Brody Helmet

Plastic Mould

To construct a Brody Helmet I must first make a mould in which I will be making the helmet. To do this I need a plaster mould in the shape of the helmet which I sprayed with silicone release agent and put in the Vacuum Former. I then place a piece of Sheet Styren over the mould and switch on the heater.

Once the Sheet Styrene’s surface has gone wavy then straight again I know that it is ready. I then remove the heater, pull the levy up for the plaster mould to go through the sheet styrene. This will then stretch and I press the green button (Mould) to Vacuum. Finally I remove from the plaster mould and cut off the excess plastic making sure I wear protective glasses.

Resin and Fibre Glass Mould

First, whilst wearing the correct Personal Protective Equipement (boiler suit, gloves, mask and glasses at the ready) I must prepare the mould by applying 3 thin layers of Mould Release Wax  by buffing to a nice sheen and allowing to dry inbetween layers. I also need to use spray as a precaution.

When doing a fiberglass mould (wearing all my PPE) I must first do one layer of Gel Coat. To do this I mix 100 parts Gel Coat to 1 part Catalyst (hardener) here I will be using 100g of gel coat and 1g of catalyst. I mix quickly and thourougly before it goes off. I then add metal powder to add a metalic sheen. I use enough for the metalic effect to come through but not too much so that it is not too thick.

When ready I paint the mixture in the inside of my plastic mould making a layer of 2-3mm thick. I then leave to dry for 1 to 2 hours. The surface should be soft but not wet.

Before starting the Lay-up I must tear up pieces of Fibre glass matt and Fibre glass tissue so that they are ready and I don’t have to do it when my lay-up is hardening. I then mix up Lay-up resin gel and Catalyst 100:1 by weight (100g lay-up, 1g Catalyst) and less than 5% black pigment.

I first paint one layer of the mixture into the mould and carefuly place the pieces of fibre glass matt then push them into the first layer with the paint brush by dabbing making sure not to brush as this will drag the strands around. I repeat this process again with the fibre glass tissue to add a neat finish.

I now leave this to dry for about 2 hours although the drying speed depends on the temperature of the room. I wait until the texture is “cheesy” so that I can easily cut off the edges with a stanley knife rather than leaving it over night and have to cut it off with a hacksaw. When the edge is removed I leave to set a little longer and remove (with great struggle) from the mould.

My resin and fibre glass mould is now complete.