first time using styrofoam

[redragon74]

im using styrofoam as a housing for a light...ill get it posted when its done....


so im wondering after i have it cut out...should you fiberglass it or just bondo it?

theres really no tuts on it lol











ps: i did read stix and search lol

 

[1ManBattalion]

I would fiberglass it first before applying Bondo. And Safety first! Repirator (FullFace),overalls and gloves!

 

[Spartan 270]

Be carefull dude. If you're using styrofoam sometimes it can get "eaten up" by some hardware tools like spray paint. I made this small model of a bunker and spray painted it. When I got back to check on it like half of it was missing and it was fizzing. I don't know about fiberglass though. You should test it out on a small piece of foam to see if it will be eaten away. If it works then you can go ahead and fiberglass the thing.

 

[xalener]

I'm pretty sure resin would destroy that foam.

lawl

 

[damasterchief]

it depents on what fiblerglass your using and the foam

some guy made tessiega and he fiber glassed it out of insulation foam so it might work mabie not

 

[NZTK]

Florists foam is good nothing seems to eat it. You want the grey stuff for dried flowers not the green stuff. I use it a lot for carving bases for vac forming masters

 

[Culvan]

A co-worker of mine has been talking about building an airplane (full sized) and one of the construction techniques is to carve something out of (styro)foam and cover it with fiberglass. From what I've gathered you will probably want to use an epoxy based fiberglass resin, not a polyester based resin. The polyester based resins use MEK as a solvant to hold the hardener. The MEK will eat through nearly any foam. MEK is the liquid stuff that looks like water and smells like paint thinner.

Epoxy resins use two different creams and must be precisely mixed to completely react. You will probably need a scale to measure it out right.

I believe this tecnique was used in an episode of mythbusters. Adam was making cowlings for a personal jetpack thing.

Andy