Duct Tape And Fiberglass

Zaknal · Feb 19, 2009

Howdy do, folks!
Alright, so over the last couple days, I've been playing with various pieces of recycled paper, and managed to fashion a staff much like saruman's from the lord of the rings movies. Gluing seemed too impractical for working with the paper, so I used duct tape

Now, here's my question: Does fiberglassing work on duct tape? I've read that it doesn't exactly agree with regular scotch tape, so I wasn't exactly sure. If it doesn't, care to offer any suggestions for hardening the paper into a fiberglass-esque state or so? I fully realize that it isn't exactly halo-related, but the papercraft is, isn't it? haha I'll post pictures later tonight hopefully.

Spartan857 · Feb 19, 2009

I believe the resin will eat the glue away and possibly kill all the work you put into it. what you could do is buy some shellac spray hardener (used for sealing wood and paper) then re-inforce it with something then use plaster of paris (less water will help with warpage issues).

Note, my knowledge on this stuff is rather small, but hey it might work, but I believe the resin would dissolve the duct tape glue.

box o crayons · Feb 19, 2009

it wont dissolve the duct tape it will shrivel it and not stick very well

CPU64 · Feb 19, 2009

Basic rule with fiberglass. If you want it to hold onto something it needs to soak in. tape doesn't soak anything.
Resin works with fiberglass, cloth, nylons (the stuff that makes them ladies legs look even nicer) spandex, glass tape used in drywall joints, tennis racket grip tape....

It does NOT work with duct tape, masking tape, scotch tape, packing tape, cassette tape, VHS tape...

Get the idea?

Da G33k · Feb 19, 2009

CPU64 said:
It does NOT work with duct tape, masking tape, scotch tape, packing tape, cassette tape, VHS tape...

Get the idea?

Ha ha. That's pretty funny!

Yttrium · Feb 19, 2009

I'll go a bit against the crowd and say, sure you can probably use duct tape without much problem. While it's true that resin will chew through the tape, it's also true the resin is hardening even before you put it on the tape. If the resin hardens before it can chew through the tape, then there's no problem. I made a lot of pieces with double sided scotch tape and packing tape without any problems, so duct tape can be used.

If you are applying resin to duct tape, I would suggest you work in a somewhat warm environment +75 F so that the resin hardens faster. Personally, I use a space heater.

CPU64 · Feb 19, 2009

Yttrium said:
If you are applying resin to duct tape, I would suggest you work in a somewhat warm environment +75 F so that the resin hardens faster. Personally, I use a space heater.

You're just forgetting that there will be no bond between the resin and the pep work, which could result in separation and a squishy armor. Sort of like covering with aluminum foil, sure you can resin over it, but you'll not resin the actual cardboard under the foil.. So there's some structural fail.
Even if you resin both sides, the duct tape will still separate in the inside.

Rhith · Feb 19, 2009

Pictures of what you're working with will be very helpful in this situation. And you could always attempt to try and do something like papermache around it first.

Yttrium · Feb 20, 2009

CPU64 said:
You're just forgetting that there will be no bond between the resin and the pep work, which could result in separation and a squishy armor. Sort of like covering with aluminum foil, sure you can resin over it, but you'll not resin the actual cardboard under the foil.. So there's some structural fail.
Even if you resin both sides, the duct tape will still separate in the inside.

The pepakura work provides hardly any structural support after the fiberglass has been applied. It is essentially just a one time mold to hold the fiberglass and resin in place until they dry. For example, in the smoothing tutorial, the most of the original paper is removed in the first sanding step.

Smoothing Tutorial

CPU64 · Feb 20, 2009

Yttrium said:
The pepakura work provides hardly any structural support after the fiberglass has been applied. It is essentially just a one time mold to hold the fiberglass and resin in place until they dry. For example, in the smoothing tutorial, the most of the original paper is removed in the first sanding step.

I know it doesn't provide any support after fiberglass has been applied. But in many cases people will resin both sides of a pep object. Its one thing to sand resined paper that has become solid, and another is to sand gooey duct tape that has been sandwiched between layers of solid resin.

hlomaster55 · Feb 20, 2009

Put it this way, resin eats most thin plastics. If you want the best bond use glue(hot, or school, it doesn't matter). CPU64 is correct, resin will turn the tape into a gooy mess, but if you use a fiberglass mat, then the mat may hold everything together, but it will be mushy.

If you really want good armor when you're all done, use the hot or school glue. I used tape on my first try, and it fell apart as soon as I started to apply the mat. It was a waste of fiberglass and resin.(the $hit isn't cheap!) not to mention a waste of TIME. It's you're pep, do with it what you will, just remember this thread.

BFDesigns · Feb 20, 2009

Zaknal said:
Howdy do, folks!
Alright, so over the last couple days, I've been playing with various pieces of recycled paper, and managed to fashion a staff much like saruman's from the lord of the rings movies. Gluing seemed too impractical for working with the paper, so I used duct tape Now, here's my question: Does fiberglassing work on duct tape? I've read that it doesn't exactly agree with regular scotch tape, so I wasn't exactly sure. If it doesn't, care to offer any suggestions for hardening the paper into a fiberglass-esque state or so? I fully realize that it isn't exactly halo-related, but the papercraft is, isn't it? haha I'll post pictures later tonight hopefully.

Does it work over duct tape?

In short, NO.

The only thing I can think of working is to soak strips of matting in resin and "paper mache" them on and then sand the whole thing down and bondo any low spots. Straight resin will not work over the top of the tape and it will make the paper even more fragile than the paper itself.

Duct Tape And Fiberglass

Zaknal

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Spartan857

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box o crayons

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CPU64

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Da G33k

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Yttrium

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CPU64

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Rhith

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Yttrium

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CPU64

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hlomaster55

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BFDesigns

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