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

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Ok, I have this question thats been going through my mind lately,

when you apply fiber glass, how do you do it?
Do you dip the cloth in the resin then put it on?
or do you put the cloth on the pep, then paint it with resin?
or do you paint the pep with resin then apply the cloth?

wats the best method to do?
 
Ok, I have this question thats been going through my mind lately,

when you apply fiber glass, how do you do it?
Do you dip the cloth in the resin then put it on?
or do you put the cloth on the pep, then paint it with resin?
or do you paint the pep with resin then apply the cloth?

wats the best method to do?

Easiest way to do it is lay down a little resin, lay the fiberglass on, and then dabble more resin on top of it. Easiest way is with a paint brush, and push the glass into the nooks and crannies. You can lay down as many layers of glass as you want without having to wait for the resin to dry.
 
I have a couple questions. Do you have to do fiberglass, resin, and bondo or will bondo be sufficient enough to make it work? What would anyone recommend for someone who is low on money yet owns some bondo? If I have any more questions I will ask.
 
I have a couple questions. Do you have to do fiberglass, resin, and bondo or will bondo be sufficient enough to make it work? What would anyone recommend for someone who is low on money yet owns some bondo? If I have any more questions I will ask.

If you have a surplus of Bondo, you can harden your pep files with Rondo. Just mix up resin and bondo (about 1:2 resin:bondo ratio), and then pour it around your pep file. It should have the consistency of melted chocolate ice cream.

The armor will be heavier that fiberglassed, but it's VERY fast and very easy.
 
If you have a surplus of Bondo, you can harden your pep files with Rondo. Just mix up resin and bondo (about 1:2 resin:bondo ratio), and then pour it around your pep file. It should have the consistency of melted chocolate ice cream.

The armor will be heavier that fiberglassed, but it's VERY fast and very easy.

How heavy would you say that it would be compared to just fiberglassing?
 
I have just finished putting bondo on my recon helmet, but at the top of the visor there is a crack. Do any of you have some suggestions on what i should do to fix this problem
 
is the answer really that simple what would i do if it cracked again

If it cracks again in the same spot you need to look for the cause of the crack, ie is the area flexing. It could be that you don't have enough layers of fiberglass and the flex is causing the crack.
 
DEFINITELY, if it breaks again you need to tie the parts together and the fiberglass and resin will build the bridge from the unbroken to the broken parts and lock them together. I Resined the outside of the PEP, Rondo slush casted the inside, shaped the top with just bondo and then painted rondo over all the whole outside. It is heavy though. I will cut the details without having to worry about putting a hole in it though.
 
So would you suggest I use fiberglass alone or Rondo?[/QUOTE]

I do a combination of Rondo and fiberglass. After resining my piece, I slush the inside with a thin layer of Rondo. This helps reinforce the piece for the fiberglass, plus it adds a little more material in case I have a spot where I need to sand deep. Then I do 3-5 layers of fiberglass all at once, and then slush over it with another coat of Rondo. This makes the inside nice and smooth, and you don't have fiberglass shards poking you.

You can do whatever you want to harden your pieces. Some people here are strictly Rondo, others use strictly fiberglass, some do a combination.
 
I really don't know what to do. Everyone here is saying "fiberglass only the inside and resin the outside". However, I'm using this: http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/1572-Resining-amp-Fibre-Glassing-Tutorial-How-To, does it mean resin, or fiberglass? The guide uses fiberglass resin, so should I go ahead and apply to the outside, because it's labeled "resin", or should I only do the inside, because it's "fiberglass"?

Fiberglass resin is the stuff you buy in a can. It's liquid and it stinks. This gets applied to the outside of the piece to stiffen it up. It is also used to apply and harden the fiberglass itself.

Fiberglass is the dry material. It either comes in a cloth (it feels, looks, acts like cloth), or mat (loose fibers).

You will be applying fiberglass resin to both the outside and inside of the piece. The fiberglass (not the fiberglass resin) is applied only on the inside.
 
yo, i'm new here.
i've been reading through the fourms and haven't found any information on how to resin/bodo/fiberglass/etc. weapons
help's always appreciated
 
@Hickeydog, your recent posts in this thread have been really really helpful. I've kinda been looking through the whole site about what you have recently said, but didnt manage to find anything.

I do a combination of Rondo and fiberglass. After resining my piece, I slush the inside with a thin layer of Rondo. This helps reinforce the piece for the fiberglass, plus it adds a little more material in case I have a spot where I need to sand deep. Then I do 3-5 layers of fiberglass all at once, and then slush over it with another coat of Rondo. This makes the inside nice and smooth, and you don't have fiberglass shards poking you.

You can do whatever you want to harden your pieces. Some people here are strictly Rondo, others use strictly fiberglass, some do a combination.

My question(s) is/are just for clarification.
-You use Fiberglass Resin on the outside, followed later by Bondo. Can you use Rondo instead of Bondo on the outmost layer below the paint?
-Rondo is made by 1 Parts Resin, and 2 Parts Bondo, is this correct? Also, the resin you mix with it, is it still Fiberglass Resin or some other kind of resin?
-When doing the layers on the inside of the helmet, I have heard that people use Fiberglass Resin with Fiberglass Cloth. I am interested in the strength given by the cloth, and with that, could I use Rondo(made from fiberglass resin) in place of the resin that is used with the cloth? And with this, would Rondoing the cloth be more benefitial than just Resining the cloth?

-Lastly, just curious, I understand that Resin melts tape. If you only have Scotch Tape for instance on the inside, and you are Resining the outside of the helmet/piece, would it still cause the tape on the opposite side of the paper to melt although it is not directly contacting the resin?
 
@Hickeydog, your recent posts in this thread have been really really helpful. I've kinda been looking through the whole site about what you have recently said, but didnt manage to find anything.



My question(s) is/are just for clarification.
-You use Fiberglass Resin on the outside, followed later by Bondo. Can you use Rondo instead of Bondo on the outmost layer below the paint?
-Rondo is made by 1 Parts Resin, and 2 Parts Bondo, is this correct? Also, the resin you mix with it, is it still Fiberglass Resin or some other kind of resin?
-When doing the layers on the inside of the helmet, I have heard that people use Fiberglass Resin with Fiberglass Cloth. I am interested in the strength given by the cloth, and with that, could I use Rondo(made from fiberglass resin) in place of the resin that is used with the cloth? And with this, would Rondoing the cloth be more benefitial than just Resining the cloth?

-Lastly, just curious, I understand that Resin melts tape. If you only have Scotch Tape for instance on the inside, and you are Resining the outside of the helmet/piece, would it still cause the tape on the opposite side of the paper to melt although it is not directly contacting the resin?

1) I use Rondo for everything now. It's much easier to work with than strait up Bondo. For the outside, I mix up a thin batch of Rondo, and sand it, add some more, sand it, add more, sand it. I found that using thin rondo eliminates air bubbles that form in thicker Rondo or strait up Bondo.

2) I mix with fiberglass resin. I don't do a specific measurement (actually, I think I may have my ratios off. More like a 1:3 or 1:4 resin:Bondo ratio). But you get the point. I mix it up for the application I want. In some cases, I want a nice thick layer, so I don't add as much resin. In other cases, I want it thin (like for finishing up the outside), so I add more resin. You get the feel for how much resin you want in the mixture fairly quickly. Disposable cups are a wonderful thing. Buy a pack of 100 at Target for $5, and you're set for a while, and use some cheap, thin dowel rods to mix it up. You don't have to add the hardener for the resin, but you MUST use the Bondo hardener. I use both. BenStreeper has a video that details the making of a helmet, from pep to finish, and that's where I got a lot of my information on Rondo. You can find it here.

3) One layer of cloth isn't all that strong. It's most definitely stronger than just resin card stock, but it's not enough for a suit to last more than one trip out. My first suit only had one layer of fiberglass and it held up long enough for Reach. But, the strength increases greatly with each additional layer up to about 5 to 7 layers. I tried using Rondo in place of the resin, and it doesn't work too well. The cloth has a tendency to stick to you more than it sticks to the armor. I will do all my fiberglassing at once (throw on 3 to 5 layers), and then cover it with a coat of Rondo. I use less hardener than usual in the resin so it stays liquid and takes Rondo better.

4) You might get away with it, but I wouldn't count on the piece holding together. If suppose if you did a REALLY thin first layer of resin (so it doesn't soak through the paper), you'd probably get away with it, but I wouldn't count on the piece staying together.

The use of both Rondo and fiberglass is something that hasn't come up a whole lot. I had some supplies left over from my first suit, and I thought "hmm...I wonder what would happen if"..... I'm really happy with the results. Rondo rocks for both shaping and hardening pieces. Sigma LS was the one who gave me the idea to use Rondo for detailing pieces. I mix my Rondo up a little thicker than he did, so I don't get as much drippage.
 
1) I use Rondo for everything now. It's much easier to work with than strait up Rondo.

3) One layer of cloth isn't all that strong. It's most definitely stronger than just resin card stock, but it's not enough for a suit to last more than one trip out. My first suit only had one layer of fiberglass and it held up long enough for Reach. But, the strength increases greatly with each additional layer up to about 5 to 7 layers. I tried using Rondo in place of the resin, and it doesn't work too well. The cloth has a tendency to stick to you more than it sticks to the armor. I will do all my fiberglassing at once (throw on 3 to 5 layers), and then cover it with a coat of Rondo. I use less hardener than usual in the resin so it stays liquid and takes Rondo better.

"I use Rondo for everything now. It's much easier to work with than strait up Rondo." Do I sense a typo? Cuz using Rondo instead of Rondo doesnt quite make sense.....

When you do your fiberglassing, do you have anything between the layers, or is what you are saying is that you basically hold 5 piecing of cloth together, put them all in at the same time, and then Rondo through all 5 layers? Just trying to understand if that if you did it all at the same time how the cloth would stay in the spot you want while Rondoing it. I havent worked with fiberglass beyond fiberglass rods, so I'm curious.

I also thank you for the long response :)
 
"I use Rondo for everything now. It's much easier to work with than strait up Rondo." Do I sense a typo? Cuz using Rondo instead of Rondo doesnt quite make sense.....

When you do your fiberglassing, do you have anything between the layers, or is what you are saying is that you basically hold 5 piecing of cloth together, put them all in at the same time, and then Rondo through all 5 layers? Just trying to understand if that if you did it all at the same time how the cloth would stay in the spot you want while Rondoing it. I havent worked with fiberglass beyond fiberglass rods, so I'm curious.

I also thank you for the long response :)

Yeah. Your typo sensor is working properly. I meant to say Bondo. This is what happens when you are dealing with a disaster (totally unrelated to the 405th).

I lay down resin to keep the glass in place, do one layer of glass (overlapping the edges of the pieces, lay down another layer of glass, apply more resin, apply glass, apply resin. It's easiest to apply the resin as you lay the piece of fiberglass down. The resin holds the glass in place while I apply more glass or the Rondo.
 
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