Fibreglassing: My Way

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Mustard Chef

Jr Member
If you need advice on fiberglassing, well I think I can help. I want you all to know that I am 14 even though my profile says otherwise my mother wouldnt allow me to put my real age, but because I'm 14 I realize this way may be lazy and its not the way the better builders do it. But this way works for me and im happy with it.

Whenever I fiberglass I start out with an outside basecoat that has the exact ratio of hardener to resin. I apply it to the outside and let it sit for a couple hours after that I do the same process over again. once I have two coats (this is were it gets messy) I mix up a large batch with about 1 1/2 times as much as your suppose to use. This makes it dry much faster and I slush it around on the inside of the helmet trying to cover everything evenly.

Everything should be nice and hard (thats what she said) and it should be just as detailed as before, and hopefully it did not warp.

The only thing I'd watch out for though is the smell. The smell of fibreglass when your wearing the helmet is pretty bad, but that can be conquered by a couple buckets of frebreeze.

I actually am encouraging you to share your knowledge. I WANT YOU! THE READER to post on your fibreglassing tips and methods below.
 
I see you're misusing a name commonly associated with the cloth you saturate Polyester Resin with.
Resin is the Liquid, Fiberglass is the cloth.


Anyway, you seem to have done the right steps, but I am worried with the ratio you mix the resin and hardener. The hardener should only be 2-4% of the volume, not a 1:1 ratio.
 
yikes.... wonder what kind of heat that resin put off as it cured if you used as much resin as you used hardener!! did you squirt an entire bottle of hardener in to your cup??
Usually the directions say something like 12 drops of hardener to 1oz of resin and it usually works just fine if its not too cold of an environment, unless you're doing the rondo method, then i squirt a ton of hardener in to the mix.
What I do when fiberglassing the inside is cut the fiberglass in to good sized strips, brush a layer of resin on to the piece so the fiberglass will stick, put the fiberglass on the resin, then soak the fiberglass with resin.
I actually prefer fiberglass mat compared to the cloth. Seems to give more strength per layer and doesn't bunch up as much as the cloth if you use enough resin.
 
No but yeah it does put off some heat. I typed my ratio wrong. I usually put instead of 12-114 drops. I put in like 30. So double the hardener.
 
Mustard Chef, please tell me you are using the correct safety gear when you are fiberglassing??? If not, you are doing permanant damage to yourself.

Also the fiberglass smell you can smell has the same effect so after you have fiberglassed anything (fiberglass, bondo or rondo etc) you have to let it outgas for a while so you arent breathing in the fumes. Frebreeze covers the smell, not the damage it does.

I would suggest to anyone starting out in (Or anyone who doesnt know) fiberglassing that they read through and understand the risks involved:

http://www.405th.com/showthread.php/7551-The-Complete-Respirator-And-Safety-Guide
 
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