Resining & Fibre Glassing Tutorial/How To

[ninjaspartan]

Hey guys, I know that you guys have said not to fiberglass the outside but will it work if you don't want to glass the inside of small areas such as the spikes on an elite helm. Also do you guys have any tips on fiber glassing small areas?

hmm maby try body filler i think that will work not sure though

 

[zz123by680]

wat do i do next after i make helmet and i dont knoe wat to do next its only cardstock rite now heres pics

 

[tlither]

You would resin the outside of the helm, then glass the inside. Of course you could always go back and reread the stickies so you have an understanding of the entire process.

 

[zz123by680]

k

 

[redragon74]

just quick note for those having a hard time finding bondo and fiberglass resin and matting/cloth


autobody stores do sell them in alot of various sizes for a pretty good price if no one has checkd or mentiond it

 

[krash916]

First post, and already some pretty major things to pop up and note. Feel free to add your $0.02/£0.02 (depending on your location), but this is what I've come up with based on a few years of trial, error and some logic. Most of this I guess you could use as a mid-topic 'sum up' for those people who want the questions answering. And before I see any more of the 'where does I shot resin from' posts, for God's sake use Google or go to a local hardware store.
Beware all ye of a non-wall-of-text predisposition. Here be long spiel.
First thing is the creation of your 'base'. This is what you're gonna be stuck with for the rest of the project, so damnit, MAKE SURE IT'S PERFECT. Nothing is worse than getting halfway through glassing your project and realising there's something you needed to do a while back. Perfect base = happy days.
Second: damnit, you freaks. SAFETY FIRST. Get a good respirator AND goggles, or I $#!T ye not, you WILL incur damage at some stage. And it's far better to be safe and a little out of pocket than to do it regardless and have messed-up lungs/eyes/skin. Read the labels on your materials and even if it seems stupid, follow the instructions. A little care and time saves a hell of a lot of pain and embarrassment.
Third: for all you MJOLNIR helm makers specifically. This might seem really dumb, and I'm probably going to get at least ten 'NOOB!' posts for it, but make sure the helmet FITS? Too many times have I seen people make a helmet, then try and put it on only to find it's too small. In some cases they tried to force it and broke it, wasting heck knows how many hours of labor. This goes for the other parts of your armor too, MJOLNIR or otherwise.
Fourth: Fiberglass = interior, resin = exterior. For those of you at home not following, this means the following: don't fiberglass the outside of your piece. This means you'll get a better finish - resin sands a lot better than fiberglass, and since the fiberglass is purely for strength, it's useless applying, sanding, re-applying, re-sanding, painting to something you don't need to apply and paint in the first place. The woof has spoken.
Fifth: please, please, PLEASE do your research before you start. Don't use a resin that's gonna eat through your glue holding the entire shabang together. Ask the people at the desk when you purchase the resin, and if needed, go home and look up the resin before buying to see what it eats through. Glue gun = very yes, if you're careful with where you apply it (too much and you'll end up with huge lumps in your surface that are a pain in the rear to get out and fill).
Finally: resin can be smelly even after it cures. It's one of those things. As has been suggested, use baby powder to dry it out before you sand and paint. Deodorising sprays work, depending on the brand, but your best bet might be to do both.
Next, two things:

First, padding. Anyone have any ideas how you'd do this to make the helm and pieces comfortable and firmly secured?

Second: What's the take on doing this with Elite armors? I need to make two sets, and there's no pep for it.

*prepares for a slew of 'well, I guess you're f***ed then' posts*

So, if you are using pepakura, how do you make sure that the helmet fits properly before glassing?

 

[tlither]

If you put the helm on and it fits snug, it's too small. You should have some "play" in it so that once you glass it and add padding, it is sort of snug.

 

[Davii]

Instead of resin you could use a special Fiberglass PVA.
google it. its what I use.

 

[Hellfirefanatic]

Hello 405th users! I'm a long time lurker first time poster and first time attempting to make myself some Halo armor. I just have a few questions.
-Will fiberglass resin eat through wood/carpenters glue? I've already constructed two test helmets out of cardstock and am ready to resin them but before I do I want to be sure.
-And I have some areas on the Pep helmets where the paper didn't quite meet where it should have (due to human error) leaving a tiny hole. Will this be a factor when I start resining? If so should I cover those small areas with spot putty or something of the like?
Thanks for any assistance!

 

[krash916]

If you put the helm on and it fits snug, it's too small. You should have some "play" in it so that once you glass it and add padding, it is sort of snug.

So if it does fit too snug, how do make adjustments before resining? And for that matter, I'm kind of a tall guy...6'4" to be exact, so how do you make the adjustments for the rest of the armor? Or are there seperate prgrams of pep for us taller people?

 

[krash916]

Hello 405th users! I'm a long time lurker first time poster and first time attempting to make myself some Halo armor. I just have a few questions.
-Will fiberglass resin eat through wood/carpenters glue? I've already constructed two test helmets out of cardstock and am ready to resin them but before I do I want to be sure.
-And I have some areas on the Pep helmets where the paper didn't quite meet where it should have (due to human error) leaving a tiny hole. Will this be a factor when I start resining? If so should I cover those small areas with spot putty or something of the like?
Thanks for any assistance!

That's really just personal preferance. You can spot putty the holes if you want but you don't necessarily have to. When you resin the outside of the helmet be mindful of the amount of resin you're using on or around the holes and when you're done with that particular area, flip the helm over and scrape the excess resin protruding throught the holes off.

 

[Hellfirefanatic]

That's really just personal preferance. You can spot putty the holes if you want but you don't necessarily have to. When you resin the outside of the helmet be mindful of the amount of resin you're using on or around the holes and when you're done with that particular area, flip the helm over and scrape the excess resin protruding throught the holes off.

Thanks a ton for the help! It's been bugging me for a few days now and I haven't wanted to proceed until I was sure. About the other question though, does anybody know if wood glue is good for resining?

 

[tlither]

It should hold up just fine. Test it on a couple of scrap pieces first.

 

[Hellfirefanatic]

It should hold up just fine. Test it on a couple of scrap pieces first.

Oh, good idea. I'll try that first, thanks!

 

[joealtair3000]

thanks for tut i needed to know how to use resin thanks

 

[SpartanIII 0324]

between this and the tutorial on getting the pep for the MC mjolnir armor, im psyced for starting this, i was originally gonna make my own armor designed from the Spartan-III SPI armor (semi-powered infiltration armor) but this is going to be so much cheaper to make, thanks alot

 

[SpartanIII 0324]

one question, would just using resin on the inside and out make it strong enough?

 

[d taktics]

Thanks, will definitely help.

 

[SpartanIII 0324]

this has been very insightfull, but after thinking about it for a while, wouldnt filling the open space between the armor and your body with like solid foam work out well? i think i will try that and get back to you all

 

[20xx]

I may have missed this in my skimming, but has anyone here attempted to use carbon fiber instead of fiberglass? I'm beginning to construct my Daft Punk helmets for myself and a buddy for Halloween, and it's been something that's come up. Of course, I couple always stop by TAP Plastics, but hey, thought I'd ask you guys first.