# Cosplay Notes

## Misc internet knowledge (possibly untested)

* Superglue can be kicked with water, especially in fine spritz mist
* Baking soda + superglue can be used to build up areas / cracks as a filler powder that hardens

## Resins (mostly untested internet knowledge)

* youtube suggestion: Smooth-on Onyx seems to work for paper nicely

* forum suggestion: smooth-coating foam called Shell Shock by Smooth On

* forum suggestion: try urethane casting resin instead -  smooth-on 320 or 321

* Smoothcast 65D vs 321: 65D kicks faster, is thicker and more pliable for bending angle failures

* Completely alternative suggestion is wood glue over fabric, since true fiberglass is overkill

* Neither polyester, vinylester, nor epoxy fiberglassing resins will eat through EVA foam. Polyester resin eats through polystyrene foam

* Apparently polyester resin doesn't fully cure on EVA and is fairly nasty to work with

* Some resins ^^^^ don't really like to harden EVA foam, though, since the foam itself is flexible under that shell - ideally you'd use some substrate like paper or fiberglass mat or papier mache or something, and resin *that.*

* Could you maybe use tape or something as a stick-on layer?

* forum: "probably have a better success using some laminating epoxy. EpoxAmite as a Smooth-On brand. But if you want to be more cost effective, go back to using Pep and 3/4 oz. fiberglass mat."

* forum: "seal the foam with pva glue which i just used elmers spray on adhesive" to fill the foam pores

* There's a difference between waxed and unwaxed resin - the first finishes hard and the latter tacky for further lay-up layers. Obviously, using the second for a finish coat won't ever "dry" for painting

## 3D Printing

* PLA plastic is cheapest, biodegradable and can be oven-tempered for strength. $20-25 a kilo
* Nylon is strongest, but you can't print it without a big heat box / new hot-end? More for 'real' parts.
* Shapeways everything else, other than the US -> CAD shipping ($11+)

## Foam work

* 5mm EVA dense foam, comes in sheets 24" x 60" or so, also other thicknesses. \~$10 a sheet
* Kwik Seal (DAP) is a tile caulk from home depot, used for sealing seams and smoothing. \~$3 tube
* Dap Weldwood Contact Cement for gluing pieces together (glue both sides, wait 10 minutes to dry somewhat, then press together for ultra strong bond)
* Gummi Dip is a smoother / better Plastidip - not sure if we can even get it here, seems european
* Pepakura program for making / getting cut out patterns as templates -> Cricut to cut templates?
* If you buy that full-page sticker label sheet from staples, maybe you don't even need to glue it down
* You can make [Xacto cuts + heat gun for contrasty detail lines](https://youtu.be/SyYT4RIS-Jg) like scales or panel gaps

## Papercraft

* Experimental idea: Cricut papercraft, glue tabs, use epoxy or some sort of resin to harden???
* Take that base frame and fiberglass the positive? 
* Could 3D print parts for corners or whatever to hold angles and provide rigidity to empreg paper?

## Vinyl cutter

See [Cricut notes](https://ltkmn.gitbook.io/brendex/working-theories/cricut-settings-and-notes)

* Use for actual vinyls and paper stencils for painting
* You can cut greentape on the mat to make a stickable temporary stencil instead of using vinyl or transfer paper, if that's cheaper / easier
* pen tool for writing numbers and marking mating faces??
* Scoring tool for bends in papercraft?

## Plastidip

* Not super cheap, \~$20 a rattlecan
* Use more for thickness and smoothing than painting
* Limited colours, but can spraypaint over top
* It creates a semi-removable vinyl layer that peels off with varying effort depending on your coats
* Tape around emblem on car such that you're spraying both the emblem and onto the car paint
* Spray MORE than you think, especially to the outside of the emblem, such that it can connect to itself and peel up as one layer - if it's just dotted overspray, it's a pain
* Works best when the can is room temperature, works best when sprayed in warmer air.
* Cold plastidip 'chunks' which makes the spray surface rough and also gunks the rattlecan nozzle
* Lasted about 4-5 years on the Mini
* You can respray over peeling bits, but the thickness difference will be visible
* For the most part, removability isn't the benefit I assumed it was - just commit and use spraypaint