Best thing to use to fill a big neck hole?

[Ramirez]

OK, i bought a hollow fibreglass mannequin on ebay and cut the head off so i could put my Sean Connery lifecast on it.
( The head is solid with a pole coming out of the bottom of the neck as i was intending to fill in the hole on the torso ).

However, the neck hole is slightly bigger than the neck of my Connery head.
I've tried using fibre glass matting to cover the hole but it just won't stick and sags in the middle.

Any ideas about what else can i try?

 

[franz bolo]

Any pics? I can't tell what your issue is from your description.

FB

OK, i bought a hollow fibreglass mannequin on ebay and cut the head off so i could put my Sean Connery lifecast on it.
( The head is solid with a pole coming out of the bottom of the neck as i was intending to fill in the hole on the torso ).

However, the neck hole is slightly bigger than the neck of my Connery head.
I've tried using fibre glass matting but it just won't stick and it sags in the middle.

Any ideas about what else can i try?

 

[Ramirez]

Any pics? I can't tell what your issue is from your description.

FB

I'll take some now.

 

[hankey01]

If I am understanding this right..can you make some plastic strips that you glue to the inside of the hole (hold in place with a clamp while drying)? Then you have a 'lap strip' that makes the hole smaller and the neck of your Connery bust will sit on these strips..and you can glue it on and fill the gaps.

If I understood correctly.

 

[Ramirez]

Then you have a 'lap strip' that makes the hole smaller and the neck of your Connery bust will sit on these strips..and you can glue it on and fill the gaps.

If I understood correctly.

That's pretty much correct, except i was trying to do it using fibre glass strips across the top of the hole, then i was going drill a hole for the pole to go through and screw through the mannequin into the pole to keep it all secure

 

[DL 44 Blaster]

why not just cram a tightly packed wad of newspaper into the local area to be 'glassed over? You could pour the resin down into it to really soak in, then lay the matting on top once the newspaper dried. Then you could drill it out to accommodate the new head.

It doesn't need to be pretty, just functional right?

 

[Ramirez]

why not just cram a tightly packed wad of newspaper into the local area to be 'glassed over? You could pour the resin down into it to really soak in, then lay the matting on top once the newspaper dried. Then you could drill it out to accommodate the new head.

It doesn't need to be pretty, just functional right?

Unfortunately the whole torso is hollow, so i don't think it would work.

 

[DL 44 Blaster]

You could lightly fill it up with bubble wrap then as it became more full use newspaper to pack more tightly. :confused

 

[Sidewinder]

Cover/seal neck hole (WELL!) with parcel tape, then upend it and pour resin in. Remove tape once resin gone off, sand flat and drill hole.
If you measure the neck dia and how thick you want the 'plug' u could use a cylinder calculation to roughly guess how much resin you'll need.

SAS

 

[Ramirez]

You could lightly fill it up with bubble wrap then as it became more full use newspaper to pack more tightly. :confused

Good point, i can give it a try and see.

 

[DL 44 Blaster]

Cover/seal neck hole (WELL!) with parcel tape, then upend it and pour resin in. Remove tape once resin gone off, sand flat and drill hole.
If you measure the neck dia and how thick you want the 'plug' u could use a cylinder calculation to roughly guess how much resin you'll need.

SAS

I like this idea a lot. The only thing that scares me as was said is to make sure you get that hole closed TIGHT before upending the torso and having the resin make a puddle.

If you got a couple of inches of solid, hardened resin in the neck it would be more than strong enough to hold up the head.

 

[Sidewinder]

Instead of tape u could use a plasticard/cardboard 'cap' and epoxy or silicone seal it to the neck. Also whatever 'cap' u use u could pour a small amount in initially to form a seal and then add more resin once the initial pour has gelled.

SAS

 

[00MrNotWrong00]

I would get a coffee tin and cut the bottom out of it, so you have a one inch tall dish.

I'd cover the dish with a release agent then fill it 1/4 inch with resin. Then stand the hollow manikin upside down with the neck hole in the dish, leaning against a wall so the resin will harden nice and inline with your hole.

After the resin hardens up you can remove the coffee tin and trim the resin and paint.

 

[00MrNotWrong00]

Cover/seal neck hole (WELL!) with parcel tape, then upend it and pour resin in. Remove tape once resin gone off, sand flat and drill hole.
If you measure the neck dia and how thick you want the 'plug' u could use a cylinder calculation to roughly guess how much resin you'll need.

SAS

Some how I missed this ?

I like this idea too.

 

[Ramirez]

Thanks for all the ideas.

 

[clonesix]

I am going to assume that the torso is one piece and you can't access the interior. So it will be difficult to come in from the other side, let alone pour resin into the cavity. So you will need to work from the outside of the hole.

Cut out a small disk out of cardboard, cardstock, or use and old CD. As long as the disk is larger in diameter than the neck hole. Place the disk into the neck 1/4" below the top and hot glue in place. You now have a solid surface to build upon. Add a layer or two of fiberglass to cover the disk and fill the opening. Bondo and snd smooth.

 

[Contec]

Fill the body up with Expandible foam then cut and fill the head seam with bondo. And if you dont want to use as much foam you could make some paper balls and fill it with and then use the foam.

 

[Ramirez]

I am going to assume that the torso is one piece and you can't access the interior. So it will be difficult to come in from the other side, let alone pour resin into the cavity. So you will need to work from the outside of the hole.

Cut out a small disk out of cardboard, cardstock, or use and old CD. As long as the disk is larger in diameter than the neck hole. Place the disk into the neck 1/4" below the top and hot glue in place. You now have a solid surface to build upon. Add a layer or two of fiberglass to cover the disk and fill the opening. Bondo and snd smooth.

Yes, the torso is 1 piece but there is a hole in the waist ( where it attaches to the lower body ) which i can pour resin through.

Fill the body up with Expandible foam then cut and fill the head seam with bondo. And if you dont want to use as much foam you could make some paper balls and fill it with and then use the foam.

I did think about using expanding foam but i'm not sure how strong it would be. I'll see how it goes with the other options first.

 

[DL 44 Blaster]

The expanding foam would work, but that stuff can be tricky with some types expanding many times their original size. I don't know if it would even cure if applied in such a thick, dense layer all at once and might need multiple layers so it would cure.