FOAM MOULD

[Matty_C]

hey all iam new to the forum. i need some help on making a foam mould for some small ele boats running 380-480 motors. what i want to know is what sort of foam do i need? i want to lay fiberglass on it and would like to cover the whole thing in body filler to get the shape i want. and i cant use styrafoam because the epoxy resin and body filler melt the foam.

any help is most apreciated.

thanks in advance.

Matty_C

 

[lohring]

Epoxy resin will NOT melt any of the garden varieties of foam. Pink and blue construction foams are the easiest to use. They can be cut with saws or a hot wire cutter and sand well. After covering with glass cloth and epoxy resin the surface can be filled with any body filler. If you then want, the foam can be disolved out with gasoline or a similar solvent.

Lohring Miller

 

[MikeP]

Here is how I would do it, make your plug out of foam, and then make the mould out of casting plaster. This will make 1 or 2 good hulls. If you like the finished products use the plaster mold to lay up a plug to make a production mold out of fiberglass.

Foam and plaster is a very quick easy way to make a mould for a couple parts.

Spyder foam from aerospace composites works good to make plugs.

The insulation type foam from Home Depot works but is softer and harder to shape.

Plaster won't stick to the foam.

MikeP

 

[Matty_C]

thanks guys for all your help i be making the mould hopefuly this weekend so ill post up when its done thanks again

 

[Mike G]

Surfboard foam won't melt with FG resin ether, Composite Marketing in Elizabeth.

Good to see you over here as well Matty!

 

[Mark Anderson]

A good resource on the net is the composite fabrication and repair section on rc universe