edges pepakura polygons make.

I do hope this clears up and helps explain the process!