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PoRsCh3fReAk
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Hello everyone, my name is Alex, i am a newbie to this mold and plug making game. Its been brain aching looking at all of these chemicals and processes that i feel everyone has and does differently. I have a MKV VW R32 and i am taking the plane jane exhaust surround and making it DTM styled. I've already added the fins and coated the whole unit in fiberglass. The product is smoothed over and i'm looking for assistance in my next step. I want to make a mould of this unit and that i can use to make a few one off carbon fiber duplicates. I will be honest i have a few bubbles from the fiberglassing and they need correcting. My question is, can i use a filler to smooth the whole plug over and fill in some of my voids?  If yes what type of fillers? should i use Bondo which i've been seeing is "acceptable"? If i use Bondo to smooth the piece, do i need to put resin back over it? Or, do i just primer over the filler and polish and sand that smooth to then start on making my mold. I want this to be perfect and not have wasted a few months of work trying to learn everything I have. Any information AT ALLLL is greatly appreciates. I'm new to the fiberglass world and from what i've seen with forums this seems to have some good help and creative people. _Alex BTW this is where my bumper sits at the moment.
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wozza
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Hi Alex and welcome. Nice car by the way  You haven't said how you intend to make the carbon parts ie wet-lay, infusion, vac bagged. This will make a difference to how and what the mould is made from. Without stating the obvious the finished part will only be as good as the mould so spend the time getting your pattern/plug perfect. Standard body filler is fine but it will need sealing with a 2k based paint. I prefer 2K high build primer, this can be flatted and polished to a high gloss. You also need to pay attention to any undercuts that could cause mechanical lock and prevent the mould releasing from the pattern. I would put a slight taper on those fins you have added as these could be a potential lock area. Also depending on the rest of the shape you may need a multiple piece mould. Quite ambitious for you first go so good luck Any more questions just ask, there are plenty of helpful people on here. Warren
Carbon Copies Ltd
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PoRsCh3fReAk
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Group: Forum Members
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THANKS FOR THE REPLY I am going to be smoothing my curves on the fins and the two exhaust ports. The angles are to sharp. I'm honestly not sure which is the best route for making my carbon fiber finished piece. I want to lay the carbon and attempt in getting my angles flat and smooth. but feel a vacuum mold is really the only proper way to go a bouts the curvature. So there is no problem with me taking the body filler to smooth out the edges and then priming, did i get that correctly? What way do you recommend going after in the pursuit of a carbon fiber panel such as this?
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wozza
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PoRsCh3fReAk (08/03/2014)
THANKS FOR THE REPLY I am going to be smoothing my curves on the fins and the two exhaust ports. The angles are to sharp. I'm honestly not sure which is the best route for making my carbon fiber finished piece. I want to lay the carbon and attempt in getting my angles flat and smooth. but feel a vacuum mold is really the only proper way to go a bouts the curvature. So there is no problem with me taking the body filler to smooth out the edges and then priming, did i get that correctly? What way do you recommend going after in the pursuit of a carbon fiber panel such as this? Yep, body filler is fine as long as it is sealed afterwards. The aim is to prevent the styrene being drawn out of it when you lay up your mould. The styrene in the filler will cause the mould gelcoat to stick making separating the mould from the pattern difficult potentially damaging either the mould, the pattern or both. 2K high build has two benefits, one it can be laid down heavy allowing for any final flatting and two it doesn't contain styrene unlike 1K rattle cans. Hope that helps. Warren
Carbon Copies Ltd
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PoRsCh3fReAk
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Group: Forum Members
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So after my filler and 2k application. I will then polish the 2k after it is all smooth. The shine should be as glass like as possible im assuming, then i will need to wax and apply mold release agent correct? I'm also on the search for the right mold making materials. from what i have gathered, i will get the plug ready with mold release wax and make sure all my corners will not get locked in the process. Next i will put on a coat of Gel coat? and when its tacky to the touch i will cover the back in layers of fiberglass to strengthen the back. And after its completely dry pop it off polish it and then make my product, correcT?? Also what brand items do you use? 2k primer -polish to sine -mold release wax - should i use this a few times over, ive heard multiple layers of wax or mold release to ensure remval of mold. -put on a tooling gel coat -strengthen with fiber glass.
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Hanaldo
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If you're using 2k paint then release wax should be enough, though I always use PVA on my plugs. Normally do between 4-6 coats of wax, depending on the complexity of the mould. At least 15 minutes between coats usually half an hour, then at least an hour after the last coat before doing your gelcoat. Depends a bit on the wax you're using too though, follow the instructions and you should be fine. Do the same prep to your mould before laying up your part in it. Polish it up, apply release agent, layup your fabrics. What type of gelcoat are you using, unimould?
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wozza
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PoRsCh3fReAk (13/04/2014)
So after my filler and 2k application. I will then polish the 2k after it is all smooth. The shine should be as glass like as possible im assuming, then i will need to wax and apply mold release agent correct? I'm also on the search for the right mold making materials. from what i have gathered, i will get the plug ready with mold release wax and make sure all my corners will not get locked in the process. Next i will put on a coat of Gel coat? and when its tacky to the touch i will cover the back in layers of fiberglass to strengthen the back. And after its completely dry pop it off polish it and then make my product, correcT?? Also what brand items do you use? 2k primer -polish to sine -mold release wax - should i use this a few times over, ive heard multiple layers of wax or mold release to ensure remval of mold. -put on a tooling gel coat -strengthen with fiber glass. If you finish the plug in 2k and polish it to a high gloss then you can use a chemical release agent like Easy-Lease. With PVA you will have to flat and polish the mould back to a gloss before pulling parts. It is much easier to work on the male plug than a female mould especially if there are recessed areas like the narrow fins on your diffuser. If your using 2k then after the high build apply a few coats of black 2k direct gloss. The black will show up any scratches far better than the grey high build. That way you can polish the plug to a glass like finish. If you mould off that using a chemical release agent you wont have to do any work on the mould before use. Tooling gelcoat cures hard and is much harder to polish than 2k. If you use a epoxy compatible moulding system like Uni-Mould then again you can use a chemical release agent on the mould instead of PVA so the finished part will only need a quick buff to remove any release agent residue. With PVA you will have to spend time flatting and polishing to a high gloss. When flatting cf parts you always run the risk of breaking through to the cloth effectively ruining the part. For me the less work you have to do on the part the better, spend the time on the plug and the mould. Warren
Carbon Copies Ltd
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Warren (Staff)
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I agree with Warren on this. Spend the hours on the plug/pattern and it makes your life so much easier with the mould. 2k paints are the way to go although if you are making the pattern from scratch then our Pattern-Coat Primer and Pattern-Coat Hi-Gloss are great to use for the smoothing of the pattern and getting the final high gloss, without the hassle of sorting out 2k paints.
Warren PenalverEasy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant
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PoRsCh3fReAk
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thanks for the responses. does the mold release agent go on top of the was or would i just use polish on the 2K and then apply wax. I guess this is the confusing part to me and what brand of gelcoat should i use, Uni Mold??
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PoRsCh3fReAk
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Group: Forum Members
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Thought i'd give an update, i finally put on my few coats of filler, making it stick to the fins is deffinetley a project, i may end up sanding it down and coating again. Either way, I am trying my best to get it as smooth as i can. Is the 2K primer going to smooth out the filler in the monor imperfections or is the point of the 2 k just to seal my smooth filler. Its proving a task to get my curvature smoothed out. Any help i give my thanks in advanced!! so far you all have been more then helpful. Appreciate it, and so dosent my car.
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