Time for the resin! (help please?)

[Sword Breaker]

Good day ladies and gentleblokes!
Hoping you are having a great one!
So i have finished my pep work, finished assembling the floating faces and determined where they go and im ready for resin!
I've seen a couple of tutorials on the forum and on youtube but i suppose that keeping them all in one place will not only be helpful for me but for everyone, newbs and vets alike.

So. . what should i do?
Im terrible with "measure x number of ounces of hardnener per y nymber of resin ounces" so S.I (Metric) system would be prefferable! Yeah yeah, i know. "you europeans and your commie measurement system"
Moving on, im currently looking for popsicle sticks for support but how exactly am i to use them?
I mean, i have heard numerous people talking about how useful they are but never read about HOW you actually use them.


I am planning on starting tommorow if all goes well.
Once again, thanks, everyone
Cheers!

 

[Fudz073]

As far as the resin goes, just follow the instructions. All resin after time will harden regardless if the hardener is added (I have plenty of old cans of solid resin in my garage that can attest to that!!!). With that being said, you may be waiting days for it cure. With the hardener, the more you add, the quicker the resin cures. So, depending on what your doing (ie: sealing or fiberglassing) that will determine how much hardener you add. For me, when sealing pepakura, is use a little more hardener to quicken things up since I'm just brushing a quick coat over the paper. However, when fiberglassing, I'll use a little less hardener to give me more working time. All in all, just follow the instructions on the can. Get a feel on how the resin works for you and adjust your next batch accordingly. It'll take a few applications before you get a feel of how the resin behaves and how you can use for your purposes.

Now on the popsicle sticks. When I use them, i fit them inside my pep to add some temporary structure. This will help prevent an deformation while applying the fiberglass resin. Here's a pic of a helmet I did some years ago (time flies!). Balsa wood works just fine as well.


Hope I could answer some your questions. And good luck with the build. Hope to see some pics soon!

73!

Fudz

 

[CEMETERY WIND]

Well the way I do it is simple, and its in small amounts, 1 millimeter( I think) with 9-10 drops of hardener , you can use a baby's bottle which should have millimeters and ounces marked on it, works perfectly for me.

 

[mux213]

Swordbreaker, don't make the mistake I did and start with the helmet I'm sure you'll have it easier then me using normal resin but I've found a bit of practice on something small pays off.

As for mixing the right amounts, I grew up with the metric system too but its been awhile since I last used polyester resin. Don't remember it being particularly tricky but it did help that the measurements on the pack were in metric for me. Start with making a small amount (which is a good idea anyway) and see where it gets you. You'll soon find out what a workable amount of hardener is for the amount of resin you've got and work from there.

 

[CEMETERY WIND]

Also a very useful tip I use when fiberglassing the inside , use super or hot glue to stick the fiber mats inside the pep to keep them from falling out of place, saves alot more time since the mixtures cure fast.

 

[Sword Breaker]

Swordbreaker, don't make the mistake I did and start with the helmet I'm sure you'll have it easier then me using normal resin but I've found a bit of practice on something small pays off.

As for mixing the right amounts, I grew up with the metric system too but its been awhile since I last used polyester resin. Don't remember it being particularly tricky but it did help that the measurements on the pack were in metric for me. Start with making a small amount (which is a good idea anyway) and see where it gets you. You'll soon find out what a workable amount of hardener is for the amount of resin you've got and work from there.

Actually, i already started. I made a small bach just to see how much i would need and i founnd that in the container i used (diameter is roughly 10cm) 1mm of resin and three drops of hardener are perfect for a good slow dry. i can work it for about 10 minutes and then it starts getting a tad too sticky. I started with the seam on the back of the neck up to about the front border of the neck hole and i have absolutely zero warping watsoever!
However, i did apply some REAALLY thin layers of it so it could be that. ill just apply a thin layer all over it first, to make sure its sturdy and ill try to get a bit more on the next two layers (i plan on doing 3 layers total)
All in all, im happy with my first day with resin
Also, i just checked your post, and damn. . . thats too bad that your helmet had so much warping. . . I really hope you can fix it!
All the best mate,
cheers!

- - - Updated - - -

Also a very useful tip I use when fiberglassing the inside , use super or hot glue to stick the fiber mats inside the pep to keep them from falling out of place, saves alot more time since the mixtures cure fast.

So you are suggesting rather than using fiberglass resin with the mats to use glue? I can see how that would work if i also just made another layer of fiberglass but it may not provide the same amount of support.

 

[CEMETERY WIND]

No just use dots of glue to hold the fiber mats in place, then resin the rest.

 

[mux213]

Also, i just checked your post, and damn. . . thats too bad that your helmet had so much warping. . . I really hope you can fix it!

I fixed the top, back and most of the side (though the right still moves out a bit to much) but the top front is slightly angled. I'm still finishing the helmet though to test going through the next stages and treating it as a learning project. I'm planning to do shins next and try out some ideas to see how better to apply the resin without warping it.