Abs gauntlets glassing

mainst69

Active Hunter
Hey guys, I'm new to fiberglass work, so I have a question. I have some ABS gaunts and I was thinking of reenforcing it with some fiberglass. I was concerned with any exothermic reaction that might distort or warp the plastic. Am I over worrying or should I be concerned?
What measures should I take to prevent screwing up my gaunts?
thanks for the input.
 
Hm. I glassed the inside of my ABS scout helmet and had no troubles. What I did was just do a little at a time.
There is an exothermic reaction, yes, but from my own experience it has never gotten hotter than bearable to touch. Very warm, but not hot.

In short, you should be good! Just probably don't wanna do the whole gauntlet at once. How thick is the ABS? 1/8"? 1/16"?


Hope that helps.

-Erik
 
I just skipped the fiberglass mess and got some sintra board. cut some patterns to fit the inside of gauntlets traced it on the board and heated and trimmed the sintra till I got a good fit then glued in. no mess no fumes.
 
You really shouldn't need to worry about glassing the gauntlets, they shouldn't warp at all if any. Now if you're concerned about durability, I'd give it a light glassing only on the edges.
 
Thanks for the replies guys. My concern is that the ABS is pretty thin, and I was wanting them to be a little more durable. They might be fine how they are, but they just feel a little flimsy. Partly my concern is for having better/thicker attachment surfaces for piano hinges, rocket/flame thrower mounting points etc. These are ROTJ that I'm converting to ESB. I guess I could buy some resin and slush that in and then glass the resin. The resin would form a decent barrier between the ABS and the glass. Thoughts on that or any othe suggestions. I like the build up using Sintra and I have some of that on hand.
 
I just glassed the bottom half abs on an older set of gaunts I had laying around. First time I've worked with FG also. Seemed to work really well, and definitely gives much added strength!!
D
 
Boba never had piano hinges. Only Jango did.

meh, I suppose a real bounty hunter would be OK with his weapons falling apart when his velcro failed (as we see happened to the screen-used versions). Sorry for the snipe, I do understand purely accurate builds, but to each their own, right?
 
Very true. I've seen plenty of Boba kits with piano hinges, and was never sure why, cause he didn't have them. LOL
 
Very true. I've seen plenty of Boba kits with piano hinges, and was never sure why, cause he didn't have them. LOL
It may not be accurate, but it's a heck of a lot better than velcro! Lol personally I love the invisible 3d print hinges from April Storm , those babies are so easy!
 
I glassed my gauntlet lowers for rigidity. instead of using the polyresin which heats up, i used epoxy that i found at the local hobby store. The epoxy is used on RC airplanes and cure times can vary depending on the product. the bonus with the epoxy is that it DOES NOT STINK, and is not exothermic. It cures hard as nails, and when used on fibreglass matte or weave, it's super hard. perfect if you want to use it indoors.
 
Having trooped with ABS or styrene gauntlets in the past and future with no fiber glassing what so ever and I never had a problem, I think it is overkill and not needed.
I had some fairly thin stuff in the past and held up OK.
Lynn
 
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