Making fiberglass cowls from this plastic ABS crap..
 

Hello,

I was fixing up an airplane for a buddy, and he had a ABS cowl, which I hate. He said If I could make a new one, to go ahead. So now I'm wondering whats the best way to make one. Its a GP extra 300s, and he'd rather try and make our own instead of buying one from fiberglass specialties. I was thinking of a few things, I need mold release, but after that I have nothing. Do I have to make a mold out of the plastic one, than make the cowl from the mold? Or do I have to carve on out of wood, make a mold, than make the cowl. My grandpa has made tons of fiberglass cowls but I would hate to bug him as hes building a B-25 that hes concentrating heavily on, soI don't want him to get lost in that project.

Pictures, URLs, tips would greatly be appreciated!

Thanks</p>

RE: Making fiberglass cowls from this plastic ABS crap..
 

Check out [link=http://www.cstsales.com/tutorials/fiberglass_mold.pdf]Making a Fiberglass Mold[/link]

Jerry

RE: Making fiberglass cowls from this plastic ABS crap..
 

Thanks. It helped alot.

RE: Making fiberglass cowls from this plastic ABS crap..
 

There is a way to make "one" cowling easily.

It's called the "lost foam method."

You do have to have the ability to shape the cowling out of foam. The glass stuff is easy.

My first try at it is the cowling on this 1/5 scale Gee Bee Z. Certainly an easy shape!

I'm sure there's plenty of information on the "lost foam method." Sorry I have no information, possibly others could suggest where to get it. Google "lost foam method?"

Let us know how you make out?

Charles

RE: Making fiberglass cowls from this plastic ABS crap..
 

I have an article on making cowls using the lost foam method. It works and you should be able to whip out a basic cowl in a weekend. www.austinrc.org checkout the builders korner and scroll down to "How to make Fiberglass Cowls".
Edwin

RE: Making fiberglass cowls from this plastic ABS crap..
 

Edwin,

Nice Club and nice field!

Do you consider yourself spoiled?

Charles

RE: Making fiberglass cowls from this plastic ABS crap..
 

Just a little. :)

RE: Making fiberglass cowls from this plastic ABS crap..
 

Thanks much for the article.

That is a nice airfield.

I figure I can get fiberglassing experience, while learning how to make my own cowls in the future, instead of paying someone minimum $30 to make on for me, and the one I got a couple months ago didn't even fit. The cowl I bought fit inside the plastic cowl, meaning it was smaller, so I had to chop out alot of wood to make it fit. Waste...

RE: Making fiberglass cowls from this plastic ABS crap..
 

There is a halfway measure that might be suitable especially for another person's plane. You can fiberglass the inside of an ABS cowl making it much more durable with minimal work. [8D]

RE: Making fiberglass cowls from this plastic ABS crap..
 

have a look this [link=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCivvXA2FVU]youtube[/link]

RE: Making fiberglass cowls from this plastic ABS crap..
 

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