"Help!" for: Fiberglassing, Resin, & Bondo

[jongrnlMK2]

I'm taking a little different approach to this since I live in an apartment. I'm really trying to avoid anything toxic so I decided to go with a combination of expandable foam and the hot glue method. What I need help on is finding a suitable substitute for the Bondo. My current ideas are plaster, spackle and wood filler. Would any of these work or am I completely off base here...

 

[CoolC]

Yea I understand its expensive lol. Good thing I have a job operating go-karts lol!

Once again CoolC, you have been a big help.. I now consider you my mentor lol

You are welcome. You can PM me if you have questions. I'm not an expert in every subject but I'll try to help if I could.

I'm taking a little different approach to this since I live in an apartment. I'm really trying to avoid anything toxic so I decided to go with a combination of expandable foam and the hot glue method. What I need help on is finding a suitable substitute for the Bondo. My current ideas are plaster, spackle and wood filler. Would any of these work or am I completely off base here...

You can try your ideas, but the question is how durable you want your armor to be. Instead of using toxic materials you may want to try building your armor using EVA foam. It is much cheaper and no bondo is involved. If you opt to go with a hardened helmet, you may need to use resin/bondo though. Search the noob forum for some of the amazing foam build. For inspiration, check this thread. http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/33294-2-weeks-challenge-JFO-foam-suit

 

[jongrnlMK2]

You can try your ideas, but the question is how durable you want your armor to be. Instead of using toxic materials you may want to try building your armor using EVA foam. It is much cheaper and no bondo is involved. If you opt to go with a hardened helmet, you may need to use resin/bondo though. Search the noob forum for some of the amazing foam build. For inspiration, check this thread. http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/...-JFO-foam-suit

Thanks for the advice. I've been reading up on that but haven't really gotten a good feal for it yet, but the best way to learn is to just do it right? I'm working on a shotgun for a birthday party right now but when thats done I might have to try the foam build. I'm all about cheaper. Thanks for the advice!

 

[burn1ngskull]

The "my doctor said" type of allergy or the "my skin got red" type of allergy? Itching or reddening after skin contact are not unusual and I don't think they are allergies, just as it's not an allergy if you scratch yourself with sandpaper until your skin is red and swollen.
If you mean something else, especially something that has to do with breathing, talk to a doctor. It's probably related to particles in general then and not just fibreglass particles and that may rule out a lot of other materials and activities as well. You should also get a doctor's advice about which respirators are safe to use for you if you have any respiratory conditions.

You can use cotton as a replacement. Results are not as good as with glass, but it works. Cutting up large quantities of that is dusty as well though and might lead to some sort of asthma attack, too, which brings us back to tip #1: When in doubt, see a doctor.

Also, go easy on the people who're trying to help you here. Understanding the full spectrum of what your posts might mean is not exactly easy considering how stingy you are with punctuation marks and capitalisation.

sorry, wasn't trying to be rude.

 

[Spacemeat]

I'm taking a little different approach to this since I live in an apartment. I'm really trying to avoid anything toxic so I decided to go with a combination of expandable foam and the hot glue method. What I need help on is finding a suitable substitute for the Bondo. My current ideas are plaster, spackle and wood filler. Would any of these work or am I completely off base here...

My experience with the spackle is that it's very weak and easily crackable. It comes in useful when filling in seams and imperfections on the foam, but I wouldn't use it as a hardening material.

You many want to consider the foam route as it requires less toxic materials. Though plastidip gives off a pretty strong solvent odor and you'll need proper ventilation. My question though, is what are you going to do when you have to paint? The paint fumes from spay paint still require a respirator.

 

[jongrnlMK2]

My experience with the spackle is that it's very weak and easily crackable. It comes in useful when filling in seams and imperfections on the foam, but I wouldn't use it as a hardening material.

You many want to consider the foam route as it requires less toxic materials. Though plastidip gives off a pretty strong solvent odor and you'll need proper ventilation. My question though, is what are you going to do when you have to paint? The paint fumes from spay paint still require a respirator.

Paint to me is ok. I don't have a problem going to an unused parking lot and spending a day just painting but Ijust don't have a good set up for fiber glass.

 

[Darkrider9]

Is there a tutorial around for spot putty? I need to use some and just need to know how to apply it and whether to hand sand or use the mouse for it.

 

[Satchmo III]

Is there a tutorial around for spot putty? I need to use some and just need to know how to apply it and whether to hand sand or use the mouse for it.

I haven't seen a tutorial around but I know, at least with 3M brand stuff, there are pretty good instructions on the back of the packaging for best uses. I believe they recommend light hand-sanding with 250 or 400 grit paper. Spot putty should really only be used to fill in (smaller) recesses or divots...if you were to sand vigorously or with much pressure you very well might sand below the line of the recess you were trying to fill.

 

[IPv6 Subnet]

Im pretty new to this and i was wandering if when fiberglassing inside if i could glue the fiberglass strands so it would stay with a glue stick or a glue gun or would it mess it all up when resining because i tried putting in fiberglass cloth and it kept sticking onto my gloves and wouldnt stay in place.

 

[Satchmo III]

Im pretty new to this and i was wandering if when fiberglassing inside if i could glue the fiberglass strands so it would stay with a glue stick or a glue gun or would it mess it all up when resining because i tried putting in fiberglass cloth and it kept sticking onto my gloves and wouldnt stay in place.

You could but it seems like a lot of unnecessary work to me.

Are you using mat fiberglass (the sheets of randomly-orientated fibers) or mesh fiberglass (the interwoven cloth type)?

If you are using the mat (which is what I typically use) and are encountering issues with the fibers staying down or separating you might try the following...

1) Apply resin to the surface to be glassed.
2) Place a strip of fiberglass atop the resin.
3) Apply more resin to the fiberglass with a brush using a dabbing motion (don't brush it on) until the fiberglass is fully saturated and adhered to the surface. If brushed the fibers will pull apart.

Hope that helps. Good luck with your build.

 

[IPv6 Subnet]

Fiberglass cloth which is in strands and thanks that helped alot.

 

[Coyote]

Im pretty new to this and i was wandering if when fiberglassing inside if i could glue the fiberglass strands so it would stay with a glue stick or a glue gun or would it mess it all up when resining because i tried putting in fiberglass cloth and it kept sticking onto my gloves and wouldnt stay in place.

An alternative, what i do is use spray adhesive instead of glue stick or glue gun. I spray inside of the model then stick the fibreglass cloth onto it and it holds it all in place. Doesnt work for overlapping bits of cloth so you could spray onto the actual cloth instead if you wanted. All i have is a repositionable craft spray but permanent would work too and may even be better. I have the problem of it sticking to my gloves too due to resin all over them so i ordered a box of 100 disposable gloves so i can change them if covered in resin before applying to the fibreglass

You could just put resin in the model first then stick the cloth onto that but i find the spray helps to position it all properly first. Saturate the cloth first by dabbing the resin on before brushing it or it will come apart and end up sticking all over you

 

[Ricardo D]

Hey... Just thinking about make a Dead Space helm of cardboard and just dunno the other steps. I mean... Inside... do i fiberglass it?? And outside? Bondo??

Tks a lot.

 

[ventrue]

Im pretty new to this and i was wandering if when fiberglassing inside if i could glue the fiberglass strands so it would stay with a glue stick or a glue gun or would it mess it all up when resining because i tried putting in fiberglass cloth and it kept sticking onto my gloves and wouldnt stay in place.

Yes, you can use small amounts of glue to glue the fibreglass down before adding the resin, but it's important not to use too much. One drop per corner is ok, soaking the whole cloth piece in liquid glue is not, doing so would mess up the whole process.

 

[Reesy]

Another quick question... Im using fiberglass cloth and bondo. And im almost done with my MJOLNIR Mk. VI shin guards. When I connect the last couple pieces, harden it and put a coat of bondo on it, how am I to apply the fiberglass cloth with my resin? Will I have to rotate the piece while I apply my resin? Or will the cloth fall off while I am applying the opposite end of the shin guards?

 

[rorybrimstone]

Help!!

I hope you forgive me for not reading the 108 pages of this topic, but i have a question to which i can't really find an answer, certainly not to the detail i wanted. Whilst i'm not an armour builder yet i do make paper models, and coming across this site as a halo fan i have admiration of a lot of the work here. I wanted to know just how strong the resin process makes a piece of cardstock or paper. By that i mean just the resin coating process, not the resin fibreglass internal strengthening. So how stiff and sturdy is a piece that's been coated a couple of times on the outside and once or twice on the inside. I can find many videos on you tube and tutorials on here that seem to combine both stages in one and dont really have a rundown of the strength of the piece before fibreglassing. if anybody knows of a video, or could make a video showing the strength that would be really helpfull. If it also helps for anybody that understands what i'm intending to do, i intend to make some warhammer 40k titan models using cardstock reinforced with resin, but need to know how suitable it is, i don't have much cash to just try every possible idea out.

As well as that i wanted to know if these two products would be suitable for resin work, the first as a starter kit, the second as a top up of resin to continue using once i grasp the materials use. i know that most people on the site use the bondo branded resin and wondered how the important material specs compare, and not having used either, they don't mean anything to me.

Starter kit:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fibreglas...cessories_SM&hash=item4a9d9ab5cc#ht_520wt_698

'Refill' kit
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CrayValle...essories_SM&hash=item35b455267c#ht_1977wt_698

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated, thanks

 

[ventrue]

Or will the cloth fall off while I am applying the opposite end of the shin guards?

I doubt it.

So how stiff and sturdy is a piece that's been coated a couple of times on the outside and once or twice on the inside.

Plain resin isn't supposed to make the models super strong. You will notice some strengthening in areas where it pools up, e.g. around concave folds, but a flat piece of paper will stay very flexible. It'll just feel more like plastic afterwards and be harder to rip apart.

 

[KEO]

Good thing i needed bondo anyhow! im going to check walmart now for aqua resin.

But that all purpose body filler came with hardener. So should i make rondo?
All i really know about rondo is that alot of people use it. What is it good for as supposed to just applying bondo then fiberglass cloth with resin?

Hardener does exactly that, it hardens the bondo. Bondo is essentially Polyester Resin(aka fiberglass resin) with a filler to make it thicker(filler being predominantly talc from what I've read). If u wish to make Rondo then what u do is add polyester resin to dilute the putty. If u were intending on using bondo and aqua resin together it would likely b even less successful than mixing oil-based and latex paint. Check out the tut vids by BenStreeper on youtube: iceagonakilya, or go to his pep to finish thread through the link in my sig. I can't stress enough how informative and demonstrative they are

 

[IPv6 Subnet]

Ok thanks that helped alot, I have another qeustion can you put a lower amout of catalyst to the fiberglass resin so it will cure slower, or would it mess up, because I only have 5 brushes right now to put on the fiberglass resin.

 

[CoolC]

Ok thanks that helped alot, I have another qeustion can you put a lower amout of catalyst to the fiberglass resin so it will cure slower, or would it mess up, because I only have 5 brushes right now to put on the fiberglass resin.

Go with the recommended amount. I would not lower the amount because you may run the risk that the resin will never cure at all. I suggest that you go to Harbor Freight Tools and snatch some disposable/cheap brushes.