Fibreglassing advice

[Swoop]

The "bits of wire" framework, etc are used for establishing the shape of the fairings. Essentially hot-melt gluing them into the shape of the finished moulding, and then starting to lay a cloth/mat over that. Anyone who has seen the Britten documentary might remember that stage he went through before laying them up.

Another hint..... Boatbuilders! (lots of tips from them)

[750Y]

nz fibreglass supplies, morrin road panmure have reasonable prices if you don't have a mate in the trade..

[swanman]

nz fibreglass supplies, morrin road panmure have reasonable prices if you don't have a mate in the trade..

True I have used these guys before. Good bunch, fair prices.

[Coyote]

The "bits of wire" framework, etc are used for establishing the shape of the fairings. Essentially hot-melt gluing them into the shape of the finished moulding, and then starting to lay a cloth/mat over that. Anyone who has seen the Britten documentary might remember that stage he went through before laying them up.

Another hint..... Boatbuilders! (lots of tips from them)

See that's what I thought would be the best way to go. I could mould the wire to where all the fairing brackets are and make it the shape I like. From there I could make a mould from it to use if I destroy the originals. Is this reasonable?

[Swoop]

See that's what I thought would be the best way to go. I could mould the wire to where all the fairing brackets are and make it the shape I like. From there I could make a mould from it to use if I destroy the originals. Is this reasonable?

Yeah. You are using the wire to make the mould. Make it up, then bog and sand. Mould release wax then simply lay up over that.
Probably best to do a test piece on a small bit of stuff first!!


Why am I giving you all this good advice when you are whipping me in the arcade!!!!

[Coyote]

Yeah. You are using the wire to make the mould. Make it up, then bog and sand. Mould release wax then simply lay up over that.
Probably best to do a test piece on a small bit of stuff first!!


Why am I giving you all this good advice when you are whipping me in the arcade!!!!

Well hopefully I'll be getting a minimoto soon so might be able to make up a wire fairing frame for that, that would be a smaller project to start with

I've had enough of the arcade for one day, you go ahead

[Coyote]

Well I haven't had the chance to do any fibreglassing at home yet. The RG was sucking up what little money I had and it seemed like a bit too much work for me as I still really had no clue where to start. But now I've done a bit of fibreglassing at metalwork and it's not nearly as hard as I imagined, my teacher recommended a good site to get all the stuff I need (http://www.nzfibreglass.co.nz/) and now I have some cash saved up. So now I'm looking to get some supplies.

What I need to know is what resin I should go for? I'm not going to do custom fairings just yet, instead make some replica side fairings for my RG. Just will any particular resin destroy my original fairings (which I'd like to try keep in good condition) when I make a mould from them? How much chopped strand mat, resin and hardener am I likely to need for the moulds (I'll get supplies for the replicas once I have more money)?

[swanman]

Any resin will damage your orginals. Vinyleseter is the most aggressive. Cover the originals in protective tape (packaging tape is surprisingly good as it has a shiny side) before you lay any chemicals on top. Polyester resin is proly the best bet.

For side panels don't need a lot of glass or resin. 300 chopped strand mat will do maybe 3 square metres and a litre of resin, with equivalent ratio of hardener.

For the moulds maybe 4-6 layers of glass should make them sturdy and stiff enough. For the actual product 2 layers.

[Coyote]

Cheers, now I have some idea of what to order. My teacher suggested covering the original fairings in glad wrap. It may get a few crinkles but I can sand them down. I might do a mix of that and tape

[XTC]

"Swanman - Hey anyone want to start a business!!!"

Like "just fairings" or sumfink?

[Coyote]

Like "just fairings" or sumfink?

What like "just fairings"?

[swanman]

Always up for starting a business.

[Coyote]

Well I was hoping if I made some good moulds I would be able to sell RG150 replica fairings to the streetstock racers as well as making my own. I'm not sure if there will be a big market but I might be able to earn a few bucks to help fund my racing.

Might be able to save up for an air compressor and paint gun and give them custom paintjobs too, that would be fun

[Bert]

Well I was hoping if I made some good moulds.

Might be able to save up for an air compressor and paint gun and give them custom paintjobs too, that would be fun

I re-made some fairing for my bucket years ago. glued back together my sides and made a clay mould by pressing the fairing sides (covered in vasaline) into a clay box (a box fill of wet'ish clay), let it dry. Sanded the clay and sprayed it with a water based paint to seal it, worked ok; meant that I didn't have to use all my epoxy on the moulds. had to do abit of sanding to get a good finish though. they were very basic fairing though.

I wonder if :
you could use something like spaceinvader (foam spray) and build a mould using that, you'd have to contain the foam as it expanded (a wooden box maybe) and maintain pressure on the fairing that you were molding.
then cover the moulding surface with a spray putty and sand to get a good finish.

[Mattzxr750]

that foam spray is not a bad idea. I was surfing the net on this topic and came across this site. they were making a fibreglass shell of a solar car.

and they made a foam model, sprayed it with gelcoat. then covered it with foam spray.

the out come was pretty good so when i make a new rear end for my bike im going to try that with so of the idea's in this post