Newbie resin/fiberglass help

[DaveyB]

Hi all,
I have some (possibly) silly questions on using resin for casting that I hope someone here can help me with.
The project is to create some decorative wall hangings from bodycasts.
For example, let's say the piece will look like the bronze male torso at the top of this page.
I've made a silicone mold and used plaster bandage for the mothermold and am now ready to make a resin cast.
This is the procedure: coat the inside of the mold with bronze powder. Mix up resin with black pigment and more bronze. Coat mold. Laminate some fiberglass with resin (less the additives this time).
Demold. Wire wool. Patina. Wax. Finished.
So here are the dumb questions:
I am unsure as to the amount of materials needed for a project of this size and the thickness of the cast I'm aiming for to make the piece very strong while still not too heavy or flexible.
Resin seems to be sold by weight rather than volume, so roughly how much do you think I would need for this project? How thick will the piece need to be, or, how many layers of laminated fiberglass should I aim for? These are the questions that I can't seem to find answers for anywhere.
Also, is there anything else I need to consider?
Many many thanks for any help!

[eyeballjohn]

Hi DaveyB, I'm guessing you have used fiberglass and resin before?, 1 quart of polyester resin should be plenty for your project but you might be better off purchasing a gallon it should be cheaper, 2 layers of 1 and a half once mat should be enough for strength and still be lite in weight, also you can use spray paint to tint your resin no need to buy pigment, ripping the fiberglass a little will make it lay down in your mold easier also, Hope this Helps, Later John

[DaveyB]

Originally Posted by eyeballjohn

Hi DaveyB, I'm guessing you have used fiberglass and resin before?, 1 quart of polyester resin should be plenty for your project but you might be better off purchasing a gallon it should be cheaper, 2 layers of 1 and a half once mat should be enough for strength and still be lite in weight, also you can use spray paint to tint your resin no need to buy pigment, ripping the fiberglass a little will make it lay down in your mold easier also, Hope this Helps, Later John

Hi John,
That's briliant, thanks!
No, I haven't used resin or fibrglass before, but believe me, no one on earth could have done more reading or watched more video on the subject than I have been doing recently I doubt there's a single mention of fiberglass on the whole internet that I haven't seen
Am very confident that I'll do ok, just didn't want to find out I didn't have enough material while working or spend a fortune on stuff I wouldn't use. My biggest concern was how thick/how many laminates I should use so I didn't demould a floppy or fragile cast or go overboard and use much more expensive material than I neeed to.
Thought about 3 layers should should do it, so your advice that 2 should do it is cool.
How do you mean with the spray paint? Actually spray into my Part B just as I would add pigment? I know that spraying into a silicone mould will transfer the paint to the resin but I havent heard of any other tecnique.
Thanks again for the info - have given me the confidence to go for it. Cheers!

[eyeballjohn]

Hi Dave, you can tint the resin by just spraying some Krylon spray paint or similar type paint in to your resin and mix before adding the MEK hardner, I do this all the time to make black resin to fix original black glass panels on Vettes, but it will work with any color, you can check out my web site at WWW.EyeballJohn.com for some other fiberglass tips and see some of the parts I make, Later, John

[sculptor]

hi daveyB
when casting in resin, i usually mix a jell coat with bronze powders a thixative and resin, sometimes, several small batches with different bronze powders, being careful to match different powders on either side of piece molds
here's a couple links to prior discussions here
have you also tried searching this site?

http://www.sculpture.net/community/s...ght=patination

http://www.sculpture.net/community/a...9&d=1083543357

bonadventure
and welcome
rod

[DaveyB]

Well, I had a go. EyeballJohn gave me the info and confidence I needed to start off and here it is:



Rod, as I get a bit more used to these new materials (a 5 minute pot life and all the MESS doesn't suit my character one bit), I'll start looking at various patinations and varying the pigments I use within a cast for a more interesting finish!
It's quite a learning curve, but I have to say I'm very happy with my first effort!

[sculptor]

Originally Posted by DaveyB

... I'm very happy with my first effort!

as you should be

[eyeballjohn]

Great work DaveyB, the color looks fantastic

[Mold Man Mike]

Here is the bonded bronze method I use. Start to demold in 30min when EasyFlo 60 is used. 15-3 would be demoldable in an hour roughly.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=.../8/QpemkigjD_0