B1TMAP's Mark V Build - Pepped/Mixed Materials (Jorge Based).

[vshore100]

Great build so far, keep up the good work. One quick question tho, one of the other posters mentioned that spray adhesive can be an unreliable way to adhere the fiberglass cloth during hardening, but don't you fully penetrate the cloth with the resin or rondo so it is still the resin adhering to the inside of the piece, not the spray glue any more?
Sorry if the question is a little bit confusing, but that is how I plan on hardening my kit when it gets to that point.

That's what I did on my MK. VI torso. Just don't use a ton of the glue. Very lightly spray some on the piece, just enough to hold it, and lay your cloth or mat on. Yes, the resin will soak through the cloth and make contact with the part you are working on, adhering to it.

 

[B1TMAP]

That makes sense, however I am thinking I'll use resin to tack the fibreglass in, (soak the pieces in resin, stick in or something) then as that is curing just put rondo onto it. I hope to try and do that tomorrow. Will be tricky though, it is Canada Day!

 

[Erikm1811]

OK, thanks for confirming that practice Vshore. I know I read about it somewhere, but when someone in this thread said it will come loose after a while, I got nervous.

 

[Starvinartist80]

OK, thanks for confirming that practice Vshore. I know I read about it somewhere, but when someone in this thread said it will come loose after a while, I got nervous.

The confusion was on my part. I read into the post a little too much and missed that he was only using the adhesive to tack in the fibers until he resined. Sorry for confusing everyone. VShore's experience definately trumps my poor reading skills here. thanks, for clearing it up man.

 

[B1TMAP]

Soo, the spray glue + Rondo was a failure, but I saved it by just pouring straight resin in and sticking the glass down that way. Rondo will go after.

My Rondo was too heavy and pulled the glass away from the paper before it fully soaked through. Not a catastrophe, I saw it start to happen and stopped it right away.

Here's a picture, remember always wear a respirator. I like to wear one that protects my eyes as well as my lungs. Yeah maybe I went too far with it, oh well!

 

[B1TMAP]

It's on pretty thick because it is curing too fast. Not pictured is that I've now taken rondo and painted it on the front/jaw and the did up the remainder of the rear, so its done, just waiting for it to cure completely. I am definitely going to switch to smooth-cast in the future though.

 

[B1TMAP]

Photo Pr0n

Ok, here is a picture heavy update, Lots of just the same thing, but I'm pumped, I have bondo on there now, started a rough sand. I am definitely needing to build up a bit on one side in the back, and the opposite side in the front. I was looking at the helmet in game today (while pwning newbs of course) and see where I am going to need to build up some details as well as where the model in-game and this differ. I am not going to worry about being too faithful, I want to go with what looks "right", and have people look at it and go "oh thats [that] helmet".

I also don't have any photos, but the pep completely failed at the very bottom ring around the jaw, and then the fibreglass failed even more there. So I will be building up that area with Body filler instead, since I plan to use this helmet as the mold anyhow I'm not TOO worried.

 

[B1TMAP]

wow, i'm glad I came back to see this thread, the helmet is so much more smooth now! It has been raining pretty nasty this week, so I have had no time to work on it, however tonight I said screw it and went and sanded in my shed!

 

[B1TMAP]

awe, still no new comments? no worries, MORE PROGRESS!~

Today I decided that the top section that you can see ripping open, needed to be fixed. I had planned to put resin and bondo under it, however realized that was going to be difficult, I also realized that the paper was coming off. I tore at it a little and quickly found that the fibreglass matting under it had not even absorbed any resin when I had fibreglassed the helmet. So I took the dremel and removed the paper from the area. I then put a very water rondo solution in to harden up the glass.

After the rondo had cured for a few hours I put some normal body filler on it, sadly I have now realized that it was quite thick and will likely require a few days to dry.

At the same time I went and removed a section on the back, I noticed a detail on the in-game helmet where this panel was the black material instead of the coloured material. So I removed the paper and found that the same thing as what happened on the top had also happened in part here, the fibreglass had absorbed resin, but separated from the paper. I took advantage of this and applied bondo to the fibreglass itself, so that I can inset this detail.

I have learned so much from this piece that the next pieces are going to be done differently in the fibreglass stage, and I will be able to avoid a lot of these issues, as well as have an easier time building the part.

Here are some pictures!


Always be safe, wear a respirator, or a Gas mask with proper filters works too!


Redone top brim, this will sand out really nicely, and I will finally be nearly done this area!


Front chin, not really building anything up, just smoothing it out.


Inset rear detail, this will be sunk about a mm, and reflect a detail seen in game. This will also resolve the highpoint I was having to deal with, I can finally make it nice and round!

I'm considering cutting out the detail area below this as well and building that up with different materials. I havn't though it through yet so I will wait. Anyone have suggestions?

 

[thorn696]

Moving along nicely. Question? What filers do you have in the gas mask? I know that the training filters don't work with Organic materials. Just a heads up.

Great work on the helmet tho.I'm looking forward to seeing you're next update.

 

[Matronoke]

Wow awesome work so far!

 

[B1TMAP]

NCB filters, I wasn't sure they'd do anything, but I tried it out and it has successfully blocked all fumes. No more getting stoned while bondo'ing! (I got 2 pair of sealed filters with this mask when I ordered it on-the-lines).

I figured out how I am going to fix up that detail area in the rear, Pink Insolation foam. I have a sheet of it from when making terrain for Warhammer/other Tabletop games. more pix later today!

 

[B1TMAP]

Thanks for the nice comments Matronoke

Here is a bit of an update for today, I chopped out that problem area and built a replacement out of pink foam. I had to fool around with the foam a few times to find a way to construct it that would work the way I wanted.

I started with a nice large hole, I ended up having to use a metal saw to cut this chunk out as it was an awkward angle to try and get the rotary tool in.


I glued foam (with spray glue, amazing that it did not melt the foam!) flat side to flat side in a wedge. It was blocks, they ended up getting sanded to form.



Turns out this stuff can be sanded with just normal sand paper. I was able to shape it the way I needed.



Put it back into the helmet, had to keep sanding the bottom until it fit, nice and snug!



There is a bit of a gap on the bottom at the other side, that will get filled in with bondo at some point.



I have now sealed the foam with something called Gesso, I have used this stuff many times to allow me to seal foam, then be able to paint over it in the future. It's pretty neat, shrinks as it dries, so it picks up detail like crazy. If you pay attention you may also see a signature in there.

 

[Starvinartist80]

Hey Bitmap,
Just a heads up about GESSO. It isn't really a sealer. It is a canvas primer for painting. It really is nothing but an extemely thick white acrylic paint that artists use to prime a stretched canvas before painting it. It does provide a nice painting surface but does not "seal" the surface from moisture or provide any real "strength" to the surface. It can be washed off with water even after several days of drying. I'm only cautioning you if you plan to use the foam in a final wearable helmet because it will be prone to damage from just about anything hitting the surface and you may have even more issues should water get on the surface.

But, if its is working well for you then great. The helmet is coming together well so congrats!

 

[B1TMAP]

Hey Bitmap,
Just a heads up about GESSO. It isn't really a sealer. It is a canvas primer for painting. It really is nothing but an extemely thick white acrylic paint that artists use to prime a stretched canvas before painting it. It does provide a nice painting surface but does not "seal" the surface from moisture or provide any real "strength" to the surface. It can be washed off with water even after several days of drying. I'm only cautioning you if you plan to use the foam in a final wearable helmet because it will be prone to damage from just about anything hitting the surface and you may have even more issues should water get on the surface.

But, if its is working well for you then great. The helmet is coming together well so congrats!

That's really good info that I failed to share, yeah I only use it to seal from Aerosol based spray paints, which will be the next step. This helmet is actually just going to be a master as I will be molding and casting a wearable one out of SmoothCast.

I don't really want to be wearing a 10 pound helmet that is as thick as this thing is getting to be, nor do I want to have to start over again if I break it! I just spent all night looking at the smooth-on website, they have a distributor in town so I may see if I can get what I need from them directly. I am getting closer to the point where I will actually get to USE the smooth-on products and cast myself a nice shell!

 

[thorn696]

You're helmet is coming along nicely. Love the foam board work around.

 

[B1TMAP]

I partially borked up my foam part, so I'm going to do it a 4th time. Which is actually perfectly fine with me, I've enjoyed getting better at doing that part.

I also finally picked up more sandable primer, the other crap I was using just sucked. I'm getting pretty smooth on the top/rear, and finally starting to get the front bill nice and built up again. I've found a couple high spots on the sides that have a similar issue to the bill, paper didn't bond to the fibreglass so I'm having trouble sanding the correct shape into it. I'm considering cutting out the paper and plastering it back again.

I got really personal with the helmet, and i've realized I feel like I may have wasted money buying the mouse sander, it eats through paper too fast, and I find my hands do a much better job at smoothing out the details.

no pix since it's black outside, I promise some this weekend though!

 

[thorn696]

If I'm reading this right. I would tell you to add the paper detail parts after you have one coat of sealant paint on it. It will stick allot better and with a coat of sealant over that it looks great. I hope this helps you. Keep us posted.

 

[B1TMAP]

That's not quite what I was talking about, however you made an interesting point I had not thought about yet. You have likely saved me much time and energy by letting me do it a more correct way the first time.

The problem I am trying to describe is where I have a couple of places on the helmet that the pep work got resin'ed, but did not end up bonding to any fibreglass. So its stiff, but not hardened. When you sand this area it has a bit of give, and there is a void space behind the paper. By cutting the paper open and back filling the void with bondo/rondo you eliminate that give. You can then build up the area to the correct shape much easier.

 

[Starvinartist80]

I enjoy hearing how you are tackling all the little challenges. I agree about the mouse sander to a degree. It is not great when your sanding the paper areas, but it has saved me a TON of time the bondo areas. I've gotten used to using it only in certain areas. But, it just a fact that hands are often the best tool you'll ever use.