How Strong Is Your Pepakura Armor?

[SharkForge]

Hey guys. Being new to the Pep scene... I was wondering how durable your armor is? Is it fragile? Is the resin thick enough to be relatively durable? How much does Fiberglass help? Do you have any chipping issues? I want to go the Pep route and was hoping I could get outstanding detail out of it. Thanks in advance for your help!



El1te

 

[Damorian]

A piece of pepakura with 4 layers of resin and 2 layers of fiberglass and bondo detailing will be plenty durable. I tested paintballs on a piece with what I just mentioned and it took 3 shots in the same spot before it gave away, and even then the cloth was still there. The main concern with a finished piece (In my opinion) is scratching the paintjob. Also, fiberglass is essential if you want any durability. I know some people tend to omit it, but that's a terrible idea. Otherwise the piece will crack, tear, and bend. Just my experience.

 

[SharkForge]

That is the kind of answer I was looking for. I noticed some people were going from the resin stage to the paint stage... some doing the bondo, some going the whole 9 yards with the bondo and fiberglass. Weird things happen... people give you hugs, people knock on the armor, people bump into you since you are bulky and I wanted to know how well it withstands all that everyday battle damage.



El1te

 

[Sniperbaas]

My "experiment with bondo (A normally fiberglassed helm coated in a half inch of bondo) is much more prone to failure. (Cracks regularly) Will break if hit with enough impact.



A normal fiberglassed suit (w/ bondo detailing) will stand up to the everyday abuse. If you look back into the forums for two years, you'll notice that everybody has to do patch jobs on their suits every now and then.



Most of your damage will be to the paint layer. You can try to counter this with a heavy duty clear sealer of sorts....





Hope that helps.

 

[Hickeydog]

With fiberglass, it makes the armor very strong. Just be sure to layer it up (3-4 layers for the critical parts) and the structure will last. The details may not be as strong, but normal wear isn't that hard on the armor.

 

[Brandon McClain]

The mudglassing method adds a ton of durability. I go about a 1/4 inch or two layers or so thick with my mudglass. It makes your part rock hard. In fact, my buddy wanted to put my claim to the test, and cracked his hand punching my mudglassed MKVI chest plate. The stuff rocks. The bondo outside can get nicked and scratched, but that is normal and is and easy fix. Same thing with the paint. If you want to spend the time and or money you can ensure you have a low maintenance piece very easily.

 

[mc halo3]

My armor normally has 3 layers of resin, and 2 layers of fiberglass mat and 1 layer of bondo on and my brother axe kicked it. No crack , only a dent on the bondo.

 

[Nintendude]

Something not a lot of people have mentioned is that you can add a dye to the resin to give a color under the top layer of paint that will hide the fact you are using resin if you're paint gets scratched or nicked. At the last convention I went to my Mark Vi lasted 8 hours around the shins and boots only got damaged the whole suit was only two layers of resin inside and out, no cloth, no bondo and it lasted walking around for 8 hours in the suit, the boots and shins would have stayed intact I believe if they had not been rubbing together at moments.

 

[HaloGoddess]

Well, when I fiberglassed my first helmet awhile back (recon helmet for DARE) I was curious to see just how strong it was. I sort of tossed it up in the air (not that high) and let it hit the ground (grass). It was fine. Then I put it to the test by, again, tossing it up into the air and having it land on the cement in my driveway.....it was fine then too!



It only had one layer of resin and one layer of fiberglass and it still does. I even had my fiance put a hand on each side and squeeze. He was amazed at how strong cardstock turned out to be! haha

 

[SharkForge]

Thats excellent! All very good input! So With a few layers of resin/fiberglass... bondo for detailing and what not, it holds its shape then? What exactly is "mudglassing"?



El1te

 

[impwarior]

mudglassing is a mixture of bondo and resin i belive.

that you then use like resin but coat the inside with it

 

[AlexSpartan177]

My armor is trong enough to be splattered by a warthog and survive!!



JK



well Like Brandon said If you mudglass it will be much stronger. I used that method and I totally reccomend it compared to fiberglass, its easier to apply, stronger and easier to use

 

[SharkForge]

So is bondo stronger than resin? Just more brittle? How does mixing bondo AND resin together create a substance that is stronger than fiberglass? I apologize for these noobish questions... I really do... its just so fascinating to me. This mudglassing to strengthen something seems very interesting!



El1te

 

[Deathcoreknight]

LIES ALL LIES JUMP TO STEEL SKIP THE PEP WORK ...jk anyways yes it very good and if done right will be bullet proof .. lol jk AGAIN but yes all of what u have read is exactly what will happen to armor when done right

 

[Camofred]

bondo= suck strength

resin= OK strength but not the best

rondo= strongest i don't know how but it is

my ODST helm has a double layer of fiber glass and plenty of resin on the inside and 22 thin layer of resin on the outside, then alot or rondo. ive dropped it a number of times from about 3 feet on to cement(accident!) and once of a computer. nigh but a scratch was left on the rondo. a luck rock SOMEHOW left a neat little (like, less then 2 mm across) in the resin, though

 

[SharkForge]

Thats VERY interesting! What stops people from making their helmets completely out of "Rondo" or this Mudglassing technique? Why do you use layers of different stuff?



El1te

 

[soul products]

its strong but you still need to support it

its like halo 2 marines. on there own they can hold a fight for a while........ then the gold swordweilding elite enters the fight

 

[AlexSpartan177]

Why do you use layers of different stuff?

Becasue fiberglass is cheaper

 

[rockthewarrior]

Rondo is hard to work with for detailing because of is viscosity. It is best for the insides of things where it will be contained inside. You can use it for the outside but that requires you to tape off section by section. Also since it is a combination of the two materials the cost is higher.

 

[SharkForge]

Nice analogy haha!



So what is the reasoning behind the layers of different stuff? I can understand resin for the base, bondo for the detail, fiberglass for the strength reinforcing. But if Mudglassing is stronger than both would it be bad to just do mudglass and then bondo for the little details?



Thank you guys for the extremely informational (and swift) responses. The kindness of these forums is far beyond any other forum I've seen.



El1te