Urgent Help Required- Convention Coming Up!

[michaelarby]

Guys i've just found out theres a gaming convention at my university on 26-28th june.

Ive almost finished pepping my costume, but want to know how long each stage after that takes. ie. how long to resin a whole set of armour, how long to glass and how long to paint.

Id really like to finish my costume and attend (theres prizes!!)

i can work 4 hours per evening after work, and about 12 hours (or more!) per day at weekends!

i work out ive got approx 130 hours free to work on the costume.

im not goin to bondo the costume, but would like to know how long it will take to sand the outer resin coat.

any other time saving tips would be much appreciated!


SPECIFIC QUESTIONS:

1- how long to put a coat of resin on the costume (including 2 or 3 test pieces for practice)

2- since im not using bondo, should i put a second coat on the outside to smooth out bumps etc?

3- how long will it take to sand the outside?

4- How long to put a layer of fibreglass on the inside of the armour

5- How many layers (ideally) should I use?

6- how long does it take to put a coat of primer/paint onto a full set of armour, and how many coats can be applied per day?

7- is it very time consuming to add additional details to the paint job?

8- how long would a rudimentary strapping setup take to assemble? is glue/epoxy the fastest way to attach this to the armour?

9- how much fibreglass resin would i expect to use for the whole project?

cheers guys- i realise that many of these queries are probably answered in the stickies, but time is of the essence so dont have time to go searcing!

 

[Ender06]

Each piece takes different amounts of resin to coat, however, the cure time for resin is about half an hour to an hour (longer if its colder), usually you want two coats of resin, since you're not bondoing, that is the most time consuming part. Don't worry, you can get it done in that amount of time, as once you get pieces resined, others can be fiberglassed, and while the fiberglass is curing you can fiberglass OTHER pieces, and while those are curing, the 1st batch can be sanded/refiberglassed etc... once you get into it there is alot of work that can be done while you wait for other pieces to finish drying.

Say for example the chest -
1st coat of resin: 15 min to apply
1st coat to dry- 1 hour
2nd coat of resin : 15min to apply
2nd coat to dry - 1 hour
1st coat fiberglass 30 minutes to apply
1st coat fiberglass to dry - 1 hour
2st coat fiberglass 30 minutes to apply
2st coat fiberglass to dry - 1 hour
Sanding of outside - 10-20 minutes

However after the 1st coat is starting to dry, you can start working on other pieces, so there is alot of time overlap. I'm sure you can do it.

As for your questions
1: see above
2: you should ALWAYS have 2 coats on the outside and since you're not bondo-ing id say use 3 coats of resin on outside (so outer resin 1, outter resin 2, inner fiberglass 1 innerfiberglass 2, sand outer resin2, outer resin 3, sand outter resin 3
3: see above
4:see above
5: either 1 or 2, if you use fiberglass MAT 1-2 is enough, if you use fiberglass CLOTH atleast 2+
6: about an hour to apply a coat of primer to everything, if its layed out and ready to go, infinite number of times, usually it says to recoat within an hour, or wait 24 hours.
7: no, its easy, and its worth it.
8: nylon webbing straps, hot glue, and buckles, not long, alot of eyeballing and burning your fingers. Maybe a few hours.
9: depending on how many layers you use, 2 resin outside, 2 fiberglass inside; around 2 gallons of resin, with 4-5 packs of fiberglass if you can use the fiberglass smartly.

 

[michaelarby]

Aww thats fantastic mate thanks. i assume each pack of fibreglass is 1 square metre/yard right?

 

[Ender06]

Depending on where you buy it over here in the US, I've seen it as 8 - 9 sq feet (so .74 - .84 sq meters).

 

[sharkhead7854]

I agree, Enders info looks accurate
1 thing though, I use fiberglass cloth and with 1 layer my parts are practically indestructable. Of course nothing's wrong with 2 layers but I don't personally see that as %100 necessary, especially if you're on a very small time limit. Unless of course it's a piece that will go through stress, like the cod piece if you need to sit.

 

[Loves hina]

Yah, ive started with my fiberglassing and with one layer of fiberglass on the inside with cloth it is very strong. Im probably going to switch to mat for some of the larger peices and maybe double layer a few peices, like the cod peice. But i also wouldnt see it as completely necessary to double layer, especially with your given time limit. All the other info seems accurate.

 

[michaelarby]

cheers- guys- yeah i can always add a second layer after the convention to strengthen it all- it shouldnt see too much punishment at this convention but halloween could be a different story!

 

[skaarj69]

good luck and go hard dude hope it looks mint.

mmmm prizes u cares wat they are, own those newbs

 

[adventchildmatrix]

word of warning mate we cant get FG cloth over here in the we get fibreglass tissue so i would put a minimum of two layers if ur only using the tissue and for the cod minimum of 4

 

[Smeagle]

good luck i how y make the deadline win some fabulose (incorect spelling) prizes and y send some my way

 

[michaelarby]

word of warning mate we cant get FG cloth over here in the we get fibreglass tissue so i would put a minimum of two layers if ur only using the tissue and for the cod minimum of 4

I was able to find cloth on ebay- 12 quid for 3sqm, but the resin is lookin to be really expensive. i can only find wee tins in halfords, and a lot of the big tins on ebay arent delivered to ireland!

 

[rowan]

All hardware stores should stock polyester resin... at least they do here in aus.

 

[SavvyTank]

if i remember correctly ender06 used hot glue for the cod peace so that way it would not grind as much on his inner thie. when its painted you cant tell that its hot glue(or at lest i couldint) that might save you some time. you should PM him and ask about that.

 

[Soul Drinker]

So did you finish? Let me know after the con..I was in the same boat as you, started like a week earlier and my con was last weekend. I hope it went well!!