I was wondering if anyone had done a resin pack shell without fiberglass?
Make a mold of your wood & cake pan shell, insert a core mold, then resin is poured in. (very basically)
I’ve been looking at some of the shells people do and it seems like everything is fiberglass. I was imagining a 1/4" or more thickness of resin, which in designing the core mold, can be thickened for stress areas (motherboard attach points, v mount, ion arm, n-filter, etc…). Or thinned, for things you know you will put a hole through (cyc windows, etc)
Fiberglass is ultimately more durable than most resins, and much cheaper. A two-part plug mold for a shell would be very expensive, requiring a huge volume of silicone just for the plug alone.
Thanks DVC,
I only have durability experience with a couple fiberglass things I made so the info helps…
However I might implore further on the core mold/silicone usage? I agree on the expensive silicone part :} But I don’t think the core would take any more silicone then making the face mold in the first place, if you make it like this: (many many steps skipped)
Buck made of cake pan and lumber
Mold rubber coats
support shell
disassemble, clean up, assemble
line the mold face /w 1/4" modelling clay (… for instance)
mold rubber coats
support shell core (should at least mention something here about doing this shell in pieces so your whole kit doesn’t lock together in a cast)
This mode uses a support shell for the core so there is not need for much rubber.
You could probably just pour resin in and then hold the mold at different angles and let it set… but you’d have to do something special around the edges.
A two part mold would not only be expensive, but would be somewhat difficult to get all the air bubbles out, and do it in a way that it doesn’t leak everywhere. There really isn’t a good reason that I could see to bother doing it in that way. Fiberglass is definitely the way to go.
Resin alone is both heavier and less resilient then a fiberglass shell. I’ve seen people with all resin starwars helmets drop them and they shatter like you wouldn’t believe.
I have a resin pack that I purchased form Java Monkey many years ago. It split in half during shipping, but after patching it up I filled the areas that didn’t need electronics with expanding foam. I haven’t had any trouble but I haven’t had any accidents either.
Pretty sure banned user LoveUSmokey/ 145Will has poured resin shells. I had one once upon a time (before I knew any better, circa 2006) and there was absolutely no fiberglass matting inside.
This is one of his shells. Pic borrowed from another gbfans member:
Keep in mind he is a known recaster, so his methods might not be 100%.
Why do anything but fiberglass, they are the gold standard, screen accurate and durable? I understand budget minded people doing other things, but this doesn’t sound budget.
