A Noobs attempt at "unconventional" wisdom

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Immigman

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Things I've learned.

Having used the Pepakura/fiberglass method for the first time this year to create my sons' Halo costumes I thought I would relay some of what I learned as a noob stepping out in his first major Halo build (actually 3 builds). *Much of this information already exists in this forum in one way or another, some of it, to the best of my knowledge does not.

1. *Use more than one coat of resin after you fiberglass. *I can't tell you how many times I sanded through Bondo and the resin under layer only to create a new hole that needed to be filled. *To obtain the ever coveted perfectly smooth finish you crave, you will often sand through the Bondo to the resin layer underneath. Having a sufficiently strong and thick layer of resin there makes the difference between creating an unsightly hole and having a beautifully feathered finish.*

2. *Sometimes minor imperfections are a good thing. When I started I would sand, Bondo, re-sand, Bondo, then glaze, re-sand etc.. until the finish was perfect. Near the end of my build, as Halloween quickly approached, I would overlook minor gouges and scrapes. I discovered that when it came to "battle-damaging"the piece, these imperfections added to the authenticity of the look rather than detracting from it. If had known this I likely would have kept some of the initial imperfections.

3. *Seal your armor. Applying a clear coat or latex sealant really helps to prevent paint chipping through regular wear of the armor.*

4. *Detail sanders ROCK!!! I hand-sanded for weeks before I invested in a small Black and Decker Mighty Mouse detail sander. *Using a sander was not only a time saver but made a huge difference in the overall quality and consistency of the sanding.

5. Rubber body-filler spreader/skimmer ROCKS!! I used this mostly to apply glazing putty. *It gave me a much smoother finish than those plastic Bondo spreaders. *I highly recommend them.

6. *Use rubber car trim on sharp edges. *These are the rubber pieces that you can get for your car door. *They work wonderfully to make sharp armor edges and helmet rims nice and comfortable.

What about everyone else here? Any words of unconventional wisdom to share??
 
6. *Use rubber car trim on sharp edges. *These are the rubber pieces that you can get for your car door. *They work wonderfully to make sharp armor edges and helmet rims nice and comfortable.

What about everyone else here? Any words of unconventional wisdom to share??

I have better option. Go to the plumbing section at Lowe's and buy a roll of sprinkler's tubing. Look for the thin tubing. Split it in the middle and hot glue it to all sharp edges. It makes the pieces more comfortable and more professional.
 
So far on all practice foam pieces I've done: cut the piece a little bit bigger than the pattern, this will give you more room to play with and sanding down the edges won't make your piece suddenly to small! If you are not carefull, you may end up making miniature armor :S

great thread btw, always a good thing to have straight forward tidbits of information :D
 
An Additional thing I learned thus far is not all prep is created equal. When scaling items a Gauntlet for example may not size the same as another forearm piece. If you question the length of an item try printing the largest piece on a normal piece of paper to give you something to reference better. This will save you some time from cutting out a bunch of stuff an getting through assembly only to find out that dang its too big or small.
 
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