Iron Man MK 42 Pepakura Assembly Questions

[csmolins89]

So I am in the home stretch of creating my first pepakura helmet. I went with an Iron Man Mk 42 helmet. My question is once I get to the point where I am ready to resin/fiberglass the helmet, should I assemble the whole thing together or should I resin/fiberglass it in pieces and them assemble it. Right now there is the main part of the helmet the back part that would cover the bottom back of the skull and then the mask. This is my first attempt at something like this so I want to make sure that I do it right. Thanks!

 

[Jasonium]

Oh no, altogether - not bit by bit. Resin it first, let it dry overnight and then put your fibreglass mat inside the helmet. I once tried doing it piece by piece and it was a disaster.

 

[Psicorp7]

You can do it piece by piece if you use plenty of internal bracing to keep it from warping during the resin process. If you are making a three piece helmet this is the easiest and best way to go. Look up Pepakura bracing for resin and you will see what I mean. Add all your bracing (checking for fit to make sure all the pieces can still connect) then resin the parts and once the fiberglass hardens you can cut away the bracing and you have three separate parts! Sometime it is better to do some of your bondo before removing the bracing as well since it keeps the part stable for sanding. Good Luck!

 

[csmolins89]

So I have everything put together and I am starting to prepare a shopping list for the resin/fiberglassing portion of the project. Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations on whether I should use fiberglass resin vs epoxy resin? or are they the same thing. I've heard one is better than the other and with the epoxy resin i've heard that you don't run the risk of ruining the helmet? Anyone have any advice/wisdom they would like to share with me?

 

[csmolins89]

Anyone?

 

[Bogleo]

Anyone?

I used fiberglass resin on mine and it worked well. I don't know where you would buy epoxy resin without having to order it, but you can get fiberglass resin at a hardware store or something like Home Depot or Menards.

 

[Jasonium]

I ve only ever used polyester resin and it has always been fine. Good luck ps I ve just started a mk1.