Are you using fiberglass resin for pepakura props?

[glarks]

Here's a link I found How To Use PEPAKURA For Costume Building- Part 1 -( New INTRO) - YouTube that has a series of 7 videos on the whole process that is very interesting if you are just starting out. It was posted by another member and it goes through step by step. Hope it helps.

 

[DonaldDarth]

thank you thank you
thanks everyone
I'll try my best

 

[wickedoffroad]

Welcome to the group. One solution for the gun would to use a resin or similar product on the outside to make a solid shell. Then get a minimal expanding foam, put two small openings, on either end and spray some foam in. Use the minimal expanding so you dont blow apart the gun. will harden rock solid. Work well for holding wires and such in place as well.

 

[Contec]

Not too hard. If your gun has an open end, like the part where the bullet is supposed to come out, just mix a batch of resin, and pour it in. Then turn it around a while, until you think the entire inside is covered. You can then either pour the excess resin out, or let it go into the handle, so that the handle is solid.

This is something i have been doing for a couple props and it works great.

However I do it a little differently. I build the pep with the tabs on the outside but i don't use resin on the outside. Then when the pep is finished i cut a little hole at one side and pour resin inside and slush it around until it cured, then i put the whole thing in a bucket of water so that the paper will start to dissolve, then i can sand it so all the paper is gone.

 

[Ghost Host]

I did one pep helmet recently, and needed it to be the finished helmet... no molding and casting... so it needed to still be relatively lightweight for the wearer, and I used (what I had on hand already) polyester laminating resin and fiberglass. I resin-ed the paper (card stock) first so it was stiffer, and then glassed the inside with one overlapping layer of once-and-a-half fiberglass mat. Then sanded and filled the outside (sparingly) as needed. It worked great!

 

[Djymm]

Any tips for protection against warping from the heat of fibreglass?

 

[PepMaster]

There really is'nt much you can do, it's just trial and error.

 

[pandamajik]

Any tips for protection against warping from the heat of fibreglass?

I've seen a lot of people build in supports with popsicle sticks or something else stiff. You run these across areas that could potentially warp and it should help to keep some of the structure.

 

[robn1]

Any tips for protection against warping from the heat of fibreglass?

You can try a slow setting laminating epoxy. It will produce very little heat. I'll be using this for my phaser build Durable Epoxy Laminating Systems from Smooth-On, Inc.

 

[Forge]

hello, hopefully I am not hijacking this thread but I have a similar question,
I am not hoping to wear the helmet but use it for display. Is there an alternate
way of making the helmet solid. I saw somewhere that a helmet was filled with some material and when hardened the helmet was dropped in warm water to remove the outer pep cardboard, then the helmet was sanded smooth. Can anyone help with describing this process better, thanks

 

[92bagder]

quick question, Im attempting my first halo armor build for Halloween, but I also want to use it as a prop for films. so my question: is the fiberglass build sturdy enough to do light stunts in?

 

[666]

Question:
when you brush the resin to the paper model, you don't bend, destroy the shape?
How do you prevent this to happen?
thx

 

[Crank729]

Question:
when you brush the resin to the paper model, you don't bend, destroy the shape?
How do you prevent this to happen?
thx

If you are using card stock instead of regular paper, it should absorb the resin fine, but it also depends on the temperature. It is really something that comes from using the material.

 

[666]

thanks. I read about using card stock, but was curious, thank you

 

[Lord Magneto]

I've been using 110lb card stock and it seems to hold up fine when I use resin.

 

[EamonClark]

Thank you for clearing up that the fiberglassing resin is used on both the inside and outside. I wasn't sure if there was a difference between them.

 

[crabra comander]

Hey guys, so I just covered my card stock pep in mod podge! Is it ruined?
I need to use aqua resin since I want to work on this with the kids and need something non-toxic.

 

[Grave]

most of us have moved on from using fiberglass. its too messy and expensive.
most people now are using EVA foam sheets. they are a lot cheaper, more of it and easier to build at any time of the year. oh, and no fumes that are toxic and explosive.
look into it. all you need is hot glue and good paint. takes a lot less time to get something built.
Stealth has a good thread and tutorial on it.

 

[crabra comander]

most of us have moved on from using fiberglass. its too messy and expensive.
most people now are using EVA foam sheets. they are a lot cheaper, more of it and easier to build at any time of the year. oh, and no fumes that are toxic and explosive.
look into it. all you need is hot glue and good paint. takes a lot less time to get something built.
Stealth has a good thread and tutorial on it.

:thumbsup OK so I can print the peps then outline them on the foam, cut and heat to fold right? I taking baby steps with all this...

 

[Dancin_Fool]

Hey guys, so I just covered my card stock pep in mod podge! Is it ruined?
I need to use aqua resin since I want to work on this with the kids and need something non-toxic.

That totally depends, as long as it hasn't warped you should be fine with the mod podge coat. If nothing else that will water proof it and add a very tiny bit of strength.

If you're trying to keep things non toxic you can coat the inside of the piece with cheese cloth and pva glue. As an alternative to body filler on the outside to smooth the piece you could have a look at paper-mache clay. It's a non toxic easy to form material that dries with a little bit of strength. Paper Mache Clay

Keep in mind with the non-toxic alternatives you won't get the same kind of strength as fiberglass and resin but as long as you don't go out of your way to damage it, it will be fine.