plug and mold - who done it and how

[anonymous]

Hey John,

With my jet plugs

Hey John,

With my jet plugs I was actually able to release the plugs well without much damage. And I cleaned them up and was able to mold them yet a second time.

You have to use partall wax and lots of it. I used about 8 coats letting each dry and buffing them out. Then 4 airbrushed layers of the dreaded PVA. I did this on three plugs. They all survived.

I will point out they didn't have a lot of detail like a sub can have. Just panel lines.

Steve

[pirate]

John, and anyone else interested,
The

John, and anyone else interested,
The link i put in my last post is to an art supply house in Chicago. THe material, labeled "Por-A-Mold" is not RTV. It's a two part urethane rubber. It's much cheaper in bulk than RTV.

I love to use RTV too, but primarily for small parts. But this urethane is a nice option for larger jobs. It's about $65 for a (2) gallon package. One gallon of each part for a totasl combined of two.

And I agree, I would not use this for something as large as a 1/96 Ohio. It would be extremely heavy and hard to hold it's shape so big. But just for future reference, it's very good on larger jobs where RTV gets too expensive.

For your size Ohio, I would make a 4 piece fiberglass mold. Top half as a two part, and bottom half as a two part. I would bolt the top quarters together and make a top casting in that. Then do the same in the bottom. By making each half two parts, things like the under cuts on the bottom edge of the missile deck could be retained, and the mold would be able to release easier by prying against each of the attached quarters when set up.

I did my Seawolf mold bottom half this way because of the undercuts created by the side aperature sonar arrays. I work my way gradually down the seam with a wide screw driver or putty knife, and gently pry the two parts apart. Works like a dream. Iwish I had done the top half in two parts too. Always have trouble getting that half out.

Of corse it takes a little more to make four mold parts than two, and a little more clean-up work on the end to file away the seam, but I've found the difference in releasing to be worth it.

Whichever method you choose, I'm sure it will turn out since you've been building ships in the past.

Pete

[pirate]

I'll post the Seawolf halves

I'll post the Seawolf halves I just pulled recently, using a fiberglass (3) piece mold (bottom was two pieces) on my Subcommittee home page here. http://www.subcommittee.com/SubComm....rID=142

Question: If I don't have a site that pictures are currently on, how can I upload them directly into one of these replies as I've seen here?

Pete

[john b]

Pete
I you get a

Pete
I you get a chance can you post or email me a picuture of your molds so i can get an idea how you made to 2 halfs
thanks
john

[tmsmalley]

Being nowhere near as skilled

Being nowhere near as skilled as Steve, plus being cheap and not wanting to get into the hull selling business , I do the lost foam method (for my one-off CSS Hunley).

Make the hull as two sides out of blue or pink builders' foam, mount on a slick surface parting board, lay on several layers of glass cloth and resin, rip the foam out of the two halves, join the left and right halves with strips of resin-ed coth. Cut them into top and bottom halves - viola! A hull!

I show the steps on my website at www.rc-submarines.com "My Projects".

The conning dome on the Alligator Junior was made from one half of a 2" copper float ball I got from McMaster Carr.



Edited By TMSmalley on 1134000715

[anonymous]

Don't listen to Tim. He

Don't listen to Tim. He is as skilled as me if not more so IMHO!

But do pay attention to what he says.

Steve

[tmsmalley]

Steve -
Oh pull-eze! I

Steve -
Oh pull-eze! I only wish I could do what you do that way you do-wackado!

Tim "shortbus" Smalley

[anonymous]

Now your starting to pee

Now your starting to pee my off. Get in there and scratch build that boat you've been thinking about. It's been awhile. You know it. Time to get your hands dirty and make that new dream toy Tim.

ShortBus. Ya right. You guys ever see that Alligator? Incredible work!

Steve

P.S. This is getting like E Zone! LOL!

[pirate]

John,

Those pictures of my hull

John,

Those pictures of my hull are now up on my Subcommittee website here]http://www.subcommittee.com/SubComm....rID=142[/url]

Pete "missed the bus" Piekarski

[tmsmalley]

Nice Pete - how much

Nice Pete - how much are the hulls?

Also - how did you make the master? Foam? Wood? Inquiring minds and all that

[pirate]

Tim,
I think I mentioned this

Tim,
I think I mentioned this further up in the thread, but I turned them out of wood on a lathe. It really pushes the capabilities of my lathe because of the length. I had to do the Virginia in multiple pieces. Luckily I was able to line them up to fit together as one piece.

We've talked about this at Subron6 runs, but you must have forgotten. There's a lot to see and do at those meetings.

The prices are on my website]http://www.geocities.com/submarineworks[/url]

Pete