Badkitty
Active Member
- Member DIN
- S327
Hello all,
So for those of you that have a fiberglass build you know the all familiar sting of that good 'ol fiberglass under the skin. Yeah lets not lie, we all know how it sucks, bleeding everywhere and the painful itch afterwards that you can't dig out with your trusty knife.
So here are some helpful hints for your survival from the fiberglass bite.
#1 Buy something to wear under the pieces that's durable, lore friendly and (at the very least) half breathable.
So what do I mean by that? Well....you get what you pay for. I purchased cool wicking under armor gear from a sporting goods place locally. I also made some modifications to it for several purposes which I WILL cover in another article. I have both a top and set of bottoms, not cheap though, about $75.00 each. I only wear the top in the winter due to the fact that I wear a leather jacket for my primary top for extreme durability and long term wear. I purchased the jacket at a second hand store for $30.00.
So I have a leather jacket, I know its not the best for breathability but I wear a cooler vest under it to help control my internal body temp. (Yes again I will talk about this in that article with the modifications on the under armor.)
#2 Make sure the edges of the pieces are rounded and the fiberglass inside each piece is smoothed down during the curing process.
THIS IS EXTRA IMPORTANT!!! If you find that its too late to smooth the sharp glass bits I have used a dremel to basically grind them off or if you have not painted the part yet purchase yourself VERY HIGH AUTOMOTIVE GRADE lacquer thinner. Paint the 'spikes' gently with the thinner, used a bondo spreader to push and mold the spike down and then finish it off with fresh resin AFTER the lacquer thinner has thoroughly dried.
The last thing you want is that glass sticking you when you go to remove the piece, like a Chinese finger trap you will now be held captive by that part and will have to saw it off. Yeah... lets not do that.
#3 Bondo cracks exposing bare fiberglass.
This has happened to me, by build is pretty old and yes I have had to go back over with more bondo filler to repair. But if you do not have the time to make a proper repair you can use a hot glue gun. One word of advice though, DO NOT HEAT THE MATERIAL TOO QUICKLY---IT WILL CRUMBLE TO PIECES IN THE SURROUNDING AREAS.
Otherwise it'll be fine, so when you get home you can take a knife and crave that out and bondo it back properly.
#4 Take a shower and prep for the show!!
Now I'm not telling you what to do but it never fails that you get all suited up, your amped and ready to go, well guess what....now you're sweating. This can be your worst enemy in your armor!!! Human sweat does some interesting things to fiberglass and compounded with friction and heat well......lets just leave it at that.
The best thing you can do is before you put that under armor on roll your skin with BODY GLIDE. Now I know what you're thinking, and it's not like that at all. Body glide was designed for use under wet suits and for long term diving gear. Its also a great anti-chaff product and will help wick the sweat away once it hits your under armor.
Here is a link to this fine product:
https://www.amazon.com/Bodyglide-Original-Anti-Chafe-Balm-Packaging/dp/B005L8YVRO
I have used this for years with this costume and I hope my article helps you folks stay safe out there during cosplay.
Good luck and happy cosplaying!!!
So for those of you that have a fiberglass build you know the all familiar sting of that good 'ol fiberglass under the skin. Yeah lets not lie, we all know how it sucks, bleeding everywhere and the painful itch afterwards that you can't dig out with your trusty knife.
So here are some helpful hints for your survival from the fiberglass bite.
#1 Buy something to wear under the pieces that's durable, lore friendly and (at the very least) half breathable.
So what do I mean by that? Well....you get what you pay for. I purchased cool wicking under armor gear from a sporting goods place locally. I also made some modifications to it for several purposes which I WILL cover in another article. I have both a top and set of bottoms, not cheap though, about $75.00 each. I only wear the top in the winter due to the fact that I wear a leather jacket for my primary top for extreme durability and long term wear. I purchased the jacket at a second hand store for $30.00.
So I have a leather jacket, I know its not the best for breathability but I wear a cooler vest under it to help control my internal body temp. (Yes again I will talk about this in that article with the modifications on the under armor.)
#2 Make sure the edges of the pieces are rounded and the fiberglass inside each piece is smoothed down during the curing process.
THIS IS EXTRA IMPORTANT!!! If you find that its too late to smooth the sharp glass bits I have used a dremel to basically grind them off or if you have not painted the part yet purchase yourself VERY HIGH AUTOMOTIVE GRADE lacquer thinner. Paint the 'spikes' gently with the thinner, used a bondo spreader to push and mold the spike down and then finish it off with fresh resin AFTER the lacquer thinner has thoroughly dried.
The last thing you want is that glass sticking you when you go to remove the piece, like a Chinese finger trap you will now be held captive by that part and will have to saw it off. Yeah... lets not do that.
#3 Bondo cracks exposing bare fiberglass.
This has happened to me, by build is pretty old and yes I have had to go back over with more bondo filler to repair. But if you do not have the time to make a proper repair you can use a hot glue gun. One word of advice though, DO NOT HEAT THE MATERIAL TOO QUICKLY---IT WILL CRUMBLE TO PIECES IN THE SURROUNDING AREAS.
Otherwise it'll be fine, so when you get home you can take a knife and crave that out and bondo it back properly.
#4 Take a shower and prep for the show!!
Now I'm not telling you what to do but it never fails that you get all suited up, your amped and ready to go, well guess what....now you're sweating. This can be your worst enemy in your armor!!! Human sweat does some interesting things to fiberglass and compounded with friction and heat well......lets just leave it at that.
The best thing you can do is before you put that under armor on roll your skin with BODY GLIDE. Now I know what you're thinking, and it's not like that at all. Body glide was designed for use under wet suits and for long term diving gear. Its also a great anti-chaff product and will help wick the sweat away once it hits your under armor.
Here is a link to this fine product:
https://www.amazon.com/Bodyglide-Original-Anti-Chafe-Balm-Packaging/dp/B005L8YVRO
I have used this for years with this costume and I hope my article helps you folks stay safe out there during cosplay.
Good luck and happy cosplaying!!!
