Mercruisin

hey hey! did the ther****rming tonight. turned out pretty good i must say. i was rather impressed for it being my first attempt at something like this. i only finished one wheel cover, but it looks pretty good. i still have to buff everything (like the glue) to make it all nice. then tomorrow is the other side. should be ready for paint soon.

ok, sure youre all wondering how i did it. i took the moulds (positive and negative) and put a thin layer of vaseline on each one. very thin. it wont light in the oven, and it works GREAT as a release agent. if you dont put it on, you'll have yourself a lexan sandwich thats not coming apart. i heated the moulds at 200 degrees celcius for about 3 - 4 minutes. put the lexan peice on the positive mould and placed the negative mould over it. did the same for the other side and closed the oven door. the lexan wont change shape right away, so, just give it about 10 - 15 seconds. open up the oven again and while wearing some kind of heat protective hand covering (like a glove), push down on the negative and kinda push it all around to make sure its seated right. close the oven door again for about another 10 - 15 seconds. check it to make sure that it's melting all around. take it out and keep applying pressure while letting it cool for a bit, then take the moulds off. should slide out like a bar of wet soap in your hands.

it takes a bit to get the mould technique down. i know there are a few things i would definitely do differently next time. but, it just proves that it CAN be done without a ther****rming unit. as far as doing something with complex and sharp curves and contours, you may have some trouble, but give it a try.