Flexible alternatives to fiberglass resin?

[elementsnstuff]

Hello, everyone! I'm trying to make a shoe out of fiberglass, and it occurred to me that a rigid shoe would probably hurt to put on and walk around in. Therefore, is there any sort of flexible alternative to resin for shaping fiberglass? Would silicone work?

 

[Darth Lars]

"Fibreglass resin" is what you would call any resin you would use with fibreglass.

Polyester resin is only the most commonly used resin with fibreglass. The second common is epoxy. Some types of epoxy are more flexible and less brittle than polyester. But as long as you use fibreglass - which does not stretch when you pull it - the result will be rigid.
I would instead look at maybe casting the shoe out of some kind of rubber.

 

[BC-FX]

Try mixing talc with latex or pu rubber on its own no need for any glass matting

 

[elementsnstuff]

Problem is, I need something that can be sanded smooth after application. I can always smooth the inside with rubber or latex to make it wearable, but I'll never be able to actually put the prop on if it can't bend.
If I use less resin in the overall resin-fiberglass mixture, will the result be more flexible? I don't need it to stretch, just to bend.

 

[HighlanderFX]

Could try UreCoat (flexible urethane coating). It's what they put on fake branches for animals to play with in zoos or something like that..

 

[TazMan2000]

Perhaps you can use rubber/latex and fiberglass. You could make the shoe segmented.

TazMan2000

 

[swgeek]

They do make a flexible fiberglass resin. Not flexible like rubber but better than rigid.