Pepakura Fiberglass and Smoothing Tutorial

[Sigma LS]

All purpose fiberglass resin is medium thickness and consistency. It's my favorite kind.

They're pretty much the same unless you buy it from some kind of specialty shop or website. (smooth-on.com for example)

 

[BomBom]

oh thanks a lot. im pretty close to fiberglassing.

 

[oryx]

great tut guys this helps alot would it hurt to bondo and resin the outer shell after glassing to add details?

 

[Sigma LS]

Not at all. Go for it, Unded has some really nice pics of his work in that category.

 

[Sikarian]

Is that all purpose fiberglass resin the same as the resin people coat the outside of their helmets with? Can I use the same stuff from the same can or will I need to purchase two types of resin?

 

[imMonkeyGOD]

I just fiberglassed it and you said it will take a few hours to cure it? Mine apparently took like an hour but thats it. Also, i pretty much glued (adhensive) all of the cloths to the helmet inside, is that ok?
My fiberglass doesnt look so soggy or brown, its just transparent. Is this normal?

 

[Sigma LS]

Sikarian- Yes, it's the same. You need one type of resin only, and most will work.

imMonkeyGOD- what kind of resin did you get? I know there are casting resins that will give you that effect but the regular Bondo brand stuff should have some color unless you didn't really soak the cloth good or it was already soaked with glue.

 

[clownpuncher]

nice tut.you fiberglassed the inside? that would be very hard on the MC helm

yeah u do because when u sand it goes thru the paper if u are usin peakura

 

[crackup]

where can u buy those stuff??

 

[wombat6926]

I have finished my pep armor and have on 1 coat of resin on most peices (2 on the helmet)

Just to let you know I spent over $100 on the fiberglassing materials so far.

I bought the Large Bulk amounts because it would be a lot cheaper in the long run I figured I would need it to complete a whole suit. I found a place that sold only Fiberglass and plastics (FiberTek)

http://www.fiber-tek.com/

They were a lot cheaper than any of the retail places (50% cheaper) so look around an check prices.

The 5.9 oz cloth was the best bang for the buck, the lighter stuff was going to be too weak.

Also use the unwaxed resin, it drys tacky so multi layers will stick together. The waxed type is for final gloss coats only.

Heres my breakdown:

3 L of resin $50.00 Hardener $6.00 ( 1 L will only be enought to do the Helmet)

2 Yards of 5.9 oz cloth (36" wide) $15.00 ( I will probably need more )

Gloves and Brushes $15.00

3L of Bodyfiller and hardener $25.00

I will post pics of my suit soon.

Hope this helps

Wombat

 

[wombat6926]

Ok Here's an update on My Pep Suit.

I and completed the complete pep suit with 110 cardstock at a scale of 25.0

Here are some pics of my Son (13) wearing it ( it's a bit big on him, but not too much).

I have the first 2 coats of resin ( one inside and one outside) and have the fiberglass on the helmet (90%)
Chest (50%) and crotch (50%).

I decided to put the fiberglass cloth on the outside because it was easier. It is a bit tricky to get it to stick on the sharp
cornners (I get bubbles) and it seems to take 3 ot 4 passes to complete ther whole thing. You can only fiberglass 25-35%
at any one time and then you have to let it harden for at least 2 days and then sand before the next area/coat.

TIP: Put your oven on warm, let it warm up and then turn it off. Place freshly resined parts in warm oven for about 30min. The extra warmth makes them ROCK HARD very quickly. CAVET: this stinks up the kitchen, keep the windows open.

I find if you just put 2 coats of resin on the cardstock (one inside and one outside) you get a very light tough flexible armor that can probably just be painted and concidered finished if you like the angular look.

I am going to do a lot of fiberglassing this weekend. I am sanding and touching up the helmet and trying to finish most of the rest of thre suit.

Ok I added an Album and put the pics in there. Check out my BLOG


Wombat

 

[Ice198]

Thanks for this tut, ive been wondering how to glass and then smooth. - Ice

 

[blakiki]

Can anyone link me to where I can buy this "Fiberglass tape" preferably someone who has used it, or def. know what theyre talkin abbt, cuz i google'd it an I seem to get lots of different types of stuff called fiberglass tape

 

[xT3T0x]

im confused are you supposed to fiberglass the outside of the helmet or the inside or both?

 

[spartan215]

nice tut.you fiberglassed the inside? that would be very hard on the MC helm

why do you need to do it on the inside
and i am really new to this so can some one pm me and help me through this

 

[Sigma LS]

Check the Ultimate Pepakura FAQ Sticky, Section 2- Fiberglass and Resin

Both questions are answered there.

 

[NiteSeed]

hey i was wondering wat kind of polyurethane resin did u used ?

 

[Sigma LS]

Bondo brand All-purpose resin is my preferred one. Not that I've tried a whole lot of others.

 

[bugman72]

This might be a dumb question, but instead of using the fiberglass cloth for the inside of the helmet and armor, why couldn't someone use either T-shirt material or even speaker grille cloth? I've done some fiberglassing for car stereos in the past and have used ripped up T-shirts, fleese material (same material as sweatshirts) and speaker grille cloth. It would be a lot cheaper than buying the fiberglass cloth and would be just as strong.

I wasn't sure if anyone here had tried using those materials before. I just know from my past experiences that you can use them with very good results when building kick panels and speaker pods.

 

[AoBfrost]

You could, but it wouldnt be as strong, Fiberglass is ment for resining because of it's strength, you can use muslin cloth which is just as strong somehow, thats cheaper than fiberglass and you can buy it at a fabric store, just resin or glue it in, and resin over it.