General First Build Questions

Hey Guys,

Real quick I know this is a boot question but I would love to hear from the vets as to yalls opinion. I am committing to my first real build, I have played around with pep and foam builds in the past but never committed to a real build. I am looking for a nudge in the right direction, I want to find the best material to go with, between using pep, Sintra, foam, and Worbla covered foam there are a lot of options to choose from. Basically I am looking for something that I don't need to use any resins to harden or finnish. I live in a small one bedroom apartment with my wife so anything (other than painting) that would produce fumes are a no go. I want to use a method that can take a little bit of a beating without ruining all the work I would put into the build.

Any advice is most certainly welcome, I just want to go in a realistic direction. My hope is to sidestep the cost and time it would take me to figure it out on my own.

Thanks guys!

No fumes is a tough one. There are low VOC water-thinnable 2-part epoxies out there. I just used some made by Rustoleum to clear coat a concrete floor in a mudroom addition I built for some clients. It does have a smell, but it's pretty slight. Kelly-Moore used to carry a similar product called Enviro-Poxy. Not sure if it's still available. Both are/were available in clear.

Another option for adding a hard shell to paper or illustration board builds is water-based polyurethane. Varathane and Dalys Seafin AquaSpar are brands I've used extensively. It dries clear to a durable Low- or No-VOC finish.

My build so far was done with paper, illustration board and elmer's glue if you can believe it. While I worry about rain, living in the PNW as I do, it's reasonably durable. I'm rebuilding with sintra for more durability and thickness, so am using plumber's cement so that won't work for you.

Thanks Gregory I'll definitely look into it!

Otarrec91 said:

Thanks Gregory I'll definitely look into it!

Click to expand...

Glad I might have helped. The nice thing about the thinnable epoxies is that you can add water to get them really thin and runny, which makes them more able to soak is and strengthen below the surface. Sort of like thinning sanding sealer.

Good luck!

I have a similar problem, I've used pva glue and paper to harden my helmet build, its certainly strong enough!

bobawannabe said:

I have a similar problem, I've used pva glue and paper to harden my helmet build, its certainly strong enough!

Click to expand...

Do you have any pics you would be willing to share of your build? I've thought of doing that too but I feel like I would either lose detail or get a crappy finish. Can you sand pav glue? or do you just thin it and do a bunch of light layers?

I've done a few light layers, I've sanded today and applied a thin layer of bondo ready to sand tomorrow, I've got another thread going under first time helmet build, I did lose a bit of definition but hoping to regain some with filling

Looks good man, thanks!