Thanks evan4218. Doesn't the wax free stuff take forever to fully cure? Seems to me I had problems with that before... took forever to get rid of the tacky surface. Why do you recommend the erratic non-woven sheets? Does it help to avoid bubbles? If that's the reason I will be happy to use it, but in the past when I have used it I found it was horrible stuff to work with. I could never get it to go where I wanted and always ended up with huge lumps of stuff sticking out everywhere.
GB's bucket progress - WOF plans ROCK
- Thread starter Gypsyboy
- Start date
The erratic sheets (not sure the real name of it) are much eiser at least for me to avoid bubbles... use small squares esspecialy when trying to conform to different shapes. Use a dabbing motion with a brush or toung depressor. This will get it nice and flat.
As for the gel coat, my stuff cures to a non tacky state in a few hours when its cold out side and quicker when its warmer. Its just a matter of adding enough cattilist to make it cure fast enough. You do want to have the tackyness while you are fiberglassing other wise the FG wont bond to the gelcoat enough to make it strong. There are different types of gelcoats out there that cure differently so I am sure there are ones that remain tacky. What kind of gel coat did you use?
As for the gel coat, my stuff cures to a non tacky state in a few hours when its cold out side and quicker when its warmer. Its just a matter of adding enough cattilist to make it cure fast enough. You do want to have the tackyness while you are fiberglassing other wise the FG wont bond to the gelcoat enough to make it strong. There are different types of gelcoats out there that cure differently so I am sure there are ones that remain tacky. What kind of gel coat did you use?
To evan4218 -
I will try what you suggest. Another thing I have heard people say is that you use the mat stuff as your first layer, and then use the woven as a second layer while the resin is still wet. That is supposed to allow you to press it all flat.
To Aaron -
Thanks for the compliment. I might sell copies of it, but I have yet to determine if it is full size or not. I don't have anything to compare it to. If someone can give me a few measurements from a full-size then I can get an idea of what to tell people when they ask "what size is it?" I *think* it's probably just a little smaller than movie sized... but as I say, still to be verified.
And, just a little more progress -
T-visor cut out, trimmed, putty started, but I still need to clean up edges and stuff.
GB
I will try what you suggest. Another thing I have heard people say is that you use the mat stuff as your first layer, and then use the woven as a second layer while the resin is still wet. That is supposed to allow you to press it all flat.
To Aaron -
Thanks for the compliment. I might sell copies of it, but I have yet to determine if it is full size or not. I don't have anything to compare it to. If someone can give me a few measurements from a full-size then I can get an idea of what to tell people when they ask "what size is it?" I *think* it's probably just a little smaller than movie sized... but as I say, still to be verified.
And, just a little more progress -
T-visor cut out, trimmed, putty started, but I still need to clean up edges and stuff.
GB
The woven matt sheets are intended for mostly flat repair work. You normally wont see them used in film props for this reason, but dont get me wrong... if you can make it work then more power to ya... I use it sometimes for FG jackets but as far as props and castings I use the other... and you shouldnt need more then 2 layers of the FG fabric tissue... in some cases you can get away with one as long as they all over lap eachother.
Still more work, but coming along. I can't believe how much I got done just today.
Thanks for the input guys. I did use the WOF plans full scale. It's just that I'm rather on the small side and the helmet doesn't really look that big on me. Go figure. As for f'glassing - I know the non-woven mat is meant to be stronger, but I use at least two layers, always overlapped. I simply find the woven stuff to be so much easier to work with that I consider it a worthy trade-off for me. If I had to make something that had to be really really strong I would definately use the non-woven.
Thanks again for the input people!!
GB
SegwayOfOhio
Hunter
A great helmet and great building tips on one thread! man, I love these buildups!
That's what's great about discussion forums like this. I love the abilty to get input and hints from others along the way. I don't know anyone around where I live who would know the first thing about any of this stuff, but there is a great wealth of very talented and skilled people here. Cheers!
Quick question: have folks here had success with aluminum as a base colour for the lid? I went out looking for a silver but all the shop had on hand at the time was aluminum. In the past I have found that alum spray gives a silver look that is pretty much the same as most "silver" sprays. Any thoughts?
'Nuther question: what kinds of tools do you guys use to trim your f'glass lids? I used a jigsaw, which worked quite well, but I ended up with little fractures along the cut edges. Not a big deal because I went back with bondo and reinforced all the edges from inside, but is there a particular cutting tool, or type of blade, that would avoid getting the little fractures? I thought about using a scoring tool, but not sure how well that would work.
Ghostsoldier
Active Hunter
Damn! That's looking great, GB!
Rob
Rob
Has anyone here ever put together an actual color chart (not just color names/numbers, but actual colors) for any of the Fett lids? I expect that I will probably have to use a different brand than most people use, for reasons of availability in my neck o' the woods, and having the actual colors on hand to compare with what they have at the shops will go a long way.
And, yes, I did do a search, but came up with nuttin'.
GB
And, yes, I did do a search, but came up with nuttin'.
GB
Sixxgunn13
Well-Known Hunter
Very nice work!!
Can't wait to see it finished.
Can't wait to see it finished.
biohazard388
New Hunter
I have one question, and don't get me wrong, you did a fantastic job and I'm very impressed.
It just seems from the pictures showing the Tvisor that the left mandible/mask(faceplate) part seems to be a tad low. It may just be camera angle, but I noticed it in two photos.
(Left, when looking at pictures)
Is it really that low, or are the cameras trying to distort your bucket?
evil cameras...
~Bio
It just seems from the pictures showing the Tvisor that the left mandible/mask(faceplate) part seems to be a tad low. It may just be camera angle, but I noticed it in two photos.
(Left, when looking at pictures)
Is it really that low, or are the cameras trying to distort your bucket?
evil cameras...
~Bio
