Pepakura: Alternatives to Fiberglass

cayman shen

cayman shen

Master Member
Over at the 405th, someone long ago posted a tutorial on using hot glue inside your pep armor. Strengthen the inside and outside with fiberglass resin, as usual, then hot glue the heck out of the inside. A bit flexible, but if you're careful, your outer Bondo won't crack.

Someone else tried modge podge, whatever that is.

I've read of people using smooth-on products.

Can you just bondo the inside?

What are the alternatives to fiberglass? I want to cut down on the mess and bother associated with glassing a piece. I want less toxic, less hassle, and cheaper, preferably. Anyone had any luck with a fiberglass alternative that they can share (with pics, preferably?)
 
There is something that is like fiberglas called Aquaglass or something.... Don't remember much about it but it info is on 405th forum. Its a non toxic resin type.
 
AquaGlass is a water-based resin. Goes by a different name over in England - Jesmonite.

Jesmonite is considered a low hazard material. The finished composite emits no toxic fumes. The mixing process requires no harmful solvents. However, the mixing should be performed with rubber gloves, eye protection, and dust mask, and should take place in a well-ventilated area. Cleanup is performed with water.
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Seems to be good stuff from what I've heard other say.
 
I've tried Papier Mache...

Simply scrap paper and PVA glue I'd avoid the old flour paste method for any costume you want to wear twice. It worked OK but if you tried to go too quickly the card model would collapse and go mushy.

You could probably get around that by starting with thicker card (400gsm or heavier) I was using 200 which was the max that would go through my printer. You also have to make sure taht you let it dry thouroughly betwen layers of paper (again with the mushiness). Another optionI considered was to laminate 2 layers of 200 gsm card together with waterproof glue that way if one layer inadvertently became saturated by the papier mache the other could still provide suppot until it dried.

If you get to 3-4 layers of paper and have it thoroughly dry you'll have a pretty tough piece that will take filling and sanding O.K. and is actually pretty light... of course it will need a lot of sealing inside and out.

My new preferrence is medium quick set (5-7 min), medium viscosity Polyurethane slush cast into the cardboard components. I've had reasonable success doing the handplates and shoulder bells of a Pepakura Stromtrooper designed by Dung0beetle. but ran out ot polyurethane and had to switch back to epoxy & glass for the rest of the build. Polyurethane is probably one of the less toxic of the common resins that prop builders use but I'd still treat it with respect and it's not a cheap option. The stuff I'll be using costs about twice as much as the epoxy I use... but its a faster and lighter build since, if you pick the right polyurethane you don't need to add fibreglass.

So there are plusses other than cost.
 
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I've tried using shell shock instead of resin but it sets pretty quick and quite thick, so it's not great for details. I've also used smooth cast on the insides (like a slush mould) and then simply bondo'd the outer and it's worked pretty well for me. It might be nice to give the jesmonite a go though.
 
I know smooth on has this thing called plasti-paste. Its supposed to support the mother mold but I am sure that with the right amount of skill and creativity it will be a better alternative to fiberglassing.
 
If you're just making a master then then all the alternative ways work pretty well. If you actually intend to wear the piece though, I would only recommend fiberglass for durability.

Easiest and cheapest thing to do would probably be to mix a little bondo and resin together to make rondo and slush cast the inside that way. Decently wearable and easy to work with, cut/shape whatever.

Hell I even just sprayed the inside of my Fallout helmet (see avatar) with truck bed liner to harden it up so I could finish the master (Had to work inside in December so the usual suspects weren't an option and too cheap to use my good casting resin). I didn't do it for a wearable piece though.
 
Slush-casting some urethane casting resin inside the part is one of the better ways I've tried. A one quart trial kit of smooth-cast 300 (fast set) or 301 (medium set) will do a helm, and is roughly the same price as the amount fiberglass and polyester resin that I'd use for the same job. Also, check out the mud-glassing tuts on 405th, I haven't gotten to do that yet myself, but it seems like it'd take some of the worst hassle out of glassing armor.
 
Can somebody describe the best way to slush cast? I know if I just pour gunk in and swirl it, I'm not going to get even coverage!
 
Harmonic_Distortion said:
AquaGlass is a water-based resin. Goes by a different name over in England - Jesmonite.



Seems to be good stuff from what I've heard other say.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Jesmonite is interesting stuff, I've only used it for skinning a huge polystyrene carving, not to strengthen the inside of a casting or master.
The stuff I used behaves just like plaster, but sets MUCH harder. Instead of using water, you mix the "plaster" powder with an acrylic liquid (I guess a really strong, fluid PVA like glue)

Some guys who owned a workshop I worked at in London said that when Jesmonite became readily avaliable in the 90s (?), It was sold as the "New alternative to fibreglass" especially for backing up skin molds. For some reason this never really took off and they still have a HUGE tub of the stuff sitting under a bench that they bought 15 years ago.

I think if you mixed it to the right consistancy it would work pretty well to slush a pep with.

like I say though, I've only really played with the stuff a few times, I'm by no means a Jesmonite veteran!
 
AussiePhantom said what I was going to: Papiér Maché.
Non-toxic. Non-smelly. You can get your hands dirty without any problems.
Just be sure to squeeze out as much water as you can and not make it too thick at once or else it will not dry properly.
Laminated, overlapping card can be made very sturdy. Papiér Maché is sandable also -- and when you have sanded it, you can add another layer.
 
AquaResin is a company that makes either AquaGlass or a form thereof. It's basically fiberglass strands designed to be added to their resin compound to make a fiberglass resin coating. The resin itself is a non-toxic water base. The only trick is if you are using it on a paper product or like you'll need to clearcoat it before using the resin.
I'm about to make use of the stuff this weekend. I've only heard good stuff about it but I'll report back on it after.
It isn't an alternative TO fiberglass, but it is an alternative fiberglass :)
 
OK, I had an epiphany here...I'm interested in a display, not a costume. Therefore, I don't need the piece to be bulletproof. In fact, I can fill the helmet full of sand, if need be. The pepakura will be the base for a statue, basically.

Does that increase my options?

I'm leaning hot glue interior, papier mache exterior. I've been reading on papier mache, and if done right, it can be smooth as glass. It's the hot glue I'm worried about. Say I'm smoothing/rounding the piece, and I sand through the original cardstock into the glue. Will I be able to work with it, or will I just booger up my sandpaper?

Here's what I'm looking for, broken down:

1. As close to non-toxic as possible
2. Apartment friendly. I don't have a garage or a back yard. I'm doing this in my living room and on my front stoop when it's warm out.
3. Simple-ish. The glue and mache both meet this criteria, in spades. Working with resins and mats of fiberglass that have to be tucked here and there and then gobbed on fast before it cures while not splashing it all over is stressful and generally unpleasant. I like my hobbies to be soothing. Fighting the clock? Not soothing.
4. Cheap-ish. Can I avoid buying a respirator? Can I avoid buying a new paintbrush every seven strokes? Papier mache has the great attraction of dumpster diving for scrap paper. Well, recycle bin diving...Hot glue is also dirt cheap.
5. Locally available. I HATE experimenting online, becuase ordering, waiting, paying for shipping, then it's wrong...well, that's frustrating. And again, my hobbies are supposed to be a way to relax.
6. Again, the piece needs to be displayable, not troop-able.

So I've digested the advice so far, and I thank you all so much for it. I made an Iron Man pep that I'm letting my kids play with, and I'll use that as a test for hot glue and mache. But if anyone else has something to add before I jump in on my final project, please chime in!
 
That is one of the options I'm looking at, yeah.

Now I'm thinking I won't do papier mache on the outside. Maybe I'll experiment with hot glue vs mache on the inside and see which one I feel more comfortable holding bondo on the outside.

I just can't see a way around that bondo issue. Something is gonna be toxic and difficult to work with. Oh well...
 
Spray on truck bed liner on the inside of the pep. Make several thin layers. Cheaper than buying a ton of gluesticks and easier to use. The results are similar, but it's not exactly non-toxic.
41toPMEK54L._SL500_AA300_.jpg
 
You know, I saw this method on the 405th, and I thought it was some professional thing you did if you worked in a garage. I had no idea it came in a can :lol Do you just mask the outside to make sure there's no overspray when working it into the nooks and crannies?

And my biggest concern: the bondo outside. So I spray this stuff inside, what do I do outside? Still coat it with resin before bondoing (as I'm resigned to having to use bondo for smoothing)? Can this be used on the outside? How long is the dry time (I'll have to do this on my front stairs...)?
 
Is it going to be a statue, or are you wearing it? Are you molding and casting it either way?
There are few options to replace the filler.
1. If your going to mold it and cast it just use clay or plasticine in place of the filler.
2. If it's just a statue or the like use plaster or you can use this as well if your molding. If you mix your plaster (hydra cal/utra cal) with white glue it will be a bit softer but become more fexible at the same time.

That's all I got for ya. Hope that helps at all.


cayman shen said:
You know, I saw this method on the 405th, and I thought it was some professional thing you did if you worked in a garage. I had no idea it came in a can :lol Do you just mask the outside to make sure there's no overspray when working it into the nooks and crannies?

And my biggest concern: the bondo outside. So I spray this stuff inside, what do I do outside? Still coat it with resin before bondoing (as I'm resigned to having to use bondo for smoothing)? Can this be used on the outside? How long is the dry time (I'll have to do this on my front stairs...)?
Click to expand...
 
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