Tips on Fiberglassing

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Well, here are some tips to make fiberglassing neater and quicker. These will all be included in the tutorial I will post (Before Halloween)

Tips:

1. Fiberglass the inside of the helmet/armor. You keep detail that way, and it is structurally more sound.

2. Use Krylon Spray Adhesive to attach ALL fiberglass cloth to armor BEFORE resining. This way nothing slides and you get it all neat. Just lay the piece of cloth on the ground, do a two second spray coating the whole side, then let get sticky for about 15 seconds. Position in helmet, adjust, then smooth into dips and edges with back of (gloved) pointer finger.

3. When your gloves get too sticky from the Krylon, change them out for a clean pair.
To clean up the mess of bits of fiberglass cloth, give a gloved hand a spritz of adhesive, then use hand like a cloth. When the hand isn't sticky, spritz again. Then pull glove over its self to keep mess contained!
 
i could have used these a few weeks ago!! :mad:
but seriously, those are good tips

Edit: just thought i'd add that you can use gasoline or fingernail polish remover to help get rid of resin where its not supposed to be, although it wont take it off without a fight. Also, to help prevent ruining your spouse's or mom's measurement tools, simply plan out the amount of resin you will use, measure that amount in water, and pour it into a plastic cup. then you can use a sharpie to mark the level, and dry it and use it to measure resin!
 
Well Put. I think i bought another Adhensive but it's annoying when I apply it, gets really messy.

Do you have to Resin (Let it Dry), then apply fiberglass, resin the fiberglass. Is it really necessary to do the Resin (Let it Dry) Part?
 
For step 2, can't I apply a quick layer of resin to the inside, then lay down a cloth, then resin ontop?
 
dsurge .... Yes...

I am not sure using spray adhesive to pre attach the mat or cloth to the inside is a great idea, as the resin may not attach properly to the inside surface of your helm because of the layer of adhesive... but then again it may, I have just never professionally applied mat this way. I suppose it could work, good idea for someone less expereinced with laying glass... it can be messy.. you get better with practice..
 
lol you people could have told me these things 3 days ago when i fiberglassed my helm.. now i've got a bunch of air pockets in it
 
Yeah the whole point of the spray adhesive is to not do it the messy resin first way, plus it makes the whole resin the fiberglass part a lot quicker.

As to the question above bout if you need to resin the paper before you fiberglass, most people do, but idk why. I think it is to improve the adhesion between the fiberglass and paper.

Heres another tip:

By frequently changing gloves, you prevent the fiberglass from pulling apart on your fingers. Magic!
 
Oh and bout what Spase said bout it messing with the resin adhesion...no problems. Most of the liquid part of the adhesive dissapears/evaporates as it drys, leaving nothing noticeable.Actually bc the fiberglass cloth stays put you get more solid armor. You'll see how it works in my tut...soon...
 
blakiki said:
duz anyone kno much about fiberglass tape? is it as sturdy? how many layers do you reccomend?

It's sturdy but it's designed for reinforcing seams and corners. It's nice to keep the cloth even but I wouldn't recommend using it on a large scale for time and money reasons.

Normal old fiberglass cloth is easy to work with if you have a sharp pair of scissors

-Vex
 
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Also, the tape is actually no longer fiberglass, hence it dosn't asorb resin as well as fiberglass. Also, the weave is not as dense, so it adds little strength.
 
would it be possible for you to maybe post some pics on this topic? ive followed your directions alot and have ruined some armor. i would really like to SEE it step by step.
 
heres a big question i needed to know about. How resistant to heat is fiberglass resin or with the cloth?

here is why i ask im making a CQB helm and the visor is a seprate piece and i had a idea that i could make the visor outta pep and then resin it and then find some plastic and heat it up to a flexible state and then form it around the visor piece. that way they visor would be a perfect match.
 
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