Non-functional Pep Armor For Dispaly Only

[Toki]

I'm new to pepakura and armor making and I have a question for you guys.
I am currently working on Iron-Man and Predator helmets, and would like to move on to Gears of War, Halo and Star Wars helmets. All of the info here is for wearable, functional pepakura armor... things like durability and how well it fits seems to be a large part of the construction process.
I, however, have interest in display only. I'll never wear any of it, and it'll go on a shelf and never move.
I am thinking about skipping the fiberglass step completely, as it appears to be expensive, messy and dangerous (dust and so on). I'm thinking of applying several thin layers of bondo to the outside until it's pretty thick and rigid, then sanding it all smooth and painting.
Does that seem reasonable? I'm afraid the bondo on the cardstock will warp everything or be too brittle and snap while I'm working on it. After I've finished painting and so on they'll go on a shelf behind glass and never move.
Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas? Maybe some more practical alternatives?

Also, I am working on papercraft items like the Pulse Rifle from Aliens and the Dethphone from Metalocalypse. These papercraft items have the designs and colors printed on the outside. Is there a way to fill these things up to make them solid or more rigid? I've searched several times and an expanding foam has been suggested, but is that stuff wet? Would it ruin the cardstock, since there is no bondo or fiberglass involved? And would it expand and burst the paper models?
Thanks for any advice.

 

[BlindRascal]

Didn't read all of what you said, but I'm pretty sure you have to at least fiberglass it for support.

But then I might have seen someone who didn't fiberglass it and just bondoed it.


Although its going to be super flimsy and you won't be able to do much, but you may be able to do it. I'll just shutup.

 

[sirblood]

I wouldn't just use bondo filler for the helmets as its essentially covering it in a brittle brick substance. You will find the filler to be very expensive. You will want to use resin as it won't save you any money doing it the other way. Using fiberglass is up to you, but it will prevent a single crack from breaking the thing in 1/2. I would instead apply the extra coats to the inside, as you would otherwise just have to sand it all off on the sanding step.

 

[jawshwaa]

i would suggest that you still fiber glass it for strength and only apply a lil bondo on the helm to get details...and if you dont want to wear it just fill it full of expanding foam...also can you pm me with a link for the pdo for the dethphone?i love dethklok

 

[Remraf]

A less dangerous and messy method is casting Smooth Cast 300 into your pep. I've tried both and I'd go for the Smooth Cast any day. Here is a tutorial that is very helpful if you are interested.

 

[Dancin Fool]

If you want to avoid the fiberglass and you don't need a ton of strength you could use cut up dish rags with resin. Of course that doesn't get you around the dangerous resin fumes.
An alternative could be something like Vanillacryl. It's a foam hardening agent which I used on my foam Iron Man costume, however on the website it lists paper mache as one of it's uses so it might work on pepakura.
It's non toxic and can be brushed on, though it is water based so you may need to spray some form of sealant on to your pieces.

 

[XRobots]

You could try Aqua Resin ( http://www.aquaresin.com/ ) if you're in the US (or Jesmonite if you're in the UK/EU http://www.propbuilder.co.uk/jesmonite-testing.html ). These are water based non-toxic resins, and as someone else mentioned you could use dish cloths (or any cloth) if you don't want to use glass fibre either.

 

[Toki]

Thanks for the quick responses. It helps a lot.
Here's the Dethphone if anyone is interested. It's a papercraft .pdf and not .pdo. If you print it with a quality printer and do some extra work, it can look great.
http://paperkraft.blogspot.com/2009/01/met...-dethphone.html

I'm going to research Vanillacryl and Smooth Cast 300 a little before I do anything else. Thanks for the tips.
I live in an apartment complex and I don't really have a workshop or anywhere I'm willing to stink up or release toxic fumes. With all the snow here, everyone would pretty much be trapped inside with it. I may wait until everything thaws then take it to a local park to work.

 

[jawshwaa]

sweet thanx man for the deth phone...i got some old walet chains that can help me finish it...and my companion cube is the same way...

edit...but it wont let me download the dethphone.....help the noob!!!!

 

[Toki]

sweet thanx man for the deth phone...i got some old walet chains that can help me finish it...and my companion cube is the same way...

edit...but it wont let me download the dethphone.....help the noob!!!!

Try this link:
http://billybob884.deviantart.com/art/Deth...mbled-108693356
There's a small download link to the left.

 

[Spartan 051]

Toki you should look up Epoxy Resin. Sure it cost alittle more ($10 or $20 more) but it acts the same way a Polyester Resin but its completely safe to work in doors.

EDIT: Same junk that used to fiberglass surf boards

 

[mkshane81]

Is this Toki from the epic games forums? Everyone so far has great input. I would personally go the less expensive route and fiberglass the inside for strength and just bondo the outside to smooth and for detail purposes. If all your doing is the helmet, you won't have near the cost involved as you would doing an entire set of armor.

 

[Toki]

Yeah, this is Toki from the Gears boards.

I'm going to look into epoxy resin now, too. Thanks for that suggestion.
I bought a half gallon of bondo a few months ago while I was building a proton pack but never used it. I think I bought the wrong kind and it was pretty steeply priced (around $25) so... maybe I can get wal-mart to take it back.

 

[Balthezar]

I'd go with Humboldt's plan. Fill it with expanding foam. that stuff is hard and lightweight, and will certainly strenthen and stiffen the outside. Its much quicker and safer than resin. Though, I would resin everything with at least one layer, and bono key peices.

If you're putting on display and it doesnt have to fit you, you probrbaly wont have to mess with scale. (depending on the author(s) you use). A full-scale MC suit would be nice to see.

 

[box o crayons]

expanding foam really requires no resin as its very forgiving if it has such a large hole to come out of (the bottom) but putting resin will allow you to paint it and give it some uniform smoothness