How To Make A Helmet From Pep To Finish

Trigger said:

Amazing, this is answering so many questions. Keep it up ben these videos are awesome. I have another question though fiberglass is a little lighter but have you noticed any difference in the strength of each? Does one provide more strength than the other?



Oh, and could you maybe show how to do this with another piece of armor? Like the ODST WETA shins I'm working on currently? From watching you I've been thinking I'll just have to paint it on with the brush.

Click to expand...

amancue said:

so to ask another question,..would rondo,bondo or resin jelly be best (easiest) for the outside to shape and smooth? after hardening the inside

Click to expand...

BenStreeper said:

Of those it would be bondo. It is basically a putty that sands very easily. I will be working with it later in the build.

Click to expand...

amancue said:

another thought I was having maybe you can help w/ this one of the pieces I have to work on, is a closed object, and I've

been thinking of many different ways to handle it, Im wondering how well rondo would adhere to a surface already resin'ed

so I cant 'glass it up then do the final stiffening ontop of it,

Click to expand...

amancue said:

another thought is more pains taking, carefully glass the

inside of each piece before I put it together leaving the tabs clean then build it so its stiffer from the inside then

coating the outside

Click to expand...

BenStreeper said:

Rondo uses resin inside of it as a thinning agent. This makes it very adherent to already resined pieces (providing of course you are using the same resin.) As for the "closed objects" : first resin the outside so that the object will not lose its shape/ warp. Next examine your object for a flat spot. EXAMPLE: on an AR you would be looking at the back of the butt, or the bottom of the clip. Then cut about a 2inch hole to pour in the RONDO. Rotocast it in the piece. Then pour in more rondo as needed. Once the piece is "hard" enough (some one out there just said "giggitty") pour in one more small batch of rondo. Once it is in put a piece of packing tape over the hole. Let the rondo harden then simply remove the tape.







This just wont work well.

Click to expand...

amancue said:

my original ideas of putting a small hole in it and measuredly spraying in great stuff PU foam (after glassing the outside of course) the piece in question is the backpack for the Imperial Space Marine (Warhammer 40k)

Click to expand...

BenStreeper said:

I'll tell you this ahead of time. If you are going to use the great stuff you are better off getting Flex-it from Reynolds. Great stuff was responsible for exploding more than one of my helmets in the past It's just not as predictable as Flex-It due to the way it's Chemical Reaction expands. Using Oxygen was smart on their part but will cause problems for anything in a "contained" space........





Poor, poor ODST Rookie helmet v1

I still miss you

Click to expand...

amancue said:

yeah that's what I've heard,.. I used it on my Anti-Material Rifle and it didnt do too bad a job, but had multiple coats of resin on the outside and still had to wait it,.. and occasionly squeeze certain area;s flat while it was still more fluid to keep it nice,. so I was looking to other alternative's so to make sure I understood one of your earlier statements you said rondo would adhere just fine to a resined surface, IE the outside, but you'd still reccomend doing it to the inside instead?

Click to expand...

CrunchbiteNuva said:

I am about to start my first serious strengthening thingy (before, I was really cheap and only made paper helms and painting right on the paper.) and I was reviewing the safety stickies and they say that you're supposed to wear safety goggles? Also, for the respirator, apparently you're supposed to refill the cartridges? How often would they need to be refilled?

Click to expand...

kickback said:

Just for clarification can Fibreglass be used with this method?

Click to expand...

BenStreeper said:

Yes, although the point of this method is to forgo fiberglass

Click to expand...

Neoproks said:

You already answered a fiberglass question above, but this is kind of different.



I have seen someone on the forums rondo something, then place fiberglass cloth onto the semi-wet rondo, then finish with another layer of rondo on top of that. Would there be any benefits to this method over yours? What would the pro/cons of this and your method be?



Thanks for all the great videos man!

Click to expand...

BenStreeper said:

Yes, adding fiber glass to any resin based mixture will make the mixture tuffer. This goes not only for rondo, but also for most Smoothcast Plastics as well. The con of this method is that it would not be as hard as if you did a regular resined fiberglass coat, and then poured rondo on top. In my personal opinion not only is this fiber-glassing into rondo a waste of time, but not necessary at all. If you want to do a light coat of rondo, then add fiberglass with regular resin, then another coat of rondo. That would be much stronger, and cost you less money in the long run.

Click to expand...

amancue said:

got a question for you,..after just having tried my 1st batch of rondo.

did you already cut the bondo in your can, mine would not mix that easily

it was like trying to mix taffy or maybe bread dough, next batch I'll

make a bit more watery too thick

Click to expand...