Strength of fiberglass vs. smooth-on

[phenry]

So my Mark 6 has been through quite a bit of "combat" since I finished it back in '09, so much so it's at the point of needing a complete overhaul. I was debating between these two options:

1) Bondo any imperfections, then mold and cast every single armor piece.

2) Repair with fiberglass and bondo and repaint.

If the molded armor won't be any stronger (I laid down the fiberglass pretty thick the first time through, it's mainly just the edges that have been damaged), I'll just stick with hauling myself around in fiberglass.

Oh, and here's the armor, since pics always make threads better:

 

[Liq]

slush insides with Smoothcast, doctor up the outsides with repairs and be done with it. I did this with my daughters suit. It was fast, easy and the thing is hard as a rock. The edges wouldn't be so sharp like they are with just using fiberglass so it would be less prone to breaking if at all. The only negative to this would be if you had any tighter fitting pieces they would possibly not fit after strengthening.

I love pouring smoothcast in pep, and that's the method I'm using from now on. Damn having to work with fiberglass and other toxic crap if you don't have to.

oh, and welcome back

 

[ventrue]

Damn having to work with fiberglass and other toxic crap if you don't have to.

You do realise that SmoothCast isn't exactly non-toxic either, right?

 

[Liq]

You do realise that SmoothCast isn't exactly non-toxic either, right?

yeah maybe if you drink it...

 

[ventrue]

yeah maybe if you drink it...

Breathing the vapours works, too. They are there, you just can't smell them.

But we've already had that discussion here many times and I won't argue with you if you insist that it's safe.

 

[Liq]

I'm not here to argue the safety levels of Smoothcast 320 with you, but it is NOWHERE near as toxic as resin is what I'm getting at. I don't think building a couple pieces of hobby armor with it is going to give you any ailments. i would wear gloves though as I did have quite an experience when some got on me arm . I also wore a simple dust mask with goggles to sand mine just to keep from breathing in dust particles or getting it in my eyes.

 

[killerownz11]

^ me to outside on a windy day is when i do my chemicals, I use Rondo though (REALLY NICE ARMOUR BTW

 

[phenry]

slush insides with Smoothcast, doctor up the outsides with repairs and be done with it. I did this with my daughters suit. It was fast, easy and the thing is hard as a rock. The edges wouldn't be so sharp like they are with just using fiberglass so it would be less prone to breaking if at all. The only negative to this would be if you had any tighter fitting pieces they would possibly not fit after strengthening.

I love pouring smoothcast in pep, and that's the method I'm using from now on. Damn having to work with fiberglass and other toxic crap if you don't have to.

oh, and welcome back

Not ever having to deal with fiberglass again would be wonderful. I think the plan for this summer is to totally redo my thighs, shins, and forearms, since all of those are either way too damaged (shins) or unsymmetrical and could look a bit more like the Halo 3 screenshots (forearms and thighs). I'm pepping the shins with a new file that came out after I finished my armor, and going from scratch with matboard for the thighs and forearms. Everything else just needs a little bit of touch up and strengthening around the perimeter.

Oh, and I'm going to attempt an accurate undersuit/harness, hopefully it'll keep things together a lot better than my previous one. Now on to find my old thread, which is probably full of broken links...

 

[Liq]

yeah, the old threads are pretty broken since the move. I need to work on a decent undersuit as well since thats the only noticeable place I feel my setup is lacking really. On the thighs I would go soft foam for the inner black area for sure. I did the kid set in it with that black foam mat stuff and they worked great, and she said they were comfortable. I might do something similar to mine. I'm also with you on building forearms too. Mine are a bit tight at the wrist even with my girl hands. I need a bigger set but man I HATE pepping those things out. I might just end up getting a 2 piece cast from Thor or something, haha.

oh, and the newer shin file is pretty awesome, and there is minimal bondo work involved plus they look great, very detailed.