Fiberglassing simplified

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guidwi

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So I was just finishing glassing my GF's MC helm...and I figured I'd share some tips to simplify and lessen your headaches.

1) Glass one side first.
-When not in a rush, take your time, and make life easier on yourself. Doing one side, will give your Pepped item stiffness, which will save you from dealing with collapse. ( Chest piece anyone? ) On the MC helm, I did just the crown first, so I could set it down upside down, and not have to worry about fold collapse.

2) For the love of god, use spray adhesive on your fiberglass cloth FIRST.
- This will stop you from wanting to throw your piece out a f*ing window. LOL This stuff can be had at Walmart for $3.97 a can. It's in the aisle near paint where you'll find the epoxy, and duct tape. Don't buy it from Autozone, Pep boys, or one of those home value stores. You'll pay upwards of $14 a can for the same stuff. Save Save Save.
- Once your fiberglass cloth is cut into strips, spray the area where you are working. Not the cloth. The area will stay tacky forever, so take your time, and lay everything out right.

3) DO mix up alot of resin. Just pour it in the helm, or on whatever your piece is.
- Handy tip? You know those paint stirring sticks you asked the Walmart paint employee for and got for free? You did get them to stir up the resin before you left Walmart right? Good. Now, use it as a spatula to spread the resin around your piece, and to remove as many air bubbles as you can.
- On a piece in the shape of a bucket, ala the MC helm, I pour alot in, and slowly swirl it around the helmet, coating all the fiberglass I can, then use the paint stirrer to finish it off.

As always, wear rubber gloves, a dust mask, work goggles, and do it outside if possible.
Despite what you may think, as long as the temperature outside is ABOVE 32 degrees F. you can fiberglass.
So as long as you can cope with the cold, your piece, and the resin/fiberglass can too.

Stay safe, and have fun.
 
I like #2... That's a great way to do it... :)... Will keep pieces from moving as you work... I had some trouble with that... :\...
 
yeah.... it works better than hot glue...... altho on my first helmet i used fiberglass cloth instead of fiberglass mat.... combined with hot glue.. well.... needless it got messy when resining....
 
AF200XL said:
yeah.... it works better than hot glue...... altho on my first helmet i used fiberglass cloth instead of fiberglass mat.... combined with hot glue.. well.... needless it got messy when resining....

Stay away from Fiberglass Mat unless you have a lot of resin, and the cost isn't that much of a factor, cause the mat soaks up the resin at about a 4 to 1 ratio of the fiberglass cloth.
 
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quixand_prop said:
Stay away from Fiberglass Mat unless you have a lot of resin, and the cost isn't that much of a factor, cause the mat soaks up the resin at about a 4 to 1 ratio of the fiberglass cloth.
fiberglass mat tends to be stronger though. i would use one layer mat and then one layer cloth, to make it look pretty. thats just me though.
 
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Has anybody built the pep in halves, resin and 'glassed them separately then glued together, resined and 'glassed the seam part? Should I try or is this a retarded idea?
 
quixand_prop said:
- This will stop you from wanting to throw your piece out a f*ing window.
Well I wish i would have know about that stuff earlier... I probably wasted a whole pack of mat (over the whole suit) becuase it would not stop sticking to my gloves and getting all stringy. Well said BTW.
 
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Ill probably take this into advice when i go to resin/fiberglass thanks! BTW gamerguy,,that sig looks awfully familiar :cautious:
 
SH_Jack said:
Has anybody built the pep in halves, resin and 'glassed them separately then glued together, resined and 'glassed the seam part? Should I try or is this a retarded idea?
You'll get warped pieces this way, they will want to lay flat and not maintain their shape, then when you glue them back together, you get a heavily warped piece.
 
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SH_Jack said:
Has anybody built the pep in halves, resin and 'glassed them separately then glued together, resined and 'glassed the seam part? Should I try or is this a retarded idea?

not really. But the underside of my crown on the helmet warped during the drying of the fiberglass, so i'm giong to fiberglass a new underside and then attach it. I'll do that tonight and let you know how it goes
 
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If you lay enough layers of resin on the outside of your pep....and then were to cut it in half, it "should" hold it's shape.

Though I wouldn't be the one to try it. LOL
I would never do that with the helm, though the rest of the armor, perhaps you'd be ok.
 
On a one to ten scale of "I've never fiberglassed before" how hard is fiberglassing? And what if it's humid outside (i.e. raining)? Any tips for a beginner?

PS. I've read all the stickies... several times.... and I read all the updated posts every day.

Oh yeah, when fiberglassing a helmet, how many paintbrushes do you guys go through?
 
Spartan343 said:
Ill probably take this into advice when i go to resin/fiberglass thanks! BTW gamerguy,,that sig looks awfully familiar :cautious:
LOL I didn't even notice we had the same sig... Well im off to look for a new one.

-Matt
 
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I keep reading all different ways...
Is it better to put a light layer of resin on first and then fiberglass or just fiberglass right away?
((also what is the best way to keep you part (aka helm) from warping?))
 
this seems like the best way to go. Mind if I kind of turn this into a video tutorial ? I got my new camer and Im going to start fiberglassing my MKV Chest piece.
 
"For the love of god, use spray adhesive on your fiberglass cloth FIRST.
- This will stop you from wanting to throw your piece out a f*ing window"

Yeah I've been promoting it in many posts the past couple of months but no one ever listens :(
Their loss
 
JediStumpy said:
I keep reading all different ways...
Is it better to put a light layer of resin on first and then fiberglass or just fiberglass right away?
((also what is the best way to keep you part (aka helm) from warping?))


You absolutely want to put at least a coat on the outside and inside before throwing in the mat. You want to have some rididness to the peice your working with before adding heavy amounts of resin. The mat will soak up alot of resin, alot more than if you just painted it on a plain surface. So the weight of the resin is going to cause warping issues. better to have your peice with a resin primer coat than to just free paper glass it from the get-go. but thats just my 2c. My predator mask was 5 layers of mat and pure resin from a custom made silicone mold, the damn thing weighed nearly 6 pounds.
 
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