Fiberglass Vs. Resin

[Destroyer]

Hey, I'm about to start building a Mark VI helmet and want to have all of the details planned out, so that there aren't as many last minute disasters (what would a project be without them)?? One thing I'm not sure about is whether or not to use fiberglass or resin. I don't know much about either because I'm really new to this, but I would like to know more. I'm wondering if fiberglass will leave a bunch of strands hanging off of it and if it will give you fiberglass splinters. I'm also wondering if resin has any hidden risks or dangers that I don't know about. Which one's stronger? Which one's safer? Anything that I might need to know starting off. Thanks in advance!

 

[Harris007]

Well uhh... to use resin on its own isn't strong enough. Fiberglass resin is made to bond fiberglass to a certain piece so u cant go with fiberglass without a resin. Its just not possible. If you just use resin on its own, well then that would just take forever to make a piece completely hard. ive tried it but it takes a lot of coats to harden a prop. But it it can crack without the use of fiberglassing enforcement. So bottom line is that if you want a tough prop thatcan withstand damage u have to use both.



hope that helps

 

[Xtreme TACTICS 101]

Are you talking about Resin as in a casting resin? If your talking about casting resin, the go with it, not the fiberglass and resin.

 

[phenry]

If by resin you mean the fiberglass resin you can buy at walmart or home depot, then no, resin will not be up to most people's standards for strengthening armor. Fiberglass will be your best bet, and yeah it does kinda leave a mess of strands hanging out if you aren't super careful, but those can be easily taken care of after they dry.

 

[Destroyer]

Thanks guys, thinking about using fiberglass and just cleaning it up really well. Wanting it to be wearable and not poke people and give them splinters.

 

[kensai111]

Fiberglass cloth is just a dry cloth of fiberglass, without fiberglass resin it's just a dry cloth and won't do you any good. So with that said you need both, but most importantly you need an organic respirator. It's the first thing you should buy before anything else. There are plenty of stickies on the safety equipment here and how to use them. So ideally, you'll want to resin the outside of the piece, just a few times should suffice. Then feel free to cut the struts out of your pepakura and begin fiberglassing the inside. A few layers of fiberglass should suffice. Please check the stickies or PM one of the Q&A members if you need any more information. Fiberglass resin is serious business and a known cancer causer without the proper safety equipment. As for getting rid of the "pokey" parts of the fiberglass you can sand anything sharp down, you'll be putting padding in there too so it'll be soft and comfortable.



Cheers,

Kensai

 

[Heatshock]

interesting question - as it is one I often made a mistake of when I 1st started on this hobby



resin -is a generic term



there is the polyester resin that is used to soak and bond with the fibreglass cloth or CSM



then there is the casting resin as mentioned before - stuff like polyurethan resin from companys like smooth on etc.



I know some people have made cast of helmets using polyurethane resin alone and its quite sturdy. But goign by wot my mates have done on their lids, even with polyurethane resin - most back it up fibreglass any ways.



for my armor - I was gonna use polyester resin outside to harden the paper, and FG+polyester resin on the inside to give that srength.

for the parts I was gonna mold, I would then cast those in simple polyurethane resin.



is that as clear as mud? lol

 

[Destroyer]

Thanks, Kensai and Heatshock. I appreciate the words of wisdom. XD

Yeah, I know I should have probably put casting resin in the title, but I couldn't think of what it was called at the moment.

I'm starting to lean towards making a Recon helmet the more I see them now. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to give them.