The process is basically the whole pepakura deal people have done to Bionicle masks and such. I’m using a set of patterns found online, because I felt like for this project I wanted to actually get some experience with handling polyester resin and fiberglass, not just sit at the computer doing 3D modelling forever.
Anyway, some pictures of the progress I’ve made so far:
This is also currently curing outside, but I haven’t applied fiberglass to the whole thing yet, as I want it to be able to support its own weight so it doesn’t collapse like the helmet did.
The slow curing time of this part, which is intended to go around the stomach, made me reconsider my resin formula. Slow curing times are no longer a problem.
Progress update: I decided to skip ahead to the gelcoat stage for the chest plate, just to gain experience with using the stuff. This is the result, ready for sanding down to a smooth finish. As you can see on the upper left, however, the Loctite brand gelcoat tube I bought for 20 dollars wasn’t even enough to cover the whole thing.
Yeah.
I need a better source of gelcoat, so I’ll be checking the boat supply store I get resin from. Bulk purchases are probably better.
Bit of an update, progress is slow at the moment because living in Norway in the winter is not a good set of conditions to work outside in. However, I’ve finished the pepakura model for the forearm, which is good.
Not likely to be a problem, I have a physique that lets me fit in the suit even if I put on a lot of weight, and the helmet is pretty much guaranteed to have holes I can breathe through.
