it’s time for one of the most boring jobs I have to do. Before I finish off getting the plasticine into the part and spray the release agent I’m going to have to clean the garage down to get the dust levels down.
First I’ll be vacuuming everything and then I’ll be pressure washing it down. This is so dull.
On the plus side my son and I did manage to get the engine gearbox and differential out of the chassis today so it’s just pure chassis and parts now.
Here’s a brief video I’ve done showing the tub pattern part as it stands now. All the shapes are right and the flanges are on. I wanted to show the flanges, as well as how I support them.
One of the things it is a real pain in the arse when you sticking flanges the parts is having to support the flange underneath with gussets. Are used to do this with the jigsaw and it was really fiddly and I didn’t like getting my fingers that close to the blade. As you know I have a bit of a history when it comes to rotating things and fingertips.
Now I can just set the cutting angle at 45° and push a piece of 1 inch MDF through repeatedly turning it over and I get loads and loads of gussets in just a few seconds.
Here is the obligatory photograph.
So, I was taking a wander around East-Coast Fibreglass because I needed more 100gsm chopped strand map to act as the first layer when laying up to prevent print-through in a mould. I came across something called Finishline Polyester Veil. What you’d normally do is put a layer of 100gsm chopped strand mat down first, and let that go off. Then put your heavy 450 down afterwards.
This stuff, being a felt doesn’t need a binder (to hold the chopped strands together) which means (apparently) it has a better chemical grip on the gel-coat. Then, once it’s set, you can put the final 4 layers of 450gsm down. Hopefully this will give me a great finish and is really cheap. I have had print-through before, so I know not to let this happen.
Then I discovered that Marbocoat do a release agent called Fastcote, which you wipe on and it leaves a shiny release surface. I called them today and it is good for epoxy. Fantastic. Everything that contributes to a nice surface finish is welcome.
I will test it first before I use it, I think.
I’ve welded the brackets to hold the underfloor bracing on and tacked them onto the chassis. They only need two tacks. I don’t want them to be any stronger than something that can be taken off with a chisel.
Here is the first attempt at a fillet. I appreciate that it doesn’t look much from this distance (so there’s a close-up to follow). I’ve been using a 1″ ball and liquid wax dissolved in styrene as a lubricant. It helps if the plasticine is nice and warm and soft before one rolls it into a sausage and shoves it in.
However, I’ve got to stop now for a couple of reasons:
This is the filleted edge up close and again, it’s not easy to judge the finish. However, this is at the bottom of the tub and most of it will be covered by seat, so whilst I want the best finish I can make, I’m not going to get het up on making it perfect. I can always do a little post-finishing on the mould or even the part if the urge gets me.