lets say you were making a pack and gun from cardboard. what do you think would be better to cover it with to make it flush and smooth ? wood putty, Bondo, or something else ?
When you say cardboard are you taking corrugated box board? You can cover it in polyester resin on the outside and use bondo to fill in any imperfections then use f/g mat on the inside to give it strength. Cardboard won’t stand up on its own
I reccomend Zar wood putty. It can be found at places like True Value hardware, but they don’t seem to carry it at Home Depot.
I tried Minwax wood putty, but it was dry and clumpy and grainy and wasn’t easy to smooth. Didn’t like to stick to the wood either. Try to apply it with a spatula and one side would roll up as you push down the other.
I also tried Bondo. Bondo smells, is very thick, dries too fast to work with it easily, and you have to wear gloves when using it.
And I tried Mod Podge. Mod Podge is basically elmer’s glue. It would take many coats to build up enough to fill cracks and things. And it’s not really well suited to sanding. And I suspect while it would take paint, the paint could potentially flake off.
I didn’t use Elmer’s putty, but I did put a bit on my finger at the store and it was grainy like the Minwax.
Zar however, was perfect. It’s like creamy thin peanut butter. Goes on smoothly, dries relatively quickly but leaves plenty of time to work it. Easy to sand. Sticks to the wood when you apply it too.
I don’t know if there’s any other putties like Zar, but Zar is latex based, so if you can find another brand that says its latex based then maybe it’ll be something similar.
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Oh ■■■■, I didn’t even read the bit about carboard. Any kind of wood putty would be likely to crack with the way carboard would flex. Bondo becomes hard, it might fare better, but I strongly reccomend against it.
For cardboard, since it’s already pretty smooth, you might want to consider Mod Podge. But if you have large holes along egdes you need to fill, like on courrogated cardboard… Not gonna work so well probably. But it would make a plastic like skin on the cardboard and reenforce it. And it wouldn’t crack.
Mod Podge is found in craft stores btw. With the glues.
I used bondo on my wood pack. I tried wood putty but it was too hard to work with. Bondo dries quickly so you can get to sanding within 15 minutes, but putty takes forever to dry.
I’m not sure how bondo would go working on carboard, though. It might crack if the carboard flexes too much.
yeah i pretty much figured the cardboard would be to flexible to just bondo it… maybe i should move up the scale on building materials to foamboard or possibly a lighter weight wood. what type of wood do you guys prefer ?
MDF (medium density fiberboard) it’s cheap, cuts and sands easily and there is no grain. And it’s durable unlike basswood.
Yeah.. MDF is ideal for this kinda thing 
Lawrence
Mdf sounds good. Thanks guys
Basswood is quite durable. Maybe not as durable as MDF, but durable enough. Plus its much lighter, and much easier to work. And it comes in convenient pre-cut strips of varying widths. And you don’t need to wear a respirator when cutting it, because it doesn’t contain formaldehyde, and doesn’t generate a ton of dust.
I made a heat sink for the gun out of basswood with fins that were 1/16" thick, and after I glued one on crooked, it took a ton of force to snap it off. The various boxes I made for the top of the pack are also quite durable.
I wouldn’t reccomend making your SPACER out of the stuff; (I used MDF for that myself) but for everything else, it’s the best choice in my opinion.
I hated Bondo. You only get maybe 5-10 minutes of shaping before it hardens, and it annihilated my putty knives. It smells awful, and if you don’t use the right amount of hardening gel it NEVER DRIES! When drilling out holes I still get wet bondo clay out of it.
Also, if you do use Bondo, be sure to wear a mask when sanding. Actually, you should always wear a mask when sanding anything, but Bondo is particularly harmful to breathe. Gag!
I ended up using joint compound for the areas that just wouldn’t get smooth. I guess when you’re a painter’s son you use what you know will work. It washes off your hands with water, sands really easy and as long as you don’t bang it around it looks purty.
DL2
Here’s another vote for MDF. I love the stuff. It comes in all thicknesses, too. In the end you’ll have a tough, heavy proton pack.
Next time I make a proton pack I’m also gonna try using balsa wood for some of the finer details, like the fins on the gearbox and lightbar, etc. You can cut balsa with a hobby knife, but MDF you’ll need a jig-saw or bandsaw.
see that was the other thing.. i know it’s a pain to wear something like this all day if it’s heavy but thats what bothers me about foamboard and such.. i feel like even though it’s just a prop I want some weight to go with the look you know lol .
If it’s all MDF it’ll probably weigh about 30lbs, that’s about what mine weighs. But it wouldn’t be the same if it was hollow plastic, it’d feel more like a toy.
what ive found for the best foundation with my packs was a paint called rustoleum, you can get it at any place you find aerosol paint. It was actually so nice, i used a gun-metal type color, and it comes out looking like real painted metal. i damn near didnt paint over it with the traditional black because it looked so basass. it fills in wood grain cracks. i also recommend against cardboard, especially if you plan on partying. as soon as cardboard gets wet or damp, its useless. quarter inch plywood is a much safer bet, and inexpensive.
well the carboard is simply for a template . tomorrow I’m heading off the home depot to pick up some plywood I’d say a 1/4’ sheet , and a 1/2’ for the spacer and cyclotron, thanks for the paint idea btw I will have to give that stuff a try
here was what rusoleum will look like just after 2 coats of paint. damned if you dont step back and have second ideas about painting over it.
I’ll take that bet sir lol, i must admit it does look really nice