Fiberglassing inside an enclosed pep

[Dirtdives2424]

Hey all, I've recently began working on my Centurion suit and came across a dilemma I have never had to deal w/. I'm just about done w/ one of the "Booster" units and for the life of me can not figure out how to harden the inside once I close it up. Even if I leave a small opening somewhere, my ham hands are not going to fit to get the inside fiber-ed up. I used a few popsicle sticks for increased rigidity but those went in while I was peping it......once its closed is another matter. Any advise before I continue would be great as I want to get my backside in gear for my build.

 

[arma358]

Hey all, I've recently began working on my Centurion suit and came across a dilemma I have never had to deal w/. I'm just about done w/ one of the "Booster" units and for the life of me can not figure out how to harden the inside once I close it up. Even if I leave a small opening somewhere, my ham hands are not going to fit to get the inside fiber-ed up. I used a few popsicle sticks for increased rigidity but those went in while I was peping it......once its closed is another matter. Any advise before I continue would be great as I want to get my backside in gear for my build.

Personally, and if you don't mind the extra weight....I'd go with either a Smoothcast 300 or 65D product, or rondo to harden the interior. You'd have to slush it, of course, but it'd give you at least some rigidity.

 

[Chernobyl]

I'd go with [sic] rondo to harden the interior.

I'd honestly advise against rondo - body filler offers negligible structural strength to a piece. Body filler is (almost literally) talcum powder plus resin, and it's designed for surface smoothing. Adding further resin merely dilutes the product while adding further weight, which is undesirable.

Rolling around a few coats of resin should suffice - otherwise, I would seek out somebody with smaller, more delicate hands, cut away a portion of the back, then fibreglass the inside and seal it back up. I've taken a look at the Centurion 3D model and there seems to be an ample number of areas you could happily slice away and replace later without risking cosmetic damage to your piece. I could highlight those if you'd like.

 

[Sword Breaker]

I think you could try something that many do with their weapons. (Or so i recall. Don't take just my word for it!)
You could leave a small opening and pour fiberglass inside and then continually move it around, making sure it evenly goes on every surface, and continuing to move it around till it has dried enough.

 

[Dirtdives2424]

I'd honestly advise against rondo - body filler offers negligible structural strength to a piece. Body filler is (almost literally) talcum powder plus resin, and it's designed for surface smoothing. Adding further resin merely dilutes the product while adding further weight, which is undesirable.

Rolling around a few coats of resin should suffice - otherwise, I would seek out somebody with smaller, more delicate hands, cut away a portion of the back, then fibreglass the inside and seal it back up. I've taken a look at the Centurion 3D model and there seems to be an ample number of areas you could happily slice away and replace later without risking cosmetic damage to your piece. I could highlight those if you'd like.

Chernobyl, I would greatly appreciate that. And while we are on the subject of the Centurion armor......I downloaded the legs portion (Boots, Shins and Thighs) from the H5 Armor Assets Part 1 here a while ago but didn't check them out until recently. The only thing in the file were JPEG and Adobe files. No PDO. Is that correct? I'm looking to do the full suit but can't w/o the lower half.

 

[Chernobyl]

Chernobyl, I would greatly appreciate that. And while we are on the subject of the Centurion armor......I downloaded the legs portion (Boots, Shins and Thighs) from the H5 Armor Assets Part 1 here a while ago but didn't check them out until recently. The only thing in the file were JPEG and Adobe files. No PDO. Is that correct? I'm looking to do the full suit but can't w/o the lower half.

I just checked the Centurion raw models pack you linked - the file contains the Male and Female body files, as well as relevant textures for those files if you're proficient enough with 3D modeling programs to use those textures.

As for where to cut: I've highlighted a section of the Centurion booster pod that you could feasibly remove and replace. Here's a flow of what I, personally, would do:

- Harden the outside of your piece with one or two coats of resin
- Use a rotary tool to carefully cut out a section large enough to allow you to work on the inside - save the cut-out section
- Apply your fibreglass carefully, ensuring not to allow warping as your piece cures
- Use hot glue (or fibreglass and resin) to affix a lip of popsicle sticks around the inside of your cut-out section to create a 'lip'
- Use this 'lip' to re-affix the cut-out panel, using hot glue/superglue
- Apply a further coat of resin over the panel once secured to seal it back into place

 

[Dirtdives2424]

Chernobyl, thank you so much. My brain must not be working right.......the whole process you wrote just makes stupid simple sense I don't know why I didn't think of going that route. I do like the "lip" you refer to, to hold the cut-out in place once I reattach it. As for being proficient in 3D modeling...........I'm great at painting 25mm Fantasy models..........3D computer models........not so good. Suck actually. Is there an PDO folded raw file? I would be glad to take a crack at unfolding it.