Tutorial: Using Bondo for Detailing

[SpireP26]

Hi everyone. I fiberglassed my helmet and now im looking for a nice technique to smooth it. But i have a question: does anyone now the spanish name or equivalent of bondo body filler? Because i have no idea where to buy it, modeling putty will do the same function?

 

[ventrue]

Hi everyone. I fiberglassed my helmet and now im looking for a nice technique to smooth it. But i have a question: does anyone now the spanish name or equivalent of bondo body filler? Because i have no idea where to buy it, modeling putty will do the same function?

Look for a polyester resin based body filler. Once you find one, its manufacturer or the shop that sells it will probably lead you to similar products.

 

[Ral Partha]

But i have a question: does anyone now the spanish name or equivalent of bondo body filler?

Masilla para carroceria

 

[SpireP26]

Thank you both. I'll see what I can find.

 

[tmccarty23]

When is comes to sanding the body filler, which do you prefer, dry sanding or wet sanding?

 

[sk8almostbay]

Bondo does not have to be the last coat of material. spot putty is what i use to put on the bondo. spot putty is to be wet sanded. wet sanding is magical and leves armor as smooth as a baby's bottom it is very cheap- around $7-8$ or less i think.

 

[sk8almostbay]

wet sanding definitely. much smoother. wet:___________ dry= _._._._._._._._.

 

[Madzenon]

wet sanding

 

[eliteslayer032]

i use my bare hands when i bondo wat can happen is it bad to use ur bare hands

 

[Manix]

I skimmed through a topic once where someone mentioned mixing Bondo with resin....I can't seem to find that post again now though. Does anyone have a comment for that? Is there any advantage to be had?

 

[Macattack64]

I skimmed through a topic once where someone mentioned mixing Bondo with resin....I can't seem to find that post again now though. Does anyone have a comment for that? Is there any advantage to be had?

That is most commonly referred to as Rondo. Cereal Killer has some videos that mention it. I'd have to look again and see where he explains it, but check his videos out in the Armor Related Videos section.

 

[Manix]

That is most commonly referred to as Rondo. Cereal Killer has some videos that mention it. I'd have to look again and see where he explains it, but check his videos out in the Armor Related Videos section.

Thanks alot, that answered my other question about what rondo was, thought maybe it was a typo.

 

[dbzmar123]

hey i dont know if anyone one will read this but im almost at the body filler stage and i wanna know how do i detail my helmet. when i say detail i mean lines and ect. i am mkaing a recon helmet halo reach style and i want to get alll those lines that are in the atcuall helmet. i just need to know how to go about this exactly?

 

[Xishom]

Quick question: I have run out of resin for now and don't want to wait to get more. Is it possible to bondo the inside of your helmet if you haven't resined it? I'm saying will bondo work straight onto the card stock. The outside has already had one layer of resin on it, and I will need to add one more soon, but I have the bondo now and want to fill the inside.
Thanks for your help

~Sam

 

[Katsu]

Bondo will not work the way you are hoping it to. Bondo is a filler, meant to build out cracks and dips in uneven surfaces (really for patching damage on a car). It has almost no structural strength unless it's like inch thick. At that thickness it will be REALLY heavy.

The honest truth is, it is cheaper to buy more resin, than to use enough bondo to be strong enough... and even then bondo will always be brittle, weigh ten times more, and the first time you drop it it will break.

 

[Xishom]

Thanks!! I managed to grab some more resin and hardener so I was able to do additional layers with the resin. I am doing a hayabusa helmet and this is my first serious project. I did a tester with a mark VI helmet, didn't turn out well and I learned a lot from it. So far I have two layers of resin on the outside and a coat of rondo on the inside, tomorrow I will test it's strength and see if I should add another layer or if I can proceed with detailing the outside. Running on a bit of a time crunch because I wanna have it done before Halloween, but I am a perfectionist so who knows?

Thanks again for the tip!!

~Sam

 

[Khol]

hey i dont know if anyone one will read this but im almost at the body filler stage and i wanna know how do i detail my helmet. when i say detail i mean lines and ect. i am mkaing a recon helmet halo reach style and i want to get alll those lines that are in the atcuall helmet. i just need to know how to go about this exactly?

I'm using a dremel tool to sand/detailing
You can also check your local hardware store for more attachments!


Check out my N7 helmet http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/40104-N7-cardboard-helmet

 

[Mithor21]

What about using wood filler in place of bondo? It sets hard and can be molded much the same way as bondo does. Plus there is no smell to it if you have to use it in the apartment or doing it outdoors is not an option.

 

[arma358]

Personally, I don't think I'd use it for all of the helmet, but I -did- use it to fill in pretty serious spots on my new helmet. In the end, it worked well!

What about using wood filler in place of bondo? It sets hard and can be molded much the same way as bondo does. Plus there is no smell to it if you have to use it in the apartment or doing it outdoors is not an option.

 

[VividT E X]

For me, the way I added lines and surface detail is with the help of needle files, they are pretty inexpensive to buy new and help a whole lot to do steady and precise lines. The control they provide is something I did'nt quite found in a high speed rotary tool like the dremmel. It's spin makes for uncertain first contacts with the surface you are working on and more often that not you start drifting off your line and messing up the job rather quickly ( even with the steadiest of hands ). Bondo sculpts very well with these little files and by folowing lies you traced on the helmet you can achieve nice crisp lines in minutes ! I particularly used the triangle and round one. I used the first one to score the first path into the bondo and then deepened and widened the channel accordin to refference photos with othe round or square files of various diameters.

Hope this help !