A little more here regarding removing your fiberglass part from your mold.
If you waxed your mold well and applied a good coat or two of PVA, your part should easily pop out of the mold.
The operative word in the ^^ Sentence Above ^^ is “SHOULD”! For a better understanding of why it may not “Easily” pop out of the mold, read my previous post: Read the rest of this entry »
First I want to wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR ! ! ! !
I hope your new year celebration was safe and enjoyable.
I have covered the following information in a post quite some time back before the last time this blog was hacked.
I have been getting some more question I think this will address regarding Epoxy Resin for Mold making. Read the rest of this entry »
I have made many things out of fiberglass over the years. Typically, my projects involve building a plug, making a mold from that plug and finally using that mold to make pieces.
One project that I have wanted to do for a while was inspired by a ceiling fan that I first saw years ago. I am sure that you have seen the fans that look like the nose of a WW II fighter plane. From the moment that I saw that fan, I thought that it would be cool to have a helicopter body that would hang from the underside of the ceiling fan making the fan blades look like rotor blades. Of course the helicopter would have to be a classic – I chose the UH-1 from the Vietnam era.
Thus the project begins. The first thing I like to do when I am building something like this is to go to the hobby store and pick up a model of the helicopter that I want to build. I use this model as a three dimensional reference. While 3D references are not always available, I do like to use them when possible. For this project, I selected a 1/35 scale UH-1. Using this model, I can get a good idea of the size that the fuselage has to be relative to the diameter of the fan blades in order to maintain a scale appearance.
I begin to build the fuselage of the model and to analyze the proportions, angles and curves of the copter.
At this point, I can begin to produce profile drawings of the copter. I definitely need to start with a view from the top and a view from the side.
Some of this is accomplished through artistic ability and some of it is cheating. The model that I bought had these views in the painting instructions. Based on the diameter of the fan blades, I figured that the fuselage should be about 40 inches from nose to tail. I simply used my copier to blow these views up to the size that I need. Then I drew in some details that were lost in the enlarging process.
I’ve received some more questions about Fiberglass Mold Making Gelcoat and how to end up with a high gloss shiny finish.
Sonic 1 High Gloss
When constructing a mold for duplication of parts, there are several considerations that must be addressed. The main reasons for using tooling gelcoat versus finishing gelcoat have to do with the hardness of the finish and the shine of the finish.
The finished surface of your mold should be abrasion resistant. Polyester gelcoat is used for making tooling masters and molds where good gloss retention of the surface is of paramount importance. A high gloss finish of the molds surface allows for easier release of your parts and thus extends the life of the mold. Read the rest of this entry »
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 … Read the rest of this entry »
In order to mount this plug to a parting plane, I am going to need a flexible piece of material, something that will easily follow the curve of my fender plug without causing distortion. What I ended up with is a six-inch wide piece of mahogany door skin that will act as the parting plane that will be mounted to a one inch thick, six inch wide by 36 inch long piece of MDF.
To mount the fender plug to the door skin, I used some bondo to stick wooden blocks to the inside of the fender plug and then I screwed the mahogany to the blocks. I then used my hot glue gun to attach the ends of my newly mounted plug and parting plane to the MDF. Just for visual reference, what I ended up with was similar looking to the Dunlop walk-over bridges that you see crossing over the track at automotive races.
With the plug mounted, I am ready to start the molding process. As with all plug molds, I begin by filling any and all gaps that exist between the plug and the parting plane with clay. In this case, I had no gaps so I went straight for the mold release wax. Since my parting plane is a very porous mahogany, I used 5 full coats of wax to ensure that the chances of my plug sticking to the final mold would be minimal. I allow the wax to completely dry and then apply two coats of PVA mold release and allow it to dry.
This plug is now ready for molding. Anyone who has read any of my prior blog projects knows the process that I am about to explain. I begin by mixing enough black tooling gelcoat to brush a nice thick coat over the surface of my plug and parting plane. Once this cures to a tack, I apply three layers of 1 ½ ounce fiberglass matt and fiberglass resin.
When applying the fiberglass mat and resin, I am always careful to make sure that the material has no air bubbles trapped inside. This is especially important with the corners. In this case the critical area is where the plug meets the parting plane. Remember, hurrying through this portion of the mold build will result in defects in your final product. The more defects that you have – the more repairs you will have to make to your parts.
Happy Glassing
Steve
Fiberglass Fiberglass Mold Making Gel Coat Gelcoat Resin Fiberglass Blog Mold With Fiberglass Fiberglass Body Fiberglass Hoods Fiberglass Manual Custom Fiberglass Model Boats Compression Fiberglass model Fiberglass Fabrication Fiberglass Projects PVA Mold Release Dump GunFinishing Fiberglass Painting Fiberglass Shaping Fiberglass
Fiberglass Mat Fiberglass Cloth
As I studied the layout of the bottom of the hull, I identify the important features that I want to maintain throughout the building of this model. Obviously, an outline of the hull Read the rest of this entry »
Once again work has gotten in the way of my fiberglass molding project.
In my last post I had described how I had finally sorted out the underside of the hull of my 11 meter rhib. I want to move this project forward and I think I have the right plan to do so. I have spent so much time getting the hull of this boat right that I am afraid to do anything that might generate more work on this portion of my build … Read the rest of this entry »
5 Fiberglass "How To" Manuals
