Having some issues with fibreglass and pepakura!

pandabarnes

Active Member
Hi,

Been having some issues reinforcing a Stark direwolf head I made using Gedelgo's pep file.

I painted fibreglass resin on the outside a couple of times, then set about matting and resin on the inside.

From there, I used some spray mount and some loose strands, stippling them over with resin.

Problem is, a few areas still seem to have some flex, and some places are impossible to get matting/fibres into.

I did a test piece (a small bird) and tried another approach, resin on the outside, smoothcast 310 slushed around inside, and that's working OK but for a small piece it's getting pretty heavy.

So, questions!

Can I just slush loads of fibreglass resin around inside and then throw fibres into it?

If so, is there a way to slow the drying time of the resin?

Is there some other cunning method of doing this that I'm missing?

Thanks in advance.
 

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I don't have any tips for making it easier, it's a pain in the butt no matter what. But if you want your resin to take longer to cure you can add a bit of acetone. That also thins it, which can help. Just don't go overboard with it.

-Rog
 
Try epoxamite it has 3 different hardener options depend8ng how long you want to take to dry. Also I would use fibreglass Matt instead of fibres, either way though you will always struggle to get the corners completely fillets in.

You could also try m8xing some body filler in with the resin, this will help with make it more rigid
 
Cool, thanks for all the pointers guys, and for the acetone tip Rogviler, I have some fibreglass resin to burn through and then I think I might try the laminating epoxy. @sitemorgan - is that what you used on your arkham knight build?

Thanks.
 
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The Smooth-On Epoxamite is good stuff, I've used a lot of it. They also make a thinner for it. If you want to use it with fiberglass mat make sure to get the kind compatible with epoxy.
 
Cool, thanks for all the pointers guys, and for the acetone tip @Rogviler, I have some fibreglass resin to burn through and then I think I might try the laminating epoxy. @sitemorgan - is that what you used on your arkham knight build?

Thanks.

No I've used a fibreglass and resin kit from Halfords because I'm lazy and Halfords is very close to my house. There is a company called Benham materials near me that does sell the epoxamite, if you google search them you should find their website, I think you would need to contact them by phone or email though regarding the resin and hardener.
 
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Cool, thanks @stigmorgan - I've sent Benham an email.

The fibreglassing on your arkham knight looks way neater than my efforts - I'm clearly lacking patience!

Thanks robn1 - I had no idea there were different mats so you just saved me a lot of hassle.
 
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Cool, thanks @stigmorgan - I've sent Benham an email.

The fibreglassing on your arkham knight looks way neater than my efforts - I'm clearly lacking patience!

Thanks @robn1 - I had no idea there were different mats so you just saved me a lot of hassle.

It's normal to think that dude I always loom at others work and think it better than mine. I've spent two years slowly working on mine and it's taken many hours of sanding and filling to make them loom as good as they are. It just takes practice and patience but don't be afraid of jumping in and making a few mistakes, that's when we learn the most.
 
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It's normal to think that dude I always loom at others work and think it better than mine. I've spent two years slowly working on mine and it's taken many hours of sanding and filling to make them loom as good as they are. It just takes practice and patience but don't be afraid of jumping in and making a few mistakes, that's when we learn the most.

Yeah I guess we're all a lot more critical of our own work, thanks man. I have the joy of sanding to look forward to once all the fibreglassing is done!
 
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