Thread: Project $ 3 K Is Underway

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Oh well, live and learn. I had considered the plaster thing, but wasn't sure what plaster would work. I asked around about plaster of paris, but no one at the stores seemed to know how you made it. Drywall plaster huh? Maybe that will be the ticket Brian.

Ken, I saw the sentence about the wax paper, but forgot all about that. I considered even thick plastic sheeting, but just went ahead with the resin straight over the styrofoam. Pretty funny now that I have had a chance to think about it. What a mess !!! Man, I had that mold so smooth too.


Don

Oh man, that sucks after all that work. I read once where you can paint the styrofoam with a couple of heavy coats of latex house paint and it stops the resin from dissolving the foam, but I've never tried it...

Anyway, a method that I have used is to make the form up of poster board and cover the entire thing with 2" masking tape. Lay up two or three (or more) layers of 'glass and let it cure. Then rip the posterboard and tape out; you're done. It's probably not as smooth as the foam method, but lots faster as it only takes a few minutes to tape the poster board together.

Yep Jim that is what I did on the '27 and a body grinder got rid of any debris of cardboard under there. That is what I probably am going to do or maybe the plaster routine.

I am not faulting anyone buy myself on this one, and anyone who has played with cars gets bit every so often by something that just doesn't go the way it should. Part of the game.

I have to admit, the foam thing sure made a smooth tunnel in there and if I would have thought about it I would have realized the resin would tear it up.

The frustration is over now, time to regroup and just git er done.


Don

I have to say I am new to this place but sure love this thread have read all the way thru cannot wait to see the finish Rod awesome Job was never bored always clicking next page to see what was next !!!!!!!

Thanks for the nice comments. I plan on going back and editing out all the screw ups later on so it looks like I actually know what I'm doing.

That should cut this thread down to maybe two pages.


BTW........WELCOME.


Don

Don napom was coming to mind there a minute . That was some smooth work as a rookie i get to see another technic .

[QUOTE=Itoldyouso]Oh well, live and learn. I had considered the plaster thing, but wasn't sure what plaster would work. I asked around about plaster of paris, but no one at the stores seemed to know how you made it. Drywall plaster huh? Maybe that will be the ticket Brian.

Ken, I saw the sentence about the wax paper, but forgot all about that. I considered even thick plastic sheeting, but just went ahead with the resin straight over the styrofoam. Pretty funny now that I have had a chance to think about it. What a mess !!! Man, I had that mold so smooth too.


Don[/QUOTE
Believe me I felt your pain, you can tell looking at your mold you had a lot of time in it. With your talent it will come out nice (next time).

Ohhh God!
It's my fault Don.
I should've reiterated what Ken said about the wax paper.
I've used latex paint or water base polyureathane to coat the molds.
But Kens suggestion about wax paper sounded alot easier so I didn't mention it.

God I feel terrible.........

Sorry about your bad luck, but I know you'll get it done.

Got a few "experiments" that didn't pan out in my scrap pile too.

Mike

Look on the bright side pops, you've got what every rodder dreams of...............................a war story with pictures!!!

Tom, if this is the worst thing that happens to me, I'll be very lucky. You gave me a great way to do it, and it really was my fault because common sense should have told me stryrofoam wouldn't hold up to resin. Last night when Dan came home I told him what had happened, and he said " sure, didn't you know that." I guess everybody knew it except for me. Duh.

In any event, I don't feel like going through the whole ordeal of getting more styrofoam and all the time in cutting and shaping it again, so I am going to do the quick and dirty way of taping posterboard to some plywood forms. I already have the aluminum hoops cut to the exact size, so I just have to match them in plywood. I just want to get this part of the build over with so I can get on to painting the frame and running gear. That's when this project will start looking like it is coming to a conclusion.

Like I said, now that I look back on it, this was actually pretty d*** funny. You should have seen the mold melting away and the tunnel getting smaller and smaller. Talk about panic city.


Don

Originally Posted by Bob Parmenter

Look on the bright side pops, you've got what every rodder dreams of...............................a war story with pictures!!!

Bob, I have enough of those with my "Wedding Pictures."


Don

Don---Beware of plastic sheeting----I found out (much to my dismay) that resin will migrate thru plastic sheeting, enough to ruin finished paint. I found that out when molding the 3/4" plywood surround to fit around the rear of the cockpit in the roadster pickup to attach the convertible top frame to. And yes, the quickest, easiest forming plaster is the pre-mixed tubs of stuff that they use for drywall taping/plastering.---Build your form close with masking tape---or wood lath---or cardboard---or fine mesh chicken wire, coat it with a thin coat of drywall mud, let it set up overnight, and sand to shape---then coat with 3 coats of Johnsons paste wax (meant for floors)---do not polish. This plaster is not meant to go on in great gobs, as it has a high shrinkage factor, and will take forever to dry, but in light coats it will set up overnight (heatlamps and a fan can help set it up quicker)---and it is as easy as foam to sand to shape.---then lay up your cloth and resin right over top of it---no female mold required---and I gaurantee that the resin will not melt or soften it.

See, that is really my biggest fear in doing the foam thing again. I am afraid I will build another mold, put some barrier coat on top, like plastic, and that it will still get through there and it will be deja vu all over again.

I'm going to play it safe and do the cardboard route, and I think I will try the plaster over top to get a smooth surface.


Don

I have been told that aluminum foil (as in Reynolds wrap) makes an excellent barrier, but I haven't tried it.