fibreglass kit

[ekul1978]

Hi guys ive got a fibre glass helmet kit but need some help. Anyone know the best glue to use? And can fibreglass be heated to alter its shape? (there is a slight gap at the back where the dome meets the back plate) Also what type of paint is best - ive seen some people talk about automotive paint. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[Dirty White Boy[501st]]

I take it that you have a 3 piece helmet? I.e., dome, rear, and face? Before I would offer any detailed advice I would like to know more of what you are doing.

 

Fiberglass can be heated to some degree to reshape large curves, but not small details. The biggest worry is how the piece was made. Normally a part is first laid up with a gel coat followed by the glass/resin reinforcement. Some novice 'glass makers skip a step of not sanding a cured gel coat before adding the glass. So when you heat this the danger is that the two can delimitate. If you use heat sparingly, say between 180 and 210 degrees Fahrenheit you should be able to reshape the piece quite nicely.

 

I have over 25 years of professional experience working with fiberglass and would love to give you any help that I can.

[ekul1978]

Yeah its a 3 part kit. I have not assembled anything yet was offering it up to see the best way to put it together, and there is a gap at the back as I said between the dome and the rear. I will try to take some photos when I get my digital camera back to make it a bit easier to understand.

 

[Dirty White Boy[501st]]

Sounds like a plan.

[Chefhawk[501st]]

Hi.

Ive had one of these. They turn out pure quality.

To glue the lid on i needed to trim the front and back quite a lot. be carefull just trim a bit at a time. Dont forget the old saying"you can take away but cant add" well actually the saying is " you can add but you can't take away" This referes to chefing!

I initiually tried to hot glue the lid,but the glue set too quickly! Very frustrating.

I then used a product called no more nails and glued a quarter section at a time.

The face plate was allso glued in this way. The ears were predrilled and the sides. These were bolted on woth a flat head bolt that lloks like a screw. it was bolted on the inside and the extra lencth of bolt was cut off using a dremel tool. Any small gaps were filled with silocone sealant.

The mouth vents were cut out using various dremel bits.

The bucket was sanded to make a good key for the automtive paints. I used a primer first.

I think it took about a week to build up the white layers. Then a clear laqure was sprayed on

 

Don't rush the paint job as this could really ruin all the previose work.

 

The helmet was masked off to spray paint the mouth/teeth.

 

decals were placed in soapy water before placing on the helmet. This helped manouver dissobediant decals.

 

the black edging strip was then put on and cut at the back of the helmet to fit.

 

The lenses were just glued at both side and it was a flat green sheet i used. If you look at any pics of sds lids on the inside you willl get the idea.

 

Thats about all.

 

 

good luck with this one as it can be problematic at any of the key stages but once finished you will understanf the problems the original fabricators had to face.

 

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keep posting your results...please.

Edited December 6, 2020 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2020

[ekul1978]

 

Cool thanks for the tips. Ive got next week off work so will crack on with it then - should have my digital camera back too so will keep posting update pics.

[Dirty White Boy[501st]]

Just one word of advice.

 

Never test the depth of water with both feet.

[ekul1978]

 

lol - sound advice especially when I cant swim! I will take it nice and slowly