Re: 3D Printed Samus Varia Suit
Okay, so lesson learned. Don't put bondo on worbla...at least not without roughing it up first with sandpaper. Bondo doesn't adhere to raw worbla so it just peels off. So far my tests of sanding worbla with 80 grit before applying the bondo appear to be working though. Previously, for the first thigh, I had applied a layer of wood glue before the bondo. While that seems to hold the bondo on it causes issues while sanding, mostly because the glue sands slower than the bondo which causes more bumps. What a headache.
I'll be spending the rest of today bondo'ing stuff, but I did a few other things recently:
I finished worbla'ing the first shin (reinforcing the inside and cleaning up edges and seams), then cut it in half. I haven't cleaned up the cut edges yet.
It's very, very snug; comfortable, but I'm a little concerned about fitting lights down the sides if it's pressed up right against my leg. There's no real easy way to make more space inside, so I started re-thinking the kind of lights I'll be using. I did a bit more research and now I have my hopes set on EL tape. I knew about this before but ruled it out because EL wire is very dim, so I assumed the same about EL tape. This tape, however, seems to be made more for commercial uses and I'm betting it's pretty bright, at least bright enough for me. I ordered a sample which should arrive in 1-2 weeks. I'm so excited to see it! It comes in different widths, can be cut, and comes in the
perfect color: "kryptonite".
If this works out this will make things SO much easier. *crosses fingers*
I also worbla'd the second bicep and both shoe tongues, which just leaves the last shin to worbla! I'm holding off on doing that until I figure out what exactly I'm doing with the lights.
Here you can see the right tongue has been roughed up:
And bondo applied to the inside:
I added detail grunge paint to the crevices of the first bicep, first shoe, and both halves of the forearm armor.
I figured out how to keep the two forearm halves together too. To keep them from moving around against each other I simply hot glued some worbla tabs on the inside, locking them in place when they're lined up. Later I'll add velcro, snaps, or elastic to keep the halves pressed together.