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OK, after reading all of WhiteRabbit and Ludiam's posts on fiberglass, I went to home depot and got 9 sq. feet of fiberglass mat, and some resin and hardener....I played around with a 6 inch section tonight, and made a flat surface....im waiting till morning to see how it came out. Anyways, i'm thinking of an install for my car, and I was wondering if it would work to make a shape out of chicken wire, and lay fleece or something over it...kinda like paper mache I guess.....I want to do some really wild designs in my trunk, and thats the only way I can think of doing it......it should work, right? Also, where can I get supplies like fiberglass weave (home depot only had mat, and I've heard weave works better, right?), and fleece in bulk? Thanks guys....and thank you to white rabbit and ludiam....you've inspired me to try this project, I couldent have done it without you two.

 
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i got my weave on ebay... 10 yard roll

and as to the chicken wire, that would work, any actual frame you could make would work

 
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the best way ive found if you want a complex shape is a structure made of styrofoam, then you can hollow it out later.a layer of plaster over teh foam REALLY helps make teh outer glss layer come out smooth, less bondo work later (tho you have to clean out teh plaster [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG] )

teh best (and most simple way) is to make a frame, and stretch your fleece over that. the fleece naturally conforms to teh most simple shape and you are left with a realy neat and elegant yet simple design, you cant get sexier than nature [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]

 
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Where can I get the resin that DOESNT have the wax in it that needs to be sanded off? Home Depot only has Bondo brand resin, it's like an all purpose or something....thats what I got, and then after reading the can carefully, it is the wax stuff....gota sand between coats....so, where do I get the other stuff? Is there a website or something? And what exactly is it called?

Thanks guys.

 
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www.tapplastics.com

has all your fiberglass needs including resin and weave and mat and roving and everythiiiing

 
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gaaa! OK, which resin do I want to buy? And which hardener? I'm using fleece and fiberglass mat to make door panels for my speakers.....And I dont want to sand between coats....there are so many choices for resin...help!

 
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my fav is surfboard resin, and you need mekp with it

 
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you can use any resin you wish, as long as its a laminating resin, not a finishing resin. finishing resin has the wax in it.

all polyester resin you need mekp, all epoxy resin you need the specific side A and side B. epoxy IMO is vastly superior to polyester. but at 4x the cost, is it REALLY worth it? for all your whatever projects?

and you can avoid the sanding step by putting on your subsequent layers afer the first lyer has kicked, but before it cures. the wax in the first layer that rose to the surface will then migrate to teh surface of the new layer you just added. dont really need to sand at all

 
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What do you mean "kicked"?

 
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kicked = consistency of jello gelatin

 
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ok, cool. one last question....when I build the door panels, i'm gonna use fleece to make it....do I only need one coat of resin on the outside of it, and then just use peices of fiberglass mat on the inside to make it more sturdy? Or do I do like 2 layers on the outside? And do I also need to add more resin to the inside before I put the peices of mat in? thanks for all your help guys....i've got the patterns for the base of the panels traced out [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] Gonna cut the final peices with my ban-saw tomorrow....I cant wait for the finished results!

 
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*in bill cosby voice* you see the kids and the jello pudding and they do the darndest things and blahblahblah

 
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it really depends on yoru design, you really have to use yrou best judgement on this one, when i rebuilt my rear quarterpanels, there was no way I would be able to make an easy job of pulling the out to reinforce. I later found out I didnt have to, all i had to do was carpet over it, it was ok if they were a bit flexy, since noone would touch them.

obviously this isnt an option for you, but you have to consider, how does the design play out? how will you be finishing the door? carpet? vinyl? can you get away easily with reinforcing the outside, or do you HAVE to reinforce on teh inside only? if you do, will the door panel not be able to fit back on properly? it will interfere? will the flece alone flex, like the material i used for my panels before reinforcing? what will hold it in shape while the reinforcment dries?

all are design questions that are case by case specific, and more than half the time, you never think about. in this case, some of these are definitely important! I dont know enough abotu your design to make suggestions on yoru process.

But I would suggest for paint of vinyl yoru surface can be fixed with bondo, lots and lots of bondo, Id make sure you have a removable design so you can still access the back, you never know when youll need to get back there, and if you have catastrophic failure the first try, dont give up!