"Help!" for: Fiberglassing, Resin, & Bondo
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zombieprops
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It all depends on what armor you're doing, and what scale you're using. Start off with a gallon, if you need more, you'll know before you run out.
A couple tips I've been meaning to tell everyone:
duck tape works great for pulling out those little stubborn fibers that sometimes gets stuck in your skin.
Before you start fiberglassing, take some baby powder, rub it all over your exposed skin. The baby powder is finer than the glass dust that comes with fiberglass mat. So the powder will get in the pores of your skin and block out the glass dust. I've been doing it for years and it makes an extremely noticeable difference.
Acetone works great for thinning polyester based resins/fillers, its also great for cleaning chip brushes to be used again and again (I use the same one like 5-6 times before throwing it out)
Baby powder also works great for when your fiberglass has just a little bit of annoying tackiness after curing. Just spread it around with a chip brush and vacuum it off.
Baby powder is also good for dusting your mold before casting. The fine dust helps break the surface tension, and helps the resin flow into the nooks and crannies while avoiding air bubbles.
That's all I can think of off the top of my head, if anyone else mentioned them earlier in the thread, sorry for being repetitive.
I wish i knew about this site sooner. All of those are really good tips from zombieprops. Just last week i was showering 3 times a day, going mad and scratching my arms all over from fiberglass. It really made me hate thinking about doing the rest of my mans iron man suit, but i think i will try these tips and looking forward to NOT itching everywhere.
I have a question about the bondo process....
Soo I realized, when you resin you need to do it outdoors with a mask, and gloves (ditto goes for fiberglassing); however since I have never bondo-ed before, and I am currently at that stage, would it be possible to do it indoors?
I live on my college's campus, and even though, no one has disallowed me from building (and the usage of chemicals), the winds are slowly starting to develop preventing me from working. My only workstation is a few picnic tables in front of my apartment, which is centralized around passing winds >.<!
Soo I realized, when you resin you need to do it outdoors with a mask, and gloves (ditto goes for fiberglassing); however since I have never bondo-ed before, and I am currently at that stage, would it be possible to do it indoors?
I live on my college's campus, and even though, no one has disallowed me from building (and the usage of chemicals), the winds are slowly starting to develop preventing me from working. My only workstation is a few picnic tables in front of my apartment, which is centralized around passing winds >.<!
You may want to look into non toxic methods.
I am at SJSU, and made the mistake of trying this in my dorms like a noob. Bondo is maybe half as noxious as resin, which is still enough to stink up a dorm room. On top of that, you are trapping the fumes in a place you sleep, and they ARE toxic. You can get away with doing bondo in a garage, but not in a living space. The upside to bondo is that it is a lot less finnicky about temperature, and isn't supposed to be load bearing like fiberglass, so you can mix it hot (add more red cream than normal) and it will be dry in maybe half an hour. California is not THAT cold out where it's going to impact it that much, and bondo doesn't take as long as resin to set.
I am at SJSU, and made the mistake of trying this in my dorms like a noob. Bondo is maybe half as noxious as resin, which is still enough to stink up a dorm room. On top of that, you are trapping the fumes in a place you sleep, and they ARE toxic. You can get away with doing bondo in a garage, but not in a living space. The upside to bondo is that it is a lot less finnicky about temperature, and isn't supposed to be load bearing like fiberglass, so you can mix it hot (add more red cream than normal) and it will be dry in maybe half an hour. California is not THAT cold out where it's going to impact it that much, and bondo doesn't take as long as resin to set.
zombieprops
New Member
I try
Also, ALWAYS wear safety glasses when working with it. The catalyst, methyl ethyl ketone peroxide, or mekp for short, is known to cause instant cataracts. So unless you want to go blind in a second, wear the damn things. I actually have one of the respirators that Walter White uses in breaking bad, you know the ones with the visor built in. Sure, every now and then people walking by think I'm making meth. But at least I'm not blind.
zombieprops
New Member
Do yourself a favor, and get some apoxie sculpt. You mix equal parts A+B by volume, it doesn't smell and is meant for being used in doors. You can still sand it and everything, it has way more control than bondo, but it takes 24 hours to fully cure. Which is the only down side, you can even wet your finger or sculpting tool, and smooth it all right down, really minimizing the amount of sanding you have to do.
Another good tip...wash with cold water. It will close the pores and not allow the glass splinters in deeper. Warm water opens the pores and the splinter will go in deeper.
zombieprops
New Member
I completely forgot about that! I tried it before, it worked pretty good to keep the fiberglass splinters still, while I used duck tape to pull them out.
zombieprops
New Member
Duct tape does work...but I kinda have grown to like the hair on my arms.
Haha, honestly, the only place I ever seem to get shards, even though I always wear gloves, is between my fingers. Usually right on the side of my knuckle. So not much hair going on there. As far as the arms goes, nothing is as bad as noticing a spot that has some cured resin or liquid latex, splash on it.
zombieprops
New Member
Like if you used tape to put the helmet together? or if you use spray adhesive? Smooth cast doesn't like to stick to smooth surfaces, so I'm not sure. If you used tape to build your helmet instead of using glue, I wouldn't do it. If the resin bonded to the tape, you're relying on the tapes adhesive to be permanently bonded. If the adhesive weakened over time. On a nice hot day, you could get some pretty ugly bulges from the materials expanding and contracting at different rates.
So, even if i dont use adhesive tape, you recommend me to use polyester resin on the inside before smooth cast? or is smooth cast able to bond to paper?
by the way, i dont use tape, is just the glue i use was the cheapest and doesn't do it's function, so till i get rid of it, i have to tape the outside of the helmet, and maybe before bondo i'm able to remove it.
Also, thanks for the help zombie <3
spartansonny
Member
smooth cast will bond to paper it actually soaks into it. as far as the glue you used goes i always use super glue. some user white craft glue. of the outside of your project is good in structure than yes it should work like you plan. i have never done it this way so i can't promise it will. good luck buddy
Hello! I've finally finished my warrior helmet since ditching it before Xmas. (Inspired by Spartansonny) and I'm wondering what to do next. I've finished the pepakura stage with card stock so now do I resin the outside and what are the options to do on the inside? Hope my question is clear. Thanks.
zombieprops
New Member
It would be fine if you didn't use tape. Smooth cast is very thin and will be slightly absorbed into the paper. Although price wise, I would use fiberglass resin. You get more bang for your buck.
armageddon42388
New Member
Not sure if this is the right place to ask this but...
While sanding during the bondo stage I went down far enough to expose fibers from the cardstock layer. First of all, does that mean I didn't use enough resin for the cardstock to soak up? Also, is there any way to do this short of just bondo-ing over it? I was thinking of using superglue to solidify the fibers and then sand it off, but I was wondering if anyone's done that before before trying it out.
While sanding during the bondo stage I went down far enough to expose fibers from the cardstock layer. First of all, does that mean I didn't use enough resin for the cardstock to soak up? Also, is there any way to do this short of just bondo-ing over it? I was thinking of using superglue to solidify the fibers and then sand it off, but I was wondering if anyone's done that before before trying it out.
zombieprops
New Member
putting super glue on it and sanding it back down, is actually the preferred way to take care of that issue.
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