New Scratch built fibreglass/carbon mono build

[martno1fan]

Its called child labour m8,but when you buy chinese you buy cheap flimsy boats yours will be hand made quality not made in some sweat shop by a child.People that buy from them are killing the rest of us who build quality boats at good honest prices.
Mart
PS your surface should be shiny but that said it will only mirror the finish on the paint.

[BondoBob]

Looking good. Best thing is knowing you did it.

[minigazz]

Yea, I don't think I could make it for that labour free! Need to run some figures really to see what they are going to cost me to make per hull. Is it worth doing two coast of gel on the hull/canopy as well as on the moulds? I find it difficult to get a good thickness on sharp 90 degree bends otherwise. Cheers

[martno1fan]

Yes you need to do as many coats as it takes to get a solid colour,brushing it is a skill that gets better with experience,spraying is much easier i just hate the cleaning up and for me its not cost efective.I find 2 sometimes 3 coats are needed when brushing gelcoat and you should use specific brushing gelcoat made for brushing on.
Mart

[minigazz]

Yesterday I made quite a lot of progress. I got fed up of painting and filling and decided to just go for it and build my parting dam. I used a chipboard cupboard side, the same piece I used in the first place to build up the wooden ribs on, and traced around the boat onto it and cut it out. I then filed it to make sure the boat would fit through. At the bow end the gap was a little bigger than I would have hoped for but I managed to fill it ok with plasticine. I then made some fixings to hold the hull at the right height, and then secured it to another piece of board. Once this was in place I began to plasticine the gaps. A top tip here - use a fan heater on the plasticine to soften it, I found I could get into the tight gaps a lot better this way and once it cooled down again it hardened, making it hold the hull more securely. Unfortunately while trying to get the plasticine into the gaps I dented part of the hull again in the usual trouble spot - hull deck on the right. I made some locating nubs out of plasticine and then pva'd everything and gave everything two coats of tooling gel coat. I then used some bog mix on tight radiuses, laid up 4 layers of 450gm CSM doing two at a time with an extra layer in strategic places and finished with some tissue. I pulled it off a few hours later and everything seemed to have gone well! The locating nubs may need some sanding and it could do with a little tidying here and there, but its now time to go and make the second half!
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[minigazz]

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[minigazz]

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[minigazz]

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[minigazz]

Just been working on the other half of the mould. So far I have finished cleaning off the previous half, given the lower half of the hull a few finishing touches, waxed everything and PVA'd everything. Just waiting on the PVA to dry now so I can lay down a few coats of tooling gel coat.
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[martno1fan]

Wow youve been busy looks good ,my only worry is how long you left the plug in the mould,i normally leave it in there at least 2 days to avoid too much shrinkage and to make sure things stay straight,hopefully you will be ok as its only a small boat.
Mart

[minigazz]

Oh, oops, the boat is still in the mould at the moment though. I have fully laid up the other half now too! I head off back to uni on sunday so I have been trying to press on as much as possible! I just hope it won't cost me.

[martno1fan]

leave em in the moulds for a cpl days as poly resin takes a while to fully cure,keep it in a warmish place iff posible to help.i know its hard leaving things as you want to see the results been there done it but its worth waiting if you can lol.
Mart

[minigazz]

Wow, I have been busy. I have finished moulding the two halves and they came out ok. They have a few imperfections in them which need to be addressed, but nothing too bad. I prematurely made a hull too! I wanted to test out the joining method and I can report that it was about 50% successful. I think there was an issue with the gel coat - something which I haven't come across before, it seemed to go crumbly and not set properly even a day or so on. It also seems to have absorbed some of the PVA and definitely has a blue tint. I also only did one coat of gel coat which gave problems with the CSM showing through, but I expected this and wasn't too bothered by this. Finally, I had a problem with the join. I mixed up some bog mix with the white gel coat and put it all around the rim on the top half having trimmed it and the bottom half all flush. I then mated the two halves and clamped it all together. It worked in that the two halves were bonded pretty firmly, but it is only watertight around 90% of the way round.

These are all problems that can be solved I think. Its just a lot more work!

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[minigazz]

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[minigazz]

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