Fiberglass

[xwingband]

lol, I'm kind of monopolizing this forum so far people. You need to keep up!

Fiberglass... I've got a new idea. They come faster than I can feasible do them (the ideas that it), but this one rocks so much that I'm eager to just plan the friggin' saber! No I'm not going to tell you what it is. It's my idea... I'm going to be the first to do it, and I ain't letting anyone beat me to it. :P

Okies... Fiberglass. I saw Wolverine was it that started to make shoulder bells by just forming posterboard. The base I'm going to use will be much sturdier than that.

My main question is how thin of a coat is going to be strong yet a good look. I was hoping 1/16" thick wouldn't be a pain. I don't want to hear: "It's goopy and you'll have to do multiple coats and sand the hell out of it." Not that that will change my plans... I just hope it won't be so hard. :P Also could someone with expierience explain anything special about painting fiberglass.

[Do-Clo]

Nothing special about painting fiberglass just use a good primer and paint. I would recomend automotive primmer and paint with a clear coat as your last coat and it should be fine. The touch spray paint the Duplicolor makes for atuo's would work well and you would have a wide selection of color choices.

[xwingband]

Cool, painting... no problem. Awesome. Thickness though? Is an even 1/16" coat going to be very difficult?

[Do-Clo]

Without a mold you will have to plan on sanding it smooth, fiberglass doesn't set up level outside of a mold. Email me when you are ready and I can give you some pointers on fiberglass.

[jjshumpert]

well this sounds familiar... didnt i just post this the other day... xwing check out the pvc windu forum, glass is really easy, and you wont need to make a mold, get ahold of me later and ill give ya the rundown on the process you'll need to follow for the easiest/best fiberglass hilt build

[xwingband]

Okay, I'll let out a bit of what I want to do. I'm going to make the whole hilt out of styrene. As strong as it is I was hoping to coat it in fiberglass so I really don't have to worry.

I planned it all out last night and I'm going to bump it up in the schedule... I'm going to finish it along with my clear saber. It's going to be the most amazing combo ever.

[jjshumpert]

how are you gonna core out the styrene with enough room for your led and board, but if your gonna go that route you wouldnt need the fiber overlay, what im doin is makin the base saber from cardboard or wireframe/paper mache and then goin over that with fiberglass, seems to be the only way to get the electronics in it and still have the thin obi/luke neck... i think the mr's look like crap and thats what got me on this kick of a fg hilt. only way you could do it with a foam would be to carve it outta styro, go over with fg and then use citric acid to eat the foam back out when your done so you could put in your board/led... never thought of styrene, that stuff is freakin tough as nails, gonna be hard to get the detail out though, alot of dremel work... good luck!

[Firebird21]

Polystyrene will not hold up to the chemicals of fiberglass... It will melt it almost instantly.


Might I suggest "Kitty Hair Fiberglass Filler". That's what I used on my Thomas the Tank Engine face. It will work well for this type of project and is as easy to use as Bondo in comparison to Fiberglass and Resin.




Some pointers though...

-Don't let it dry completely before you try to sand it. It's extremely difficult to sand when it's fully cured. The best time to work with it is when it just starts to harden. Then use a cheese grader to get the rough shape and then use 36grit, 180, 320, Prime.

-Wear a dust mask! Or you WILL be coughing up BLOOD! All that dust created from sanding it is 90% Glass Shards.

-Use regular filler to finish it off. It will be easier to work with.



If you PM me with more details of what you're doing, I may have add'l tips for you. I promise not to tell, or do it myself.

[Do-Clo]

Xwing if you plan on using foam as a base for your saber you need some rigid foam, it will bond well with the fiberglass and it can be sanded and shaped to the design you want before you apply the fiberglass, or use the fiberglass filler that Fierbird recomended, I have fixed a lot of things with that stuff.

[Firebird21]

...or use the fiberglass filler that Firebird recommended, I have fixed a lot of things with that stuff.

Ain't that stuff great?!



It's basically the same stuff that Corvettes are made out of (well, not exactly). They even sell it as "Corvette Repair Kits". And those body panels are only 1/4" thick, so that's a testament to its strength.