Rabbit's build

[TheRabbit]

Ok, another update!

I finished resining the outside of the chest, and rondo'd the interior parts that I could reach.

Here's the inside of the front of the chest:

Here's the inside of the back of the chest:

And here's a better picture of the crazy rigging contraption that I taped into the inside of the chest so that I could maneuver it around the way that I needed to. It has a handle on the bottom, and a latticework of string so that I can suspend it in a multitude of ways.

I'll test structural stability tomorrow, and if it holds up well I'll cut out the majority of the supports so that I can finish rondoing the interior. If all goes well I'll be done fiberglassing it by this weekend!

 

[DocDailey]

Holy hell dude! You REALLY don't want that s#!@ to warp do ya?!? I hope it works. As long as you're not doing it in 90deg weather outside in the sun, I think you'll be ok.

 

[TheRabbit]

Holy hell dude! You REALLY don't want that s#!@ to warp do ya?!? I hope it works. As long as you're not doing it in 90deg weather outside in the sun, I think you'll be ok.

No, of course not...
It's 106 outside.

As a side note, resin/rondo cures super fast when it's over 100 degrees.

 

[Carpathia]

No, of course not...
It's 106 outside.

As a side note, resin/rondo cures super fast when it's over 100 degrees.

That's a heck of a rig you got there! Hey, you've got to do what you've got to do, right?

Yeah, heat's a pain when working with resin and bondo. With heat like that, a drop or two of hardener is almost enough on it's own. When I was applying bondo on my boots, it was so hot the bondo was hardening inside 2 or 3 minutes. I ended up applying a dot of hardener cream and the finished bondo looked like I applied it straight out of the can.

 

[PigBenis]

I love this update . since im going to rondo my chest too without fieberglas . im so sick of fieberglas D::

 

[TheRabbit]

I'm just putting down an initial layer of rondo to help smooth out the cardstock and the tabs. I'll be fiberglassing over it. Multiple times.

 

[Carpathia]

I'm just putting down an initial layer of rondo to help smooth out the cardstock and the tabs. I'll be fiberglassing over it. Multiple times.

I was hoping that you were planning this! I was worried that the chest would be too brittle and heavy with all rondo. This is more or less what I plan to do with my chest as well.

 

[TheRabbit]

I'm planning on at least 3 layers of fiberglass in the chest. I want to be able to stand on it without any possibility of it breaking. With as much time and effort that I'm putting into my armor, I don't want it to crack/break because I leaned against a wall or bumped into a door frame.

 

[Carpathia]

I hear you. I plan on putting down a thin layer of rondo, then a layer of fiberglass cloth, then following it up with a layer of fiberglass mat (thicker stuff). The thing you have to worry about when leaning against a wall isn't really the armor collapsing or cracking, but the bondo layer on the outside scraping away.

 

[PigBenis]

I hear you. I plan on putting down a thin layer of rondo, then a layer of fiberglass cloth, then following it up with a layer of fiberglass mat (thicker stuff). The thing you have to worry about when leaning against a wall isn't really the armor collapsing or cracking, but the bondo layer on the outside scraping away.

exactly and if u have more layers you will need 2 rondos at least ... means the weight going damn high^^
Dont underestimate the fieberglas weight since resin is added .

 

[TheRabbit]

What do you mean that you will need 2 rondos at least? I intend to only put down the initial layer of rondo.

 

[PigBenis]

What do you mean that you will need 2 rondos at least? I intend to only put down the initial layer of rondo.

if you do so u have the spikey layer of fieberglas on the rondo layer . i dont think its that good :O if u use the spikey ones ...

 

[TheRabbit]

if you do so u have the spikey layer of fieberglas on the rondo layer . i dont think its that good :O if u use the spikey ones ...

I'm not sure what exactly you mean. After I do a layer of fiberglass the only "spikey" parts are where the fiberglass is sticking out of the model. Like here for example:

You can see the fiberglass strands sticking down out of the neck hole, and a little bit of them sticking up out of the visor hole. But those areas will simply be cut off, as you don't want sharp pointy strands of glass stabbing you.

Last night the weather outside was pretty bad, high winds + rain doesn't make for good conditions to rondo. I cut out almost all of the support structures and managed to pour 1 cup of rondo before things got too bad. So I went back inside and finished pepping the ab plate and attached the supports while watching Scott Pilgrim.

By the time I was done with that it had settled down outside, but it was getting late, so I did a layer of resin over the ab plate instead of working on the chest. I still had about an ounce of mixed resin left over after coating the outside of the ab plate, so I poured it into the inside and sloshed it around. I let it finish setting up over night and this morning it was in perfect shape and hard as a rock. I forgot to take pictures though :$

Tonight (weather permitting) I'll finish rondoing the chest, and while that cures I'll start fiberglassing the ab plate. I'll also make sure I get some pictures. :cool

 

[Carpathia]

if you do so u have the spikey layer of fieberglas on the rondo layer . i dont think its that good :O if u use the spikey ones ...

If you take your time while glassing to make sure that all the pieces of cloth are laid down, there will be no spikies. And even if a few work their way up, you can always take a dremmel to them after the resin in the fiberglass hardens. Two layers of rondo gets too heavy.

TheRabbit: Your fiberglass work looks great! You've been making excellent progress on this build. Keep it up!

 

[TheRabbit]

I finished 2 layers of fiberglass on the ab plate:

I want to see how strong it is once it's cured. I may do a 3rd layer since the piece is so easy to fiberglass. I'm super happy with how this piece turned out, I feel like it's easily my best fiberglass work so far.

I also finished rondoing the chest and began fiberglassing before I ran out of time:

I was working with the scraps that I had remaining after doing the ab plate, so I'm going to have to trim some of those strands that are sticking out before doing the next layer over it. Those big bubbles aren't air pockets, they're drips of rondo that splattered onto the back when I was doing the sides.

 

[Mstruvmgc]

Man the fiberglassing is looking great. Im afraid id mess stuff up if i glassed it lol but yours is bomb diggidy for sure lol

 

[RSpartain7]

Wow that's awesome! The fiber-glassing is perfect

 

[PigBenis]

im sorry i meant another fibreglas. im using a spike one ^^

Well it looks good anyway !

 

[TheRabbit]

Started looking at the electronics I'll need, so I'm just posting them here so I don't lose them:

Helmet fans:
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/F410T-05LC/563-1130-ND/1165524 5V, low dB, decent airflow, I'll likely use 2 of them.
Edit: Found a better fan:
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/FAD1-06025BBLW12/Q620-ND/2600074 5v, under 20 dB noise level, over 13 CFM, and only 0.40 W running power. It's also significantly cheaper than the other fan.

Helmet Flashlight LEDs:
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/C503C-WAS-CBADA151/C503C-WAS-CBADA151-ND/1922946 3.2V, 28150 mcd, 15° viewing angle, 2 of them directed straight forward on the helmet. Might be too bright.

Helmet/body glow LEDs:
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/C535A-WJN-CS0V0151/C535A-WJN-CS0V0151-ND/1956549 3.2V, 1885 mcd, 110° viewing angle, spread out on body where people typically mount their little glowy bits. I'm not positive that I want them yet, as it seems somewhat counterintuitive to what I want my build to end up like, I may go with no lights, or very dim glow lights.

I'm not sure what I'll do for body cooling yet, I've been working on a water cooled design, but it kind of depends on the undersuit I end up using, and I'm still working out the... kinks... If I can't get that figured out I found some awesome high CFM fans that I can mount in the chest to pump air through it:
http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/FFB0412UHN-CF00/603-1595-ND/2560718
But it also draws significant power, so batteries may become an issue. I also need to measure various parts of the chest and figure out where I'm going to mount them so I can decide which size fan I'm going to use.

I'm also considering wiring in a PA type system into the shoulders, but I need to do some further research on the power requirements and just how loud I can make it. At the same time I don't want to have to wear an extra 50 lbs of batteries just to power all this stuff. Compromises everywhere!

 

[Spartan_127]

Awesome job so far Rabbit. Loving the build. Keep up the good work and I can't wait to see more.