Vindar Assassin [final armor set]

[Lord Jaur]

gotta listen to these guys. they know what they are talking about. don't take their suggestions and criticism as bad. Official members are the elite of the elite

[Sarsk]

I know that its discouraging that people are telling you that something isn't going to work, but its the job of official members to make sure that you, the forum member, is on the right track on making an official quality costume. We aren't trying to tear you down, as much as it sometimes seems.

If you decide on taking another go at it, how about just finish one piece at a time so we can see how the build is coming along. We want you to get it done right, not the way WE want it to look.

[Choruk Diryc]

ok as for your question, I do want to be official, it's just that everytime I build a set it ends up being torn down because of tons of things I do to it that I was told to do.

you have plenty of time to become official - the thing with anything in life, learn the rules (in this case CRLs), take in everyones oppinion, take into consideration what YOU want, and then pick what course of action that YOU want to do.

I havent seen your other WIPs, but obviously with this thread, you know what you're doing. no one can force you to make any changes to your kit, they are all suggestions. Just pick the good ones and roll. Take the ones from the app team to heart cause their suggestions can stop your progress, but maybe their suggestions will give you a better idea or you can tweak it to how you want something.

as I said, you have plenty of time before you can apply to become official - use that to your advantage. if money is an issue, save for the small steps... ok Im going to buy $30 of sintra this month; in two months, Ill buy this pistol to mod, etc. Shop around too (I personnally swear by Amazon)  If the issue is something just to troop in - you have a cool lookin kit already, just upgrade a part at a time- just becareful with matching paint and not letting it fade

you got skills, dont give up too easily

[Vindar Falco]

allright, I'll take another crack at it  , so this will be my template (the carboard armor that is) and I'll buy some sintra asap and post pics of the process so I can be sure I do it all correctly this time. and It will lookreally cool 

[Vindar Falco]

oh and for another project I'm doing I need to make armor with pepakura. I researched online and found that I need fiberglass resin then bondo. What if I have Bondo fiberglass resin? that is what the bottle says.

[Omega]

well, that's just bondo brand fiberglass. you would probably still need to put the body filler over the top. However, I have never tried Pep. So I would wait until someone more knowledgeable chimes in.

[pyromastermuaddib]

Bondo is a brand, but the brand is famous for automotive body filler. Bondo also makes fiber glass, resin, and the tools to work with all these materials, but when you hear someone talking about bondo on these forums they are almost always referring to the body filler. If you're pepping and fiberglassing armor pretty much any brand of fiberglass and resin will do.

Will there be a WIP on that armor project as well?

[Choruk Diryc]

what he said

the one thing with FG though sand every layer to the standard that you would be ok paining it...I tried making a FG kit a few years ago, but because I didnt sand it properly every layer I put in just amplified every mistake. Just take your time and do it right and you'll be ok

[Vindar Falco]

thx, it's for my biker scout build. so I use the fiberglass thing I have the use resin over it?

[Choruk Diryc]

the how to on FG:

make your item out of posterboard, paper etc (I prefer posterboard - remember FG doesnot stick to packing tape or duct tape... masking tape and elmers glue are your friends)

place a sheet of FG cloth over your item... you need excess over the edges to ensure you cover the whole thing and dont come up short - I also like to tack it down with elmers (make sure the glue dries before you use the resin - it will impede the resin's drying.) I also learned that its not a great idea to wrap the edges around the piece... its better to extend the glassing area and cut it down later

mix small batches of resin - if you drop a tiny bit on your forearm, you should be able to calmly count to 5 before you feel it warming and by 8 you should be clawing at your skin to get it off... although Im sure theres a better way to test the correct mixture... play with it a little before you start- when i started I had batches that never dried and I had batches that dried before I got a brush stroke - while at this point I will say you will go through several brushes - I leave a cup of paint thinner out to clean my brushes off as soon as I run out of resin (or if it starts gelling up on you - once it starts to harden STOP USING THAT BATCH!!!!) I usually got 2 to three layers (about 2 batches each on my chest plates) with each brush.

apply to cloth - remember any clumps or pools of resin you leave you will need to sand later - if youre not willing to sand, dont start this method.

sand - it will kind of look like bone when you get done

Repeat until desired durability - one or two layers of FG will warp if you leave it in the car or pile stuff on top... four or five is pretty heavy duty stuff (and heavy weight). remember to sand every layer.

Bondo (auto body filler) is used to fill dips, gaps, imperfections, etc. it can be used to dull lines or sharpen them. never cake it on - youre not working with a cupcake or cookie. bondo brand dries really hard. I dont remember the brand Kiraam Xirati uses, but he uses a brand thats softer - I personally like that one better. its another thing you have to mix to use... but your end goal is to NOT use it... the better you FGed, the less Bondo you will have to use

side notes... 1, gloves help, but you will still get in on your fingers somehow... it make no sense, but getting in the shower and washing your hair is the best way to get it off- that orange hand cleaner doesnt even work - 2, ventalation... I did mine in the winter inside... I also had really bad headaches when i did it and had a hard time getting friends to come over to my apt to hang out - 3, you will need lots of brushes, lots of newspaper (I had 3 layers and still ruined my kitchen table), FG Cloth, FG Resin, 2-3 different grits of sand paper (and lots of it), i find a non mechanical pencil and a sharpie helpfull - 4, never cot the FG Cloth over a pool table... its hell to clean up all those fibers... I havent used FG in 3 years, moved three times, and Im still finding fibers in different places - 5, slow is smooth, smooth is fast... if you take your time and do it right the first time it will save time and money in the end.

Hope this helps!

[Vindar Falco]

thx 

[Vindar Falco]

I also went looking around and may have found an alternative to fiberglass resin and bondo and stuff. it's called smooth-cast 321. and it seems to work great, makes it as strong as plastic armor would from stores.  seems rlly good to me, but want to see if you guys had any imput on it.

[Hondo Karr]

The 300 series of smooth cast resin is pretty terrible. It's soft and has no temperature resitence to speak of. Also, coating with it is going to provide a world of wasted resin, it's more suitable for casting meaning you'd have to make molds.

I would avoid it.

[pyromastermuaddib]

If you're going to listen to anyone about resin's then that someone should be falin. The man is a helmet guru and works with resins all the time making his buckets.


Fiberglass is pretty easy to work with, just have a decent resporator and do so in a well ventilated area. Outside would be best. Stuff is seriously bad for you to breath.

[Solus Raam]

If you are going to be doing pepakura, research Rondo for hardening. So much easier than the fiberglass cloth methods