Help needed. Etching the triangles.

Wardog2a

Wardog2a

New Hunter
Hey all, I was wondering if anyone has any advice on etching the triangles into a scratch build helmet. As you can see from the pic I attempted to use a dremmel and the end result was something unspeakable.

Any advice on how to etch into bondo with a little more control?

96c8bad3bff1725b3d4166e44fa72702.jpg



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Fett 4 Real said:
cut them out....then back them with something
Click to expand...

Thanks! Any tool suggestions for cutting straight lines? I used the dremmel on the dent but there are no straight lines on the dent so it's much more forgiving. I have cutting discs but they are a bit to big.

The material I'll be cutting through is a layer of bondo, 2 mm of fiber glass resin saturated cardboard and a layer of fiberglass.



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Yeah, I originally tried to dremel them too, like a mini router. It was obviously never gonna happen though.

Drilling the core mass of them out with a drill bit, then using needle files to take the rest back, is definitely the way to go.

After it's shaped, use some hardening putty or something to fill the bottom half back in.
 
Grimstuff said:
Yeah, I originally tried to dremel them too, like a mini router. It was obviously never gonna happen though.

Drilling the core mass of them out with a drill but, then using needle files to take the rest back, is definitely the way to go.

After it's shaped, use some hardening putty or something to fill the bottom half back in.
Click to expand...

I was thinking about taping up the back and injecting some fiberglass resin with a syringe so that it'll self level. I've never tried anything like that so please talk me out of it if it's a terrible idea.
 
Interesting idea. You'd have to be careful to fill them both the exact same of course. Also the capillary effect might come into play in a space that small, giving it a curved look.

Wouldn't be my first solution, especially since I like to work with polyester resin as little as possible, but yeah could work.
 
Grimstuff said:
Interesting idea. You'd have to be careful to fill them both the exact same of course. Also the capillary effect might come into play in a space that small, giving it a curved look.

Wouldn't be my first solution, especially since I like to work with polyester resin as little as possible, but yeah could work.
Click to expand...

I'll go with the putty lol


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Honestly, I'd probably slap a layer of fiberglass matting on the back, let the resin harden, jam some bondo in there (near but not tithe desired depth), harden, level it off with some glazing putty, and once you get it where you like it, lightly resin over the top.

Seems like a lot of build up, but working from rigid to sofy, and then resin on top night be the safest and sturdiest result.

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Volktar said:
Honestly, I'd probably slap a layer of fiberglass matting on the back, let the resin harden, jam some bondo in there (near but not tithe desired depth), harden, level it off with some glazing putty, and once you get it where you like it, lightly resin over the top.

Seems like a lot of build up, but working from rigid to sofy, and then resin on top night be the safest and sturdiest result.

Sent from my SM-G930T
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice! I'll consider it. Right now it's sitting idle while I work on the keyhole.

0cb4d398bdd85c50e8f6e74351a5d108.jpg



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Last edited by a moderator:
When I read the liquid fill idea the first thing I thought was the sides of a liquid bow up - and Grim remembers the actual scientific made capillary action. Remember you will be the greatest critic. Even 501st folks have complimented me on the paint of my TR bucket and I thought I had butchered it. People take in the costume as a whole and don't notice a slightly curved line of a triangle. We do, but we're crazy. You've done a great job and the last photo looks great.
 
I took a bit of everyone's advice. First I fiber glasses the back end of the cut outs. The I filled in the triangles with two 1mm thick cardboard cut outs each.

728f6f7857eca912d763b189ec0a4c2b.jpg


Next I coated the top layer cardboard with fiber glass resin cleaning up the edges with a clean plastic brush to avoid that nasty capillary effect.

c957544fc3efde9d1348bef4f6155ea3.jpg


And this is the end result. The particles on the recesses are from the primer filler I just used on the entire dome. Once it's dry I'll clean those up.

0968ebf99eb762bce288247dfa5d69f3.jpg


Thanks again for the help everyone you saved me from a lot of trial and error.

Sent from my iPhone
 
Snappy said:
When I read the liquid fill idea the first thing I thought was the sides of a liquid bow up - and Grim remembers the actual scientific made capillary action. Remember you will be the greatest critic. Even 501st folks have complimented me on the paint of my TR bucket and I thought I had butchered it. People take in the costume as a whole and don't notice a slightly curved line of a triangle. We do, but we're crazy. You've done a great job and the last photo looks great.
Click to expand...

Thanks! This is actually my third attempt at a scratch build. I got a little ballsy with the other two and attempted to make them out of sheet metal. After two years of frustration I decided to scrap the entire concept and just follow the directions lol.

It's not perfect but it definitely has a charm. I'll paint it up and display it till I finally cave in and buy a GMH then I'll display that till anovos or EFX finally release theirs.


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