So I'm making my first molds to do some resin infusion. Been doing a ton of reading and watching videos. Everything seem to be going well so far. Go my first molds done. Plugs came right out of the molds. The Surface where the actual parts will be looks real good. The Issue I have is the flanges and where I put the wax around where the flanges and the plug meet. As you can see from the engine-pan jpg where pieces of flange came together the tape left basically scratches in the mold. Its not a scratch in the gel coat it was a raised crease from the tape.  I'm not real concerned by the imperfections left from the wax as that is not going to effect the final part or the sealing of the bag. I am concerned that the imperfections left from the tape will not allow the bag to seal completly.   So my question is....Is there a way to fix this and or make it so it won't be an issue when I put gum tape over it.

Some thoughts I had were...

1. Put some gel coat in them with wax additive then sand down.

2.  put some gum tape in the recessed areas where I will be running the perimeter gum tape to seal the bag.  basically use the gum tape as a filler....

3. Use actual body filler to fill the recesses. 

Any other sugestions?  I can't believe I am the first person to have imperfections outside where the part will be....I'm sure people are finding a way to make it work. Also Keep in mind these molds are not being used for production or anything. I will be making a couple pieces from each so I do not want to start again considering the surface where the actual part will come from looks real good. The areas with the imperfections are going to be trimmed and thrown away.

Thanks,  Dennis

So I just watched the bonnet videos.....At 2:16 of the second video there is a close up of wiping away the CG-50 gelcoat around the edge. You can see where the poster boad was taped together. There is definetly noticable flaws in the flange area. Also if you look close there is a texture left by the poster board. Unless he does something to address these issues before he puts the gum tape on and doesn't show it. I may be worring for nothing. I assume that when I put the gum tape on and press it down it will fill any imperfections and seal.

Any commments would be appreciated.

Dennis

The gum tape will easily forms to the shape of the flanges and seal the bag, nothing to worry about.

Absolutely; nothing to worry about. The vacuum bagging gum tape is thick and squashy and given enough 'pressing' it will seal tight to any none-porous surface, even if it's uneven.

Matt Statham
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Sales