Thats looking really awesome mate! Your going to have one very happy son when it's all done. Just a thought and I haven't read the entire thread so sorry if it's already been mentioned but can he get his head through the hole in the torso or are you going to be halving it?
Luckily as I custom built mine I've been able to make it big enough to not need to have two halves but by looks of things you've built the same torso I did originally and it needed some modification to get my head through and avoid halving it.
Can't wait to see the finished product you've done amazing work so far so congrats
Thank a bunch for the compliments!
I don't know if we'll have to cut it or not right now. To date, we can get it over his head by gently pulling it open a bit. Unfortunately, by the time I get the Collar made out of foam for the sides and everything, it will most likely be too small and need modification. I have a plan of attack if it has to be cut, but I'd really like not to do that. I could always trim some off the insides, but with the way it is now, I don't think it would look right if I wound up doing that. I'll be working on that part tomorrow and we shall see when he gets back home. . . . LOL
Oh, and on the topic of fiberglassing advice, I do not know what your method is, but a lot of people suggest soaking the fiberglass cloth into the resin, then applying it. I would advise against that as it can get very messy, very quickly. What I do, and suggest, is (working in small sections) liberally brush on some resin to the inside of the piece where you want to apply the cloth, set a dry piece of cloth into the resin and use your brush to dab it down, letting the resin soak into the cloth. You can also brush a little more resin over top of the cloth if need be. This way, your fingers (ideally) never touch the resin, so the fiberglass cloth does not start to stick to your fingers and you won't be trying to lay down strips of cloth with strands of fiberglass catching everything. I used to soak the cloth before applying it, but the way I do it now is much easier, cleaner and, as a bonus, quicker.
As far as using the Smoothon product, I've never used it, but from what I hear, many people use it the same way they use fiberglass resin. So, you should be fine. Good luck!
I'm glad I'm not the only one first off that wanted to destroy it before it had a chance. . . LOL.
Thanks for the advise on the reinforcing. I did some today and what I did was coated the outside first. . . :angry Wasn't happy with this. I'll get into that in a minute. . . LOL. After the outside was hard, I sprayed the inside with spray can glue and then put the little squares of fiberglass cloth I had cut out into it. Then, I took the Smooth Cast stuff and and spread it all over the cloth on the inside. It worked out real well for making it hard. I think it's about the same as you're doing, I just didn't want to waste the Smooth Cast stuff trying to mix up batch after batch to coat the inside and then try to put the cloth in. I'll get into that in my post. LOL.
Again, thanks and I appreciate the advise and comments.
Today was a Learning Exprience
I got some of the pieces reinforced today. I did the forearms and biceps. No matter what the instructions for Smooth Cast 321 say. . .. .
IT DOES NOT HAVE A 7 MINUTE POT LIFE AT 73 DEGREES. LOL
I did a forearm first, thinking it was pretty simple.
On the second forearm the pot life of the Smooth Cast was about 5 minutes. Luckily there were only a couple of gobs that could be sanded.
Then . . . . on to the Biceps!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!! AAARRGGHHHHH!!!!!!!! LOL
Neither batch I made had the same pot life. One was like 6 minutes and the other 3 minutes. I know I had equal parts of A & B, because I was measuring it in grams on a digital scale. Anyway. . . The first batch set up so quick on me that there were gobs of stuff all over the place. I didn't even know it. Here I am brushing away and then all of a sudden . . . . stuck brush!!!!! OMG WTC!!!!!!!!!! LOL
This did nothing but upset me. LOL!!!! The second one came out much cleaner. I had busted my bottom trying to get it covered in case the pot life was like the last one, and on that one I had about six minutes and was standing there with nothing else left to coat. SO I put some more on a couple of places on the forearms that needed some touch up.
Second Bicep
Then I did the insides.
Bicep Pics
Forearms
After that I had to do some trimming on the edges to get it cleaned up. I will say this about the Smooth Cast. All it is is plastic and you can trim it easily with an exacto knife. I didn't even have to get out the dremel. . . . LOL
Before Trimming
After Trimming
I still have a few spots that need to be sanded on the outside where bubbles came up and some of those unsightly gobs of junk before I try to put bondo on them. I did sand down that one bicep with all the big puddles or what have you on them, and it looks much better now. I just need to go over a couple of spots by hand. I was using my mouse sander with a finger tip attachment on it, but I don't want to take off too much. I also have a few spots on the inside that need to be sanded down or buffed so there are no sharp edges to poke the little one. I would've been doing that now, but the rain finally came and I'm not sanding inside my house. . . . . LOL. If I had a garage, I'd probably do it there, but I don't have one.
So, let's recap what I've learned today. (1) Don't believe what some company tells you the pot life is of their product is; (2) be ready to fix your mess ups; (3) buy more brushes (You can only use it once with this stuff) and (4) I finally found something that will stick to foil (LMAO). . . . .
I have a feeling there is going to be a lot of #2. LOL.
Anyway. . . Thanks again everyone for the suggestions and feedback. Tomorrow I think I am going to try and tackle reinforcing the torso. This ought to be interesting. Very Interesting Indeed. I need to get some dowels out to try and keep it as square as I can. If I get it done tomorrow, I'll post some pics. Then again, I may just do the thighs and shins. . . They're smaller. LOL
Quick edit rather than double post
Some After thoughts. . . .
Again, need more brushes because once you use it you lose it.
There is no chemical smell!!! A definite plus Vs fiberglass resin.
You can use it indoors. I did all this in my kitchen today. Just make sure you have your drop cloths and everything in place. Even if you spill some of one of the parts, so long as they weren't mixed together. . . . EASY Clean Up. Try saying that with fiberglass resin. . . LOL
It has a quick cure time of 20 minutes and it's ready for more.
It does get warm because of chemical reaction, but not so hot it can't be handled.
Trimming can be done easily with a hobby knife rather than breaking out the dremel for small stuff like with fiberglass.
I'm sure some of my issues above were self-induced to some extent. But I did mix up the same size batch every time with equal parts of the A & B solutions and still got different pot lives out of each batch.:confused
For those that live in Northern areas or other areas abroad where it is cold more times than not, and you can't use resin because of temperature or just don't like it . . . . . I'd highly recommend this stuff to speed up your process. I've worked with fiberglass a lot in the past and greatly loath it. The mess, the need for a respirator and all the other stuff that comes with it. That lead me to finding this stuff I'm using as a replacement for the resins. It works the same way as fiberglass, and I'm not saying it's not messy, but it's not as bad as fiberglass.. . . . . LOL
I'm going to continue to use it and see if I find something that works better while mixing it up and I'll keep y'all posted.
