Bondo Stage

I really don't have alot of bondoing experiance, but in the helmet project I discovered in the process of just painting it on and sanding it off, painting it on and sanding it off painting it on and sanding it off... well, lets just say it gets really repetitive, but just remember this "Yes it maybe more expensive per gallon that gasoline, but you have to pretend you own a HUMMER and go all out." - me. It gets expensive but here are some helpful tips to make it cheaper:

1.) paint it on smooth the first time, and you wont have to do as many coats

2.) stir slowly when mixing the hardener, to keep the bondo from getting bubble in the middle (you'll have to fill them in later if you don't)

3.) the entire helmet doesnt have to be covered in bondo, only the parts that are rough and need to become smooth

4.) youre not making the helmet strong with the bondo, youre just making it smooth, so your finished product should be relatively thin.

5.)when sanding use a coarse sand paper to file down all the crap that you dont want, then use a finer sand paper to make it smooth and exact.

keep that in mind and your bondo experience will be much more pleasant.

Here are some pictures of my process

first patch of BONDO

covered the top

all covered up

all sanded down

Fiber Glassing stage

STEP 3

After your PEP file is cut out and peiced together you begin the fiberglassing stage

I started with your generic run of the mill resin and fiberglas which was just punishing myself, because the resin, if you put too much on at once, would seep through the cardstock and make it soggy. Ergo, you had to do it in patches and it took FOREVER.

About half way through the process i discovered fiberglass jelly (HINT: Fiberglass jelly makes the process take 1/50th of the time of regular resin) and everything went alot smoother because the fiberglass jelly doesnt sink into the paper, allowing you to fiberglass as fast as your hands can work.

Also make sure you use the cloth fiberglas or the matte fiberglas.

Here are some photos of the process, the yellowish brown is the regular resin and the dark green is the Bondo Fiberglas Jelly(life saver).