Carbon Fiber Bodywork

The left sidecover I am using as the master plug has some imperfections that need to be corrected prior to molding. I used auto body spot putty to fill in a few scratches and a notch in the top. After refinishing with the spot putty and 220 grit, I sprayed 2 coats of high build primer over the spots. That was sanded with 600 grit wet. 2 more coats of primer were sprayed and sanded with 1500 grit wet. Then the cover was polished with automotive polishing compound by hand (I didn't have anyone to hold it for me and use a machine)

Then approx. 10 coats of wax were put on the sidecover

Whoops!

To help insure longevity of the master mold, I will be using tooling gelcoat in the mold construction. Just incase I need to make more than one or two sets

Also supplied by US Composites...cheapest price I could find for tooling gelcoat at $16 a quart!

Man they aren't kidding when they say it's orange :whistle:

Here is the side cover ready for gelcoat

I glued file folder paper along the edges to fill in the gap to a common plane. That way I can lay the gelcoat all around the side cover down to the mold box and up the sides.

I dissasembled my mold box and sprayed it with PVA. Once it dries, I'll set the cover on the base and get started.....tomorrow :laugh:

1st coat of the tooling gelcoat and fiberglass chopped strand mat
on the right side cover

2nd coat of gelcoat and fiberglass. It all looks the same now, no mater how many coats I put on. So, next pic will be with the box assembled and a complete gelcoat over everything. Then it'll be really orange!

I hope you can get the side cover (plug) out of the orange mold. From the photos it looks locked in around the edge where the cover meets the file folder cardboard. In the past I used modeling clay around the edges to fill in the recessed area so the plug would not get locked in the mold.

This is an interesting thread. Can't wait to see the final product

PaintWorkz wrote:

I hope you can get the side cover (plug) out of the orange mold. From the photos it looks locked in around the edge where the cover meets the file folder cardboard. In the past I used modeling clay around the edges to fill in the recessed area so the plug would not get locked in the mold.

I used modeling clay as well, but your observation has merit. There will be some spots where I will need to remove a bit of a flashing lip prior to plug extraction.

Damn, so my modem just died. Verizon will send me a new one tomorrow, but until then I won't be able to post anymore pics. : ( kzr won't allow me to upload pics from my phone.

I have no illusions that my mold will need some touching up before use. This is my first mold (who doesn't have issues the first time they do something?) And I didn't have anything to spray the gelcoat, so I brushed it on. I figure I'm bound to get some voids that will need to be patched. All in the name of education! :laugh: