To prepare this model for the molding process, the first thing I need to do is mount it onto a parting plane. My inclination is to use some nasty looking piece of scrap 1/8 inch piece of press board that I have laying around. However, since I am going to take a bunch of pictures of this process and turn it into yet another fiberglass instruction manual for my current series, I decided to use a nice looking piece of wood from the local Home Depot …
To begin with, I will use my pencil to trace the hull surface onto the parting plane. With the hull tracing complete, I can go ahead and use screws to secure the hull to the parting plane. Once this step is complete, I can start to apply mold release wax to everything that gelcoat and resin will touch. I never skimp on this part of the molding process. I always do at least five coats of mold release wax on the surface of my plugs. This project does require special preparation since the buddy I am building this for wants to keep the original plug for display purposes.
Suitable Parting Plane
When the waxing is done, I will apply two or three coats of PVA to insure a clean release of the plug from the mold. If you have been following this project, you will remember that the strakes on the bottom of the hull are made from wood, not fiberglass mat and resin. They are comparatively soft. As I said before, I always like to preserve the plugs that I build since they are so labor intensive, however, I have broken many weak, wooden pieces off my plugs in the past and I really don’t want to do that with this one. Less repairs are always better.
Mounted & Ready For Wax
Happy Glassing
Steve
