Imperial Guard Uniform

[Cadet Commissar]

If you have all year to do it why not look at getting similar kit to the storm trooper stuff Lt Watts has for his group, or the 9th are using for ours.

[Gor/Strauss]

Join the 9th! We need more bodies men!

[Cadet Commissar]

Yeah, then you will have perfect kit and be able to do group photo's.

Hmm, considering going to GD'10 im my tannith kit now.

[bashkire]

Realy quickly:

I have a friend whos dad can get hold of fiberglass. If I was to make the armour out of fiberglass how should I go about making the mould? For that matter, SHOULD I make a mould?

[Lt Gebra]

There's really two ways you could do that...

The traditional way would be make a master in clay, wood or another suitable material, take a mould from that, and from that mould you can cast off lots of copies. If you're not a bit clued in on fibreglass moulding and casting, the chances of error are high.

A way that's lately found favour with the Halo cosplayers is to make the armour from card first, then layer it with fibreglass and resin, to make a hard shell. It works well when it's done right, and it's not too difficult to master.

405th.com/forums/index.php?showforum=12

[bashkire]

I think I'm going to find this very, increadibly hard... Do you reckon they'd give advice in B&Q or something?

EDIT:
I'll just take your opinion on an idea I've just had: What if I was to make a papier mache helmet but cover it in fiberglass and then cover that in latex to give it a smooth finish (or is fiberglass already smooth?)

[mihangelion]

fibreglass is not smooth but it can be sanded down to leave a smooth finish. i would really recommend getting help of some sort with the fibreglass because if you dont get it right, the resign will go hard while still in the jug lol.

[bashkire]

I can see how that would be a problem... Yeah, I think I will need some help with this.

Maybe dad could help... And maybe GW would sell me a painted guardsman for reference...

[mihangelion]

im sure someone on this board has one for you to take reference pictures of =p

[bashkire]

Yeah, but I'd like to see how the designers make them. That and it would be nice to say: "yup, I painted that..." *shifty eyes*

[Lt Gebra]

Aug 18, 2009 16:21:07 GMT bashkire said:

I think I'm going to find this very, increadibly hard... Do you reckon they'd give advice in B&Q or something?

EDIT:
I'll just take your opinion on an idea I've just had: What if I was to make a papier mache helmet but cover it in fiberglass and then cover that in latex to give it a smooth finish (or is fiberglass already smooth?)

You're best off at least getting some help from someone who knows what they're doing. A common noobie error when using polyester resin us mixing too much at once and overcatalysing it, which can lead to the pot of resin spontaneously combusting...

I'd suggest you look in the phone book and find a place which does fibreglassing. Give them a ring and explain that you'd like to learn how to do it, they may allow you to come in and watch on a quiet afternoon (don't suppose you do D&T at school? It'd come in handy for that too)...

Here's how fibreglass works. It can be done smoothly depending on how you do it, but not the way you're looking at.
When you're casting it into a mould, you apply a layer of a hard resin called a gelcoat. When this is nearly dry you apply the fibreglass to the back of that. "Fibreglass" is woven layers of glass fibre (duh! ) trapped in resin. The resin used is a polyester resin, it's very runny when mixed and after about 15 minutes hardens into a semi flexible plastic. When you soak glass fibre cloth in poly resin, the fibres give it rigidity and strength, making for a very strong cast.
If you've cast form a mould, the gelcoat layer is on top and will come out with a smooth surface. If you're glassing on top of a former, then you don't have the mould to give a smooth surface, so it's going to be somewhat rough. In this case, you'd need to use a car body filler to even out the surface, fill all the gaps and give a good surface for painting. It's fine to do it this way for a one off, as making a mould takes a lot of time and materials, but if you want to do repeated castings, it becomes a waste of time and material, and moulding suddenly becomes a viable option.


Applying it over papier maché would work ok I reckon, but it wouldn't really soak into the fibres as they're already densely packed form the papier maché process - you'd have to apply layers of glassfibre over it. This would mean that you'd have to make your original smaller than you needed by about 2mm all round. Over that would go a skim of body filler, then you've got lots of sanding and gap filling till the job is done!

Fibreglassing is also a dirty and toxic process, not something to do in the kitchen! You'd need a garage or shed with good ventilation and a respirator (not one of those paper masks, a proper spray respirator with the right filters - they're about £25). The glass fibres get everywhere, especially into clothing and really cause skin irritation, so overalls and gloves are a must. Finally, as it sets quite hard, you'd really need a dremel or similar tool to clean up your castings.

[bashkire]

Wow, big post... Anyhow, I was going to make the shell out of mache so I got it to size (maybe a bit bigger so I can pad it out with foam and leather for comfort) and then put the fiberglass over that. But I see your point. I've left school, and I'm not taking any DT courses at college but I'll see if I can say that I'm working on some costumes for a drama production, maybe they'll see sympathy (or something of the like).

Thanks for the help, and keep the lines to command clear... I think I'll be asking a few more questions in the future.

Cheers!


EDIT:

Ok, just got a reference mode.not in the right colours, but the shape is there.