Duct Tape and Wood Glue?

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Sgt Freezer

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Ok alot of us have pepped quite a few pieces of armour, but hardening has been differant story. Some cannot use or afford resins and fiberglass. So after reading several alternatives aka wood glue and hot glue I was wondering could the wood lue method be combined with a base layer of Duct Tape?
 
There have been a few other ideas about duct tape that ive seen. People have tested them and I dont think any of them have worked out very well. Duct tape IS a great tool, but I dont think it's talents can be applied very well in armor building. Sorry.
 
If you can't use resin, I would skip the duct tape and use just the wood glue and fiberglass cloth method. Where ever resin is used, replace it with the wood glue. But while the duct tape method might work, I would strongly suggest using the fiberglass cloth. It is what really gives the piece strength.
 
But isnt fiberglass cloth more expensive than the resin itself?? That kind of defeats the purpose doesnt it?
 
Ok alot of us have pepped quite a few pieces of armour, but hardening has been differant story. Some cannot use or afford resins and fiberglass. So after reading several alternatives aka wood glue and hot glue I was wondering could the wood lue method be combined with a base layer of Duct Tape?

Don't know where you live, but around here, duck tape is rather expensive actually with a price of around 5 €/m². Since you'd need several layers to give a model at least some strength (duck tape will never make anything "hard", though; it'll prevent rips, but not deformation), polyester resin would probably be cheaper, even if you need to buy the safety gear as well.

If you still want to try tape and glue: Try it on a small piece of paper first, I doubt the glue is going to adhere to the tape very well. Putting it directly onto the paper is probably better.

But isnt fiberglass cloth more expensive than the resin itself?? That kind of defeats the purpose doesnt it?

Yes, but as Spitfire said: The glass (or whatever other fibre you want to use for additional imaginary coolness) is what provides the strength. And depending on which type and how much of it you buy, it's "only" around 2 €/m². Add a few cents for resin and maybe another two Euros for tools, and you're still cheaper off than with duck tape and glue :)
 
But isnt fiberglass cloth more expensive than the resin itself?? That kind of defeats the purpose doesnt it?

It depends on what you get. If you order online, it may not be cost effective to order small amounts like the ones that you'd need to build suits.

However, I will say that I have fiberglassed my entire Mark VI suit and it took a little less that 4 of the Bondo-brand packets of fiberglass sold at stores such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. At about $5 a pack, that's only $20 worth of fiberglass, which I don't think is that bad at all.

For what it's worth, it's my opinion that if one cannot afford even something as basic as $20 worth of fiberglass for a suit, then I think they should either reconsider this hobby (as it does require expenses), wait until they have the ability to fund it, or make their armor out of foam.
 
Hold on, you dont NEED the cloth to glass your peps do you?

If you do it "right", you do need it. Why do you think it's called GLASSing? ;-)

Sure, you can use resin without reinforcement as well, but that would require a lot more material per strength. That means more weight and possibly a higher price as well.
 
That's how composite materials work. Without going into too much of an engineering answer, you have two materials that when combined, form a structure much stronger than either material could be if used alone. Sure the resin dries and harden, but it's still only essentially a brittle plastic at that point. The fiberglass cloth is what gives the piece strength along the plane axes, depending on the type of cloth used (uni-directional, cross-weave, etc). The resin is merely used to adhere the cloth and join the fibers into one piece that is then able to withstand stresses and strains.

So when we say we're "Fiberglassing", it means we're applying fiberglass cloth WITH resin. You may be confused since it's common practice around here to put a layer of ONLY resin on the OUTSIDE of the pieces first just to stiffen them a little, at least enough to withstand the added weight of the fiberglass that is applied INSIDE.
 
iv said this to say many people before, but duct tape is terrible terrible terrible for costuming. I avoid it when ever i can. Out side of costuming is great.

There is no real way to get around using resin for a good costume. Foam is good for the people who cant use it. Anything else you use to harden it is only going to make temporary costume good for only one or two uses.

Ok would it be possible to replace fiberglass with something else?
Not really. Nothing else has that kind of property. Tape will come up from your body heat and woodglue is to flexible alone.
 
That's how composite materials work. Without going into too much of an engineering answer, you have two materials that when combined, form a structure much stronger than either material could be if used alone. Sure the resin dries and harden, but it's still only essentially a brittle plastic at that point. The fiberglass cloth is what gives the piece strength along the plane axes, depending on the type of cloth used (uni-directional, cross-weave, etc). The resin is merely used to adhere the cloth and join the fibers into one piece that is then able to withstand stresses and strains.

So when we say we're "Fiberglassing", it means we're applying fiberglass cloth WITH resin. You may be confused since it's common practice around here to put a layer of ONLY resin on the OUTSIDE of the pieces first just to stiffen them a little, at least enough to withstand the added weight of the fiberglass that is applied INSIDE.
Yep, that answered it.. I feel like an idiot now... Hey by the way, would it be possible for me to resin the outside and then rondo the inside?
 
If you cant do things like fiberglass and resin, i used mixtures of several of the "alternative" methods combined, and it turned out very strong. I used the wood glue, paper mache, and duct tape methods, and put in a little cardboard for extra support. It may seem like a lot of work, but it really isnt. and besides the wood glue, it was pretty much FREE!
 
Ok would making a metal frame for the interior of a helmet or large piece to brace work. And by metal frame I mean a very light metal wire net on the interior.
 
Hold on, you dont NEED the cloth to glass your peps do you?

no you do not need cloth. you can use fiberglass matting as well, which is what i use. you can also use rondo or smoothcast-320 to strengthen your peps. I've tried them all and they work great.
 
no you do not need cloth. you can use fiberglass matting as well, which is what i use. you can also use rondo or smoothcast-320 to strengthen your peps. I've tried them all and they work great.

Ok, Thank god I bought some rondo at home depot along with my resin! Should I put a layer of resin on the outside, and then just rondo on the inside, or resin and rondo inside? (And Sgt freezer, sorry for stealing your thread here!)
 
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