Hey quick question...

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The Wolf

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So I have a mighty question, I am seeing people saying that they are using bondo, fiberglass, and resin. I had zero absolute zero idea about the resin part. So I was just going to continue with what I had;fiberglass, and bondo. But then I started to see posts where people said that when they used the fiberglass it made the piece warp.

"And I don't want to run away from suicide grunts, in warped armor.

Any tips/answers?
 
fiberglass is thin sheets/strips of a strong fiber infused with glass (which is why it hurts if you get them stuck in your fingers). this is essentially useless though without fiberglass RESIN. fiberglass resin is a chemical mix that you put on the shell of your cardstock build. you then use fiberglass RESIN as a extremely strong adhesive that fuses the fiberglass matt or cloth to the interior of the armor piece.

The reason people say pieces may warp is before you do the fiberglass cloth, it is suggested to put a layer or 2 of fiberglass resin on the outside of the pep piece to give it a stronger structure. though it won't have any actual reinforcement just rigidness (this is why you have to put fiberglass cloth or matt on the inside). This is why it is suggested to use popsicle sticks or something on the inside of armor pieces before doing the fiberglass resin coat.

this is fiberglass cloth:
fiber.jpg


this is fiberglass resin (a liquid that you use hardnerer to create it into an adhesive thing):
3m-patching-repair-20122-64_1000.jpg


Bondo is the last step: bondo you slop on the whole piece and then sand it down to give it a smooth surface and you can add details to it as well.
 
fiberglass is thin sheets/strips of a strong fiber infused with glass (which is why it hurts if you get them stuck in your fingers). this is essentially useless though without fiberglass RESIN. fiberglass resin is a chemical mix that you put on the shell of your cardstock build. you then use fiberglass RESIN as a extremely strong adhesive that fuses the fiberglass matt or cloth to the interior of the armor piece.

The reason people say pieces may warp is before you do the fiberglass cloth, it is suggested to put a layer or 2 of fiberglass resin on the outside of the pep piece to give it a stronger structure. though it won't have any actual reinforcement just rigidness (this is why you have to put fiberglass cloth or matt on the inside). This is why it is suggested to use popsicle sticks or something on the inside of armor pieces before doing the fiberglass resin coat.

this is fiberglass cloth:
View attachment 289152

this is fiberglass resin (a liquid that you use hardnerer to create it into an adhesive thing):
View attachment 289153

Bondo is the last step: bondo you slop on the whole piece and then sand it down to give it a smooth surface and you can add details to it as well.
Whoops I meant that I had the resin XD rookie mistake. Also do I need the fiberglass mats/cloth?
 
you should yes. at LEAST 1 layer on the inside of cloth or matt. 2 preferably. then a rondo slush usually can give it a smoother cover.
 
Would the helmet still be good without them?
You can try just a rondo slush (half fiberglass resin, half bondo autobody filler). This will "work" but it'll be pretty brittle and have a good chance of cracking if it ever falls. I highly suggest at least 1 layer of the mat or cloths. It is cheap and you can pick it up at any hardware store
 
If you can't get any fiberglass, fabric might work too. You'll basically be making micarta, but you'll need more layers to get decent strength. Resin on cotton makes it brittle and easy to snap, but I had it on a very thin piece. If you use thicker fabric and enough layers it could work, but fiberglass will be stronger and lighter.
 
In my limited experience, the piece will almost always warp a little. Most of it can be corrected or is so minor that it doesn't matter. Warping gets worse if you try to go faster with any of the steps. The resin and fiberglass pictured above by he4thbar is what I use and I never use more than 1 oz at a time. Usually, I use 1/2 oz. The smaller area you work with, the less warping should occur. Warping, I believe, is mostly due to different areas drying at different rates. If you get all the resin down in an area at (more or less) the same time, less warping should occur. Think symmetry with this. Imagine if the area you fiberglassed all shrunk, how could you apply it to minimize the damage to the overall piece?

I had some really bad warping on a helmet when I did the fiberglass stage. The helmet was already a little warped when I began, but I'm pretty sure it got much worse because I fiberglassed the entire inside in one sitting. I also had other issues with the fiberglass stage that may have contributed. I'm working a lot slower with my more recent helmet and it's going a lot more smoothly.

In general, I am pretty new to this, but this has been my experience. If any of this seems wrong to anyone else, let me know. I need to learn too...
 
To follow that, I fiberglassed my whole outside helmet in about 2 passes but I also reinforced the whole interior with popsicle sticks so it wouldn't deform.
2.jpg

here is what the inside will kind of look like if you use fiberglass cloth and resin. it's strong af. Btw it will get heavy if you do 2 layers and rondo lol.
 
Also could someone give me link for what styrofoam they use for weapons, my head has been spinning full 360 and I don't know which one to buy. thanks in avance!
 
Also could someone give me link for what styrofoam they use for weapons, my head has been spinning full 360 and I don't know which one to buy. thanks in avance!
I've made a couple styrofoam weapon props (Fuel Rod Gun, Needler and some non-Halo) and they're exceptionally light but also rather brittle so I've stopped and moved onto other materials. If you do want to make them in this method you'll want to look for XPS foam which is a bit more rigid and easier to shape. It's fairly easy to find in large quantities at hardware stores in the insulation section.
The biggest issue with this stuff is that spray paint melts it so you need to thoroughly seal everywhere or hand paint everything.
 
It depends on which building method you are using and how you plan on using the fiber-based product and the hardening plastic product. You can build with fiberglass over EVA foam (to provide a hard shell similar to a 3D print), or you can use fiberglass inside cardstock as previously mentioned (to add structural support to a cardstock build). Both work, but provide different end results, with different difficulties along the way both using most of the same materials.

If there is serious interest in this, I can give a play by play on what to look out for and the pros and cons of each method if you'd like (but it will be a very long post). I'll be starting my own post shortly using the EVA foam method on an Infinite Master Chief build using carbon fiber for visual accents.
 
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