Typhoon Phil

Am about to start a first scratch built project and am going to go down the plug and mould route but am reading different stories on whether to do the moulds in Polyester or Epoxy.... 'Im leaning towards the Polyester route for 2 reasons: Its obviously cheaper and also its suppose to produce a more stable, rigid plug or so I have been lead to believe. What are your thoughts? The final airframe to be made once the moulds are done will be Epoxy.

sensei

If you are building a plug/master model or a mould/Lay up block, epoxy will be your most stable media to use...

Bob

Roguedog

Epoxy is the way to go.

Typhoon Phil

Ok epoxy seems to be the recommended route..... can you recommend a brand of Top coat to use when making up the moulds and also a brand of epoxy paint to use (spray) when doing your finished item ie to spray into the moulds.

sierratango

PTM&W has great products and a terrific website.

Many surface coats, many laminating systems.

Don't use polyester. Shrinks too much, cures too fast, too many problems.

You are investing a lot of time, invest the money, use high quality epoxy systems.

Plugs....final buildup, DURATEC surfacing primer, sands to a high polish finish.. Fibreclast carries it, but they seems expensive on everything.

sensei

+1

Bob

GREG DOE

Phil, All the advise here is good, but I think "sierratango" posted a misprint. The source he has suggested should be Fiber Glast Products. Just to be certain, I tried a search for "Fiberclast", and Fiber Glast came up. The company is in Dayton, OH, but they might be able to recommend a source in the United Kingdom, or Europe, if that would be more convenient. I've made a lot of molds from both polyester, and epoxy, but I definitely prefer epoxy. On the other hand I just made a polyester canopy mold last week, but I knew I was only going to make one "master plug" part out of it. That plug was then primed, and sanded, in order to correct the imperfections that were in the original canopy. The final step was to make the production mold out of epoxy. Good luck on your project. Greg

sierratango

Greg, you know me better than my key board knows me.

I also didn't realize typhoon Phil was in the UK.

Typhoon Phil

Guys thanks very much for all the info..... definitely epoxy is the way forward.... have found a supplier for Duratec surface primer over here in the UK so no problems getting hold of that. If I have any more questions I know where to come to lol.... as for my project..... well lets just say I'm an ex Royal Air Force HARRIER engineer!!!!!!

Cheers again for the info

GREG DOE

Phil, You have gotten MY attention. Also the company mentioned, Fiber Glast Products has some excellent, free, instructional videos.
John, While your key board may not always cooperate, sometimes mine is just plain evil!

sidgates

My Feedback: (2)

Phil,
I am an admitted amateur but I did use some original molding ideas in my scratch build. Check out the F-94C on my web.
http://www.sidgates.us/HOBBIES/F-94C/F94C%20PROJECT.htm

sierratango

Sidgates,awesome,project, looks great. I have never seen the foam used like that before as a backing on the molds.

Pulled my first fuselage.

next one I'll pull vacuum on the entire fuselage from start to finish. Had some drape off on the tail boom where the unidirectional fabric was the outside layer. It can be filled in, but it is not perfect like the second will be.