You don't. I'm not aware of anyone sand the inside of the helmet. If you are looking for the smooth look inside, you are probably referring to Rondo.
"Help!" for: Fiberglassing, Resin, & Bondo
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You don't. I'm not aware of anyone sand the inside of the helmet. If you are looking for the smooth look inside, you are probably referring to Rondo.
You do want to sand the really sharp points fiberglass can sometimes make. Even rondo won't cover those. But yes, if you want the inside smooth, you have to slush cast some rondo over the glass. If you have the pointies, go over them with.. probably 80 grit sandpaper, and be sure to use a hand mouse or glue the sandpaper to a wood block, those pointies will slice through the sandpaper and into your hand if you don't use the block/mouse.
If you used the wrong glue? Depends what you used instead. A lot more glues are fine with resin than is let on. More information would be helpful. But if you don't want to wait, you can test resin a tiny corner that has been glued, and then see what happens. If nothing, you're fine! If it dissolves though, you'll need to probably go over the inside with hot glue or carefully superglue just over the tabs. Something interrim so you can get the resin and rondo on it.
If you used the wrong glue? Depends what you used instead. A lot more glues are fine with resin than is let on. More information would be helpful. But if you don't want to wait, you can test resin a tiny corner that has been glued, and then see what happens. If nothing, you're fine! If it dissolves though, you'll need to probably go over the inside with hot glue or carefully superglue just over the tabs. Something interrim so you can get the resin and rondo on it.
Thanks, gotta get myself one of those hand mouse.
I plan on doing one layer of resin on the outside and one on the inside of my helmets and doing one layer of fiberglass on the inside as well. Is that enough before bondo for a wearable costume helmet? Or should I do another layer of fiberglass or a layer of rondo on top of the single layer of fiberglass inside (or rondo first and then a layer of fiberglass)? And should I sand the outside before bondo?
If you want to wear the helmet as is, without casting or whatever, here is my suggestion for a really durable helmet that is easy to work with.
From the outside in:
resin
paper
resin (optional)
rondo
fiberglass x2
rondo
That layer of rondo closest to the paper is VERY important. it smoothes the inside of the helmet out, as fiberglass tends to bubble near sharp detailed areas. It also gives you a buffer zone to sand/cut into before you start destroying fiberglass if you choose to cut detail lines in. The fiberglass can then lay smoothly on top of the rondo, backing it and strengthening the helmet. One layer of glass is pretty brittle. Two is the best weight to strength ratio for fiberglass. Three will be marginally stronger etc but weigh more, so two is a good way if weight is a concern. Then you want another thin layer of rondo over the fiberglass so that you are not exposing yourself to the pokies and stabbies of fiberglass. It also smells less toxic (slightly).
This is a pretty common method for veteran helmet makers going the fiberglass route. Rondo alone is too brittle for extended wear, but fiberglass can't hug corners are well as rondo. They work together to make a very strong helmet. For weight on your neck, rondo is going to weigh a LOT more than fiberglass, and bondo will weigh more than rondo. So keep that in mind when you decide how thickly you want to lay down your rondo/bondo.
That glue MAY work... I don't know enough about it personally, but it does seem to have the requirements. You have to test it though to be sure. Just mix a half ounce of resin and apply it to an inconsequential part of the helmet (the bottom or the visor are good options) and see if it starts to dissolve the glue. If not, then you should be fine.
As for backing 60lbs cardstock. I made my first ODST in 60lbs. You can do it, but you need to be pretty careful when handling it. It will want to collapse, especially when it's wet with resin, so you have to either work in sections, or have a very good dummy head to sit the helmet on. In order to protect the helmet until you can pour rondo inside, you NEED to do one layer of resin on the outside and at least one or two layers of resin INSIDE. A lot of people can skip resining the inside, because they use heavy cardstock, but 60lbs really really really needs that extra strength to help it support the weight of the rondo and fiberglass. Good luck!
Assassin3698
Member
Weapons
I have been seen tons of tutorials for fiberglassing helmets and armor but not for weapons so can someone plz help I want to strengthen my weapons but don't know how to do it properly. Help this forsaken noob please.
I have been seen tons of tutorials for fiberglassing helmets and armor but not for weapons so can someone plz help I want to strengthen my weapons but don't know how to do it properly. Help this forsaken noob please.
You're in for a tough ride.
The first job is the resin the outside. This strengthens it a little.
Then if you can, slush some resin on the inside (obviously mixed with hardener). This further strengthens the piece, but is not totally required.
Now, you cut a hole strategically inside the piece wherever you can get into each of the branching "arms" of the gun (think about a pistol, from its "hub" where the grip meets the barrel, you have three arms, the barrel going forwards, the barrel going back, and the grip, you need to get rondo into all three of these) If you mix the rondo thin enough (about 50/50 resin/bondo) it will slush pretty easily inside the gun.
Once the rondo is cured CAREFULLY squeeze around the gun looking for any "dry" spots that didn't get rondo, you'll know them because the gun will squeeze in a bit with pressure on the dry spots, and be solid hard where it has rondo.
Locating these spots, mix more rondo and pour it to cover them. This can be tricky but you obviously don't want to grab the gun and have your thumb punch through it or something.
Now you're ready to bondo the outside!
Thanks so much! I'll definitely go with that route. If I were to follow that and have two rondo layers, how much rondo should I mix up per layer to keep it a reasonable weight? I haven't worked with bondo, much less rondo, before so I have no idea how heavy the product is. ):
Assassin3698
Member
Thanks for the help man I have been a little confused on this so thanks but I've never worked with rondo I have worked with fiberglass and the resin but not rondo so if it's not to much trouble could you post a link to a tutorial on rondo and if you can't thanks for explaining everything else.
http://www.405th.com/showthread.php...-Chief-**-A-Step-By-Step-Tutorial-(My-Way)-**
The second video in the first post is rondo. They may be a bit long, but they're VERY good to watch.
Refer to the link higher up in this post I am posting. That video will tell you visually about using rondo. It's more about how well you distribute the rondo, and how thick (bondo to resin ratio) you mix it. If after seeing the above video you still have questions, feel free to ask!
You should expect it to totally collapse under its own weight. I've personally had zero success with using paper. I do NOT recommend it at all. Cardstock is extremely cheap, like 10 bucks for 250 sheets, and can support the weight of resin and fiberglass, unlike paper. The strength difference between paper and 110lbs cardstock is very large.
yagerflager
New Member
Just a question, how much fiberglass, resin, and bondo should i buy for a basic suit?
One full sized can of Bondo, a half sized can of resin, and maybe a square yard of fiberglass? That will get you done if you can be conservative with the Bondo. If you want to do some rondo, you'll need a second smaller can of Bondo, as you go through that stuff fast with rondo.
Assassin3698
Member
Thanks I just finished the video and it helped me understand what it is but I think that more members should make tutorials for weapons I bet it would help a lot more people. But still thanks.
Thanks for answering my questions, Katsu!
I have another question after a minor mishap. I was wondering what the average (or how normal-ish) weight of a finished helmet would be? One of the helmets I rondo-ed was victim to my first batch that hardened too quickly to completely spread around so it's a bit heavier than my second one. ^^;
I have another question after a minor mishap. I was wondering what the average (or how normal-ish) weight of a finished helmet would be? One of the helmets I rondo-ed was victim to my first batch that hardened too quickly to completely spread around so it's a bit heavier than my second one. ^^;
The helmets get fairly heavy from bondo. That's why it's pretty important to slush it as light as possible. Mine is probably around 5-8 pounds if I were to guess. A lot of people end up mold casting their helmets so they can get it in plastic instead, which offers better weight to strength, but is fairly expensive to do. Alternatively you can try lightly grinding the extra rondo inside the helmet out, but you have to be careful not to break through the fiberglass, or worse the outer layer.
People do show their tutorials sort of, but most people who make guns don't use pepakura. It is fairly limiting and not precise enough for the project. A lot of people just fabricate the parts themselves from scratch. Check out Tactonyx's thread for some good shots of weapons in progress. I don't think I've seen any pepakura (not counting sliced) weapons finished. People tend to give up because smoothing the bondo is a nightmare and a half.
Assassin3698
Member
People do show their tutorials sort of, but most people who make guns don't use pepakura. It is fairly limiting and not precise enough for the project. A lot of people just fabricate the parts themselves from scratch. Check out Tactonyx's thread for some good shots of weapons in progress. I don't think I've seen any pepakura (not counting sliced) weapons finished. People tend to give up because smoothing the bondo is a nightmare and a half.[/QUOTE]
Sounds about right but could you post a link to the thread ?
Sounds about right but could you post a link to the thread ?
[x] <- Right there. You should browse through the weapons and props forum for more ideas. Usually sliced weapons are the way to go unless your handy with making things from scratch.
Assassin3698
Member
I probably could make it from scratch but I'm gonna take a look.
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