Title says it all really.
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:
The original helmet. Unfortunately, the quality of the paper combined with my lack of experience caused major deformations.
The chest plate, which is currently the most finished part of this whole thing, currently curing (and losing the polyester smell) outside:
The step after this will be applying a gelcoat for a smoother finish on the outside
Meanwhile, the back plate, which took a ridiculously long time to make
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.
These are all stomach plates, and were really quick to assemble
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.