Winter Building

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Virti

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I understand that most of us live in the colder part of the United States and we all have to deal with a winter that is more severe than most parts of the country. By reading the safety instructions on your choice of resin and Bondo, they will probably say it needs to be a above a certain degree (i.e. 30 or so).

So as a basic topic how does everyone (that does the pepakura method) deal with the cold temperatures?
 
Well I have a second house that my step dad owns next door. I just Pep as much as I can in the late summer and fall, Resin and fiberglass at my step dads house in the winter where nobody will be around (With proper respirator and maybe a window open), and Bondo in the spring and early summer. Though I am curious to see other peoples ways of combating the cold.
 
I've heard that auqua resin products can be used safely indoors.
Other than that, all I know is resin and bondo need heat to set properly. The same applies to paint to a certain extent.
You can always try more developer in the resin or bondo, but then it's going to set up pretty quick.
 
I get around it by using a rubbermaid tub to contain my resined pieces and the smell. Resin/bondo only needs to be in temperatures of 40 degrees or above to cure properly, so it doesn't really need a ton of heat (heat does make it cure faster).

I'll resin outside of the main living space (usually in my garage next to a space heater), then carefully put the piece into the tub and bring it indoors where it's warm. As long as you keep the tub's lid on, there is no smell. The only drawback is that it ruins the tub for any other sort of use as the smell will never come out of the interior. So, it makes a great storage bin for your armor resin/bondo supplies later on.

For larger pieces like a torso, this may not work, unless you can find a tub large enough that you'd be willing to sacrifice for the cause.
 
I get around it by using a rubbermaid tub to contain my resined pieces and the smell. Resin/bondo only needs to be in temperatures of 40 degrees or above to cure properly, so it doesn't really need a ton of heat (heat does make it cure faster).

I'll resin outside of the main living space (usually in my garage next to a space heater), then carefully put the piece into the tub and bring it indoors where it's warm. As long as you keep the tub's lid on, there is no smell. The only drawback is that it ruins the tub for any other sort of use as the smell will never come out of the interior. So, it makes a great storage bin for your armor resin/bondo supplies later on.

For larger pieces like a torso, this may not work, unless you can find a tub large enough that you'd be willing to sacrifice for the cause.

Wonder if those large ones like what you would store armor in could work with the larger parts.

Otherwise I'm liking the feedback, I've tried something last year with a space heater but the -10 + temps kept me out of the garage, and i was kind of thinking this could turn into an idea thread for the cold months
 
I get around it by using a rubbermaid tub to contain my resined pieces and the smell. Resin/bondo only needs to be in temperatures of 40 degrees or above to cure properly, so it doesn't really need a ton of heat (heat does make it cure faster).

I'll resin outside of the main living space (usually in my garage next to a space heater), then carefully put the piece into the tub and bring it indoors where it's warm. As long as you keep the tub's lid on, there is no smell. The only drawback is that it ruins the tub for any other sort of use as the smell will never come out of the interior. So, it makes a great storage bin for your armor resin/bondo supplies later on.

For larger pieces like a torso, this may not work, unless you can find a tub large enough that you'd be willing to sacrifice for the cause.

Be careful of that space heater. Some of the fumes for some resins are flammable.

Make sure if you're going to spray out where its colder that you get the can shook up as best as possible. If you have to soak the can, the whole can, in as hot of water you can get out of the kitchen tap. This will soften up the paint in the can as well as help pressurize it better and make it spray better and more even.

Also most paints and resins in anything below like 60*f are going to "argue" setting correctly. Same thing goes for glue for vinyl stickers or anything with adhesive. You need that heat for the curing agent to either finish it's chemical reaction or to just evaporate off so there will only be dry paint/resin left behind. In a pinch using a heat gun will work, but then you're in the same environment as using the space heater so either way be careful and make sure there is ventilation where ever your spraying/resining.
 
Well I always try to work indoors, in our shop. We heat with wood so it's always about 90+ in the winter, which actually makes it nicer to work than in the summer (stuff dries super fast with no humidity).

But yeah, you always want to warm up your paint before use (if it's cold). And I realized that bondo at 90+ degrees, softens up and applies very smoothly. So heating up your can before use will help out a lot too.
 
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